📖 Sunflower Bakery · Essential Bread Guides
Essential home-baking guides distilled from Sunflower's decade of bread making: comparing fermentation methods, flour selection, oven temperature control, and troubleshooting.
🌾 Preferments & Fermentation Methods
Source Post: Confused by Tangzhong, Scalded Dough, Poolish, Sponge, and Levain❓ →Tangzhong (65°C Water Roux)
17 postsFlour and water are mixed at a 1:5 ratio and cooked over low heat while stirring until swirl lines appear in the paste (or heated in a microwave, which I covered in a dedicated post). The Tangzhong weight typically makes up 30%-40% of the main dough's flour weight. Baking with this paste is called the Tangzhong method.
Scalded Dough (Tangzhong / Boiling Water Roux)
17 postsFlour and water are mixed at roughly a 1:1.2 ratio by pouring 100°C boiling water directly into the flour and stirring until smooth with no dry lumps. Chill in the fridge overnight before adding to the main dough.
Sponge (Chongzhong)
28 postsSponges are categorized by the percentage of total flour they contain, typically 50%, 70%, or 100% sponge. By fermentation method, there is: 1. Standard sponge method, fermented at room temperature for 3-4 hours; and 2. Cold-fermented sponge method, fermented in the fridge for 14-17 hours (and no more than 48 hours).
Poolish (Liquid Preferment)
6 postsMixed at a 1:1 water-to-flour ratio by weight with 0.5%-1% instant dry yeast. You can ferment it at room temperature for about 2 hours or chill it in the fridge overnight. Typically, the poolish accounts for about 25% of the total dough weight.
Old Dough (Pâte Fermentée)
20 postsMixed at a 2:1 flour-to-water ratio with about 1% instant dry yeast, then fermented in the fridge overnight. Alternatively, pinch off a piece of dough when baking bread, wrap it tightly, and refrigerate it to use as old dough in your next batch (see my dedicated old dough post).
Levain / Sourdough Starter (Lubangzhong)
22 postsA wild yeast starter cultivated from the natural yeast and lactic acid bacteria present on flour and in the air, without any commercial yeast. Flour and water are mixed in a clean jar and fed regularly at warm temperatures over about a week until active. It requires regular ongoing feedings. I still have so much to learn about sourdough and am actively practicing.
Direct Method (Single-Proof / Straight Dough Method)
38 postsAll ingredients except butter are mixed together directly until a thick membrane forms, then butter is kneaded in until the full windowpane stage is reached, followed by bulk fermentation, shaping, final proof, and baking.
🔬 Foundational Science & How-To Posts (11)
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❓What Should You Brush on Bread Before Baking?❓Egg Wash❓Milk❓Other Options
I wonder if any fellow bakers had the same question I did when I first started baking bread: what should you actually brush on top of bread? When a recipe simply said "brush with egg wash" without specifying further, I used to wonder whether that meant egg yolk, egg white, or whole beaten egg. Let's run a side-by-side experiment together. 🍞Washes tested in this experiment: 🔆Melted butter, 🔆Water, 🔆Milk, 🔆Honey, 🔆Whole egg wash, 🔆Pure egg yolk, 🔆Egg white diluted with a tiny drop of water, 🔆Egg yolk diluted with a tiny drop of water 🎈Please see Photos 2, 3, and 4. Photo 2 shows the eight common washes. They correspond to the sixteen dinner rolls in Photo 3, grouped in pairs so that each wash is tested on two rolls. The order is labeled directly on the photos. ‼️Experiment Results: 🔆In terms of shine, pure egg yolk is the glossiest, but I personally do not care for it for two reasons: 1. It browns way too fast in the oven (I had to tent those rolls individually with foil), which makes it easy for the crust to over-darken before the interior is fully baked through. 2. In person, the color looks artificial and gives the crust a thick, tough appearance. 🔆Melted butter and plain water are the most subtle before baking. However, if you brush melted butter over the hot rolls right as they come out of the oven, they look wonderfully glossy and vibrant. You can check the photos in my earlier Old-Fashioned Bread post for reference. 🔆The remaining five washes (milk, honey, whole egg, egg white with water, and egg yolk with water) show very little difference in the final baked rolls. So, which one is my personal favorite? 🎖️🎖️🎖️All things considered, the winner is definitely milk!🎊🎊🎊 Why? Because milk gives a great finish and is by far the most convenient option. You do not have to crack a whole egg just to use a tiny spoonful, and honey is quite sticky and less convenient than milk. So the gold medal goes to milk!🎖️🎖️🎖️ ❤️These results reflect this specific test batch. ❤️Shared as a handy reference for fellow bakers!
❗Baking Science❗ Butter: Which State Works Best for Bread Making?⁉️
🌼 Many factors determine whether a loaf of bread succeeds, and getting every detail right helps you bake a great loaf. Today's post focuses on butter. 🌼 First, let's look at the role butter plays in bread dough: 1. Butter enriches the bread's flavor and aroma. 2. Butter has great emulsifying properties, helping lock moisture inside the crumb. 3. Butter improves dough extensibility, allowing the finished loaf to reach much better volume and texture. 🌼 Next, here is a key baking concept: ‼️ Plasticity of Fat ✅ Plasticity is the property of a solid to deform under external force and hold that new shape. When plastic fat is incorporated into bread dough, it coats the gluten strands, boosting both extensibility and machinability. In the heat of the oven, it allows the dough to expand smoothly and hold its lofty structure without collapsing. Simply put, it helps the loaf spring high and stay tall. ✅ Fats exist in three states: solid, semi-solid (pliable), and liquid. ‼️‼️ Here is the most important takeaway: ✅ Semi-solid fat has the strongest plasticity. ❌ Liquid (melted) butter has almost completely lost its plasticity. ❌ Cold, hard solid butter is too stiff to incorporate evenly into the dough. 🔑 Conclusion: ‼️ Always use softened, pliable room-temperature butter when making bread! ‼️
❗Key Temperature Guidelines in Bread Making❗
🌼 To bake soft, delicious Pullman loaves and sweet buns, controlling dough and fermentation temperatures is just as important as ingredient ratios and mixing technique. 🔑 Dough Mixing (Final Dough Temperature): Keep your final dough temperature out of the mixer bowl around 26°C. If the dough gets too warm during mixing, yeast starts fermenting prematurely before the gluten reaches the full windowpane stage, making it hard to achieve a tall loaf with a fine, feathery crumb. 🔑 First Proof (Bulk Fermentation): Aim for around 28°C and 75% relative humidity. If you don't have a proofing box, room temperature works fine, just be sure to cover the dough well so the surface doesn't dry out and form a skin. 🔑 Second Proof (Final Proof): Aim for around 38°C and 85% relative humidity, as this is the temperature range where yeast is most active. If you don't have a proofing box, place your loaf pan inside a turned-off oven or microwave alongside a bowl of hot water to create a warm, humid chamber. 🌼 Finally, how to keep dough temperature down while mixing in the heat of summer: Chill all ingredients in the refrigerator or freezer ahead of time, including your bread flour. Chill the dough hook and mixer bowl in the freezer. Run the air conditioning in the kitchen, wrap an ice pack around the outside of the mixer bowl, and make good use of autolyse (soaking method) or sponge methods.
How to Convert Liquid Ingredients in Bread Recipes ❤️ Baking Tips
Lately, many fellow bakers have been asking me how to substitute liquid ingredients in bread recipes, such as: How do I replace milk with water? ❓ How do I replace water with milk? ❓ If I'm out of heavy whipping cream, do I substitute an equal weight of milk? ❓ 🔑 It is actually very straightforward: 🌼 First, know the approximate water content of common liquid ingredients used in bread baking (see Photo 2): Milk: ~88% Heavy whipping cream: ~50-70% Whole egg: ~75% Egg yolk: ~50% Egg white: ~87% Yogurt: ~70-80% Honey: ~20% Sweetened condensed milk: ~20% ❗❗❗ Conversion Formula: Keep this formula handy: 🔐 Weight of Substitute Needed = (Water % of Original Ingredient × Weight of Original Ingredient) ÷ Water % of Substitute Ingredient 🌼 Let's walk through a few practical examples: 🔐 Example 1: A recipe calls for 100g of milk, and you want to use water instead. 🗝️ Using the formula: (88% × 100g) ÷ 100% = 88g water. 🔐 Example 2: A recipe calls for 100g of water, and you want to use milk for extra flavor and nutrition. 🗝️ Using the formula: (100% × 100g) ÷ 88% ≈ 114g milk. 🔐 Example 3: A recipe calls for 60g of heavy whipping cream, and you want to substitute milk. Using the water content percentages and the formula, you need about 34g to 47g of milk (depending on the fat content of the cream). ❤️ Baker's Notes: 🌼 The goal of this post is not to encourage swapping ingredients at random. On the contrary, I recommend sticking to the original recipe whenever possible, especially if you are a newer baker still building hands-on feel for dough. 🌼 Knowing how to convert liquids simply gives you a reliable backup when you run short on an ingredient or need to avoid an allergen. 🌼 Whether or not you substitute a liquid, whenever you try a new recipe for the first time, always hold back about 1/5 of the primary liquid (usually water or milk). Once the dough comes together in the mixer, feel its hydration and add the reserved liquid gradually as needed so the dough doesn't turn overly wet. 🌼 Why hold back liquid? Different brands and batches of flour absorb water differently, ambient humidity and dry weather affect flour moisture levels, and different brands of heavy cream vary significantly in water content. Holding back a little liquid keeps you in full control of the dough.
For Friends Thinking About Starting Bread Baking ❤️ Equipment Guide
Lately, several people have asked me whether they should buy a stand mixer right away to start baking bread at home. Here are my thoughts. 🌼 My advice is not to buy a stand mixer right off the bat. 🎈 Start by buying a single good non-stick loaf pan (such as my San Neng 450g gold corrugated Pullman pan) and pick a no-knead recipe that doesn't require a stand mixer, like the loaves in Pictures 4 and 5. Try it out and see if you enjoy the process first. That way, even if you decide baking isn't for you, you only have one loaf pan sitting around, and worst case you can use it as a planter for succulents so nothing goes to waste. 🎈 Once you fall in love with baking, there is plenty of time to buy a mixer. 🌼 My own baking journey 🎈 When I first started baking bread, I used a bread machine to knead and proof the dough, then took it out to shape and bake in the oven. Back then I never even checked for a windowpane, partly because I was a beginner, partly because I trusted the bread machine's one-touch kneading cycle, and mostly because the finished loaves had great shred and tasted delicious. My go-to formula back then was the Tangzhong Hokkaido milk loaf I shared recently, which I used for both loaves and buns. I mention this to reassure everyone that a simple bread machine is actually quite capable at kneading dough and can make wonderful bread with the right recipe. 🎈 Later on, the paddle shaft on my bread machine started leaking dark grease. At first I thought it was a fluke, but when it kept happening every time, I finally upgraded to a stand mixer. 🌼 What tools do you actually need? 🎈 Testing-the-waters stage: 1️⃣ An oven (this is essential and has no substitute) 2️⃣ One loaf pan 3️⃣ A pair of chopsticks for stirring 4️⃣ A large mixing bowl With just those four items, you can bake loaves like the ones in Pictures 4 and 5. 🎈 Once you're hooked: At this point you can decide between getting a bread machine or a stand mixer. 🎈 If you fall in love with artisan European loaves: What you need is a cast-iron Dutch oven rather than a stand mixer. Most artisan country loaves use no-knead stretch-and-fold methods done by hand. 🌼 My takeaway: 1 If you have a busy schedule and want the convenience of putting ingredients in at night with a delay timer to wake up to fresh bread, a bread machine offers great value. 2 If you want full control over gluten development and enjoy watching the dough transform through every stage, invest in a stand mixer. 3 If your heart is set on crusty European boules, skip both machines and get a cast-iron Dutch oven. It doesn't need to be an expensive designer brand; any heavy cast-iron pot with a tight-fitting lid that is oven-safe (preferably dark-colored inside and out) will bake great loaves.
Confused by Tangzhong, Scalded Dough, Poolish, Sponge, and Levain❓
Today a fellow baker asked me about the differences between Tangzhong, scalded dough, old dough, and poolish. It reminded me of when I first started baking bread and felt completely lost reading all these terms in recipes. I put together this quick guide to explain each preferment and paste clearly. In bread baking, these pre-mixed starters and pastes break down into the following types: 🍞 Tangzhong (65°C Water Roux) Flour and water are mixed at a 1:5 ratio and cooked over low heat while stirring until swirl lines appear in the paste (or heated in a microwave, which I covered in a dedicated post). The Tangzhong weight typically makes up 30%-40% of the main dough's flour weight. Baking with this paste is called the Tangzhong method. 🍞 Scalded Dough (Tangzhong / Boiling Water Roux) Flour and water are mixed at roughly a 1:1.2 ratio by pouring 100°C boiling water directly into the flour and stirring until smooth with no dry lumps. Chill in the fridge overnight before adding to the main dough. 🍞 Sponge (Chongzhong) Sponges are categorized by the percentage of total flour they contain, typically 50%, 70%, or 100% sponge. By fermentation method, there is: 1. Standard sponge method, fermented at room temperature for 3-4 hours; and 2. Cold-fermented sponge method, fermented in the fridge for 14-17 hours (and no more than 48 hours). 🍞 Poolish (Liquid Preferment) Mixed at a 1:1 water-to-flour ratio by weight with 0.5%-1% instant dry yeast. You can ferment it at room temperature for about 2 hours or chill it in the fridge overnight. Typically, the poolish accounts for about 25% of the total dough weight. 🍞 Old Dough (Pâte Fermentée) Mixed at a 2:1 flour-to-water ratio with about 1% instant dry yeast, then fermented in the fridge overnight. Alternatively, pinch off a piece of dough when baking bread, wrap it tightly, and refrigerate it to use as old dough in your next batch (see my dedicated old dough post). 🍞 Levain / Sourdough Starter (Lubangzhong) A wild yeast starter cultivated from the natural yeast and lactic acid bacteria present on flour and in the air, without any commercial yeast. Flour and water are mixed in a clean jar and fed regularly at warm temperatures over about a week until active. It requires regular ongoing feedings. I still have so much to learn about sourdough and am actively practicing. 🍞 Direct Method (Single-Proof / Straight Dough Method) All ingredients except butter are mixed together directly until a thick membrane forms, then butter is kneaded in until the full windowpane stage is reached, followed by bulk fermentation, shaping, final proof, and baking. In summary, breads made with a preferment or roux hold higher hydration, have a finer and softer crumb structure, taste more flavorful, and stale much more slowly than direct-method breads, staying soft through Day 3. In hot summer weather, using a chilled preferment from the fridge also helps keep dough temperature low and develops a windowpane faster. Check my earlier posts for specific recipes using each method. I wrote this up quickly, so feel free to share thoughts and learn together in the comments❤️❤️❤️. #BreadLover
Heartfelt Bread Baking Tips❤️: Summary of My 10 Years of Loaf Baking Experience
I have never had formal professional training. Everything I know comes from countless baking flops, persistent practice, and my own troubleshooting notes. Please forgive any mistakes❤️, and feel free to share your thoughts in the comments so we can learn together❤️. My main goal in writing this post is to help fellow bakers who are practicing Pullman loaves avoid the detours I took, so everyone can bake delicious bread❤️❤️❤️. ❓Loaf Doesn't Rise Tall (Poor Oven Spring) 🔑1. You must mix the dough to the full windowpane stage, where it stretches into a thin, translucent membrane. 2. Bottom heat must be strong during baking. If your oven doesn't have independent top and bottom heat controls like mine, bake on the lower rack. To keep the top from burning, tent it with foil, or even two layers of foil (especially helpful in small ovens where the loaf rises close to the top heating element). A loaf needs strong bottom heat for explosive oven spring, and baking on the lower rack also prevents a dense, gummy bottom streak. 3. The second proof (final proof) must be thorough. Every minute of waiting is worth it: proof open-top mountain loaves to 80-90% full in the pan, and lidded Pullman loaves to 70% full. 4. The second proof requires proper humidity. Moisture helps the dough rise tall and keeps the baked crust from turning out dry. ❓Crumb Structure Is Not Fine Enough 🔑1. Pay close attention to the protein content of your flour and choose a reputable bread flour. Different countries measure flour protein standards differently, so I won't give a single hard rule, though the bread flour I currently use is 12.7% protein. 2. Use pre-ferment or scalded-flour methods that improve crumb structure and slow down staling, such as the sponge method (Chongzhong) or Tangzhong (water roux) method. 3. Include ingredients that enrich and tenderize the crumb, such as old dough (pâte fermentée), heavy whipping cream, or yogurt. 4. Mix the dough all the way to the full windowpane stage. ❓Sidewall Cave-In (Keyholing) 🔑A major cause is an underbaked interior. Follow the same fix as for loaves that don't rise tall: use strong bottom heat, tent the top with foil to prevent burning, and extend the baking time. ❓Dense, Gummy Bottom Streak 🔑Again, follow the same solution as for loaves that don't rise tall by increasing the bottom heat. Always let the loaf cool completely before slicing, and lay the loaf on its side when cutting. ❓Oven Temperature and Baking Time 🔑Every home oven runs differently. Once you learn your oven's hot spots and calibration, keep notes on the exact temperatures and times that work best for different breads and loaves. Here is a practical baking technique that works well for me: the step-down temperature method. For example, in my built-in oven, I start at 190°C for 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 180°C and bake for another 20 minutes or so. Try this approach to see if it suits your oven. Adjust the exact temperatures for your setup, keeping the core principle of starting higher and finishing lower. That's all for now, and I will add more tips as I think of them. Wishing everyone great success baking delicious loaves❤️❤️❤️
All About Old Dough (Pâte Fermentée)❤️: How to Make and Store It
Making old dough (pâte fermentée) is quick and easy, taking only a few minutes of hands-on time, yet adding a piece of old dough makes homemade bread taste so much better. Give it a try❤️❤️❤️! 🍞Ingredients: Bread flour 100g, water 50 to 55g (adjust according to your flour's absorption), instant dry yeast 1g. 🍞Method: 🔆Weigh out all ingredients, holding back about 5g of water to add as needed. Stir with chopsticks until shaggy flakes form, then knead by hand into a ball. Place the dough in a container, cover with a lid, and refrigerate for 12 hours of slow cold fermentation. My kitchen was 20°C last night, so I put it straight into the fridge without any room-temperature fermentation first. In the winter, let it ferment at room temperature for 1 to 2 hours before refrigerating. 🔆The next day, take the old dough out of the fridge; as shown in Photo 3, the interior will be filled with a honeycomb web of fermentation bubbles. 🔆Divide it into ~50g portions (I usually add 50g of old dough per loaf). Wrap each portion tightly in plastic wrap, place them inside a zip-top freezer bag, press out as much air as possible, seal tightly, and label with the date. Stored in the freezer, old dough keeps for about a month. You can scale the batch size depending on how many loaves you typically bake in a month. 🔆You can dust the plastic wrap with a little dry flour before wrapping to prevent sticking, though I didn't find it necessary. 🔆Stored in the refrigerator, old dough keeps for about 3 days. Bread made with old dough stales more slowly and has a noticeably better flavor and texture, which is why I love tossing a piece into my doughs. Because old dough has virtually the same hydration and consistency as standard bread dough, you don't need to recalculate the liquid in your recipe: just tear it up and add it straight in. 🔆Sometimes when I bake bread, I simply scale up all the recipe ingredients by a small percentage and set aside the extra portion of dough to ferment as old dough for next time. 🔆Other times, I mix a dedicated batch using this formula. Either way works great, so do whatever is most convenient for you.
KitchenAid 5-Quart vs. 8-Quart Stand Mixer Comparison ❤️ Whole Wheat Loaf
My KitchenAid 5-quart stand mixer has been with me for nearly ten years. I still love it, but its motor wattage felt a bit small for bread dough, so I decided to upgrade to a higher-power mixer. Since I love KitchenAid, I stuck with the brand and chose the same classic white color I fell in love with ten years ago. Putting the two machines side by side, the size difference is immediately obvious. The 8-quart is also much heavier than the 5-quart, though that doesn't matter since it stays on the counter. What I really want to highlight is the dough hook design (Photo 5). The 8-quart uses a 3D spiral S-hook, whereas the 5-quart has a nearly flat C-hook. Clearly, the 3D spiral hook is much more effective at kneading bread dough. There is also a huge difference in the weight of the hooks (Photo 5), and that extra heft helps develop a windowpane membrane rapidly. To test out the new mixer right away, I made a 50% whole wheat loaf using the direct, single-proof method. I didn't chill or autolyse the dough beforehand. After just 3 minutes of mixing, it already reached the thick membrane stage (medium gluten development). I added the butter, and 5 minutes later it reached the full windowpane stage (thin, translucent membrane). The mixer didn't get warm at all, and the dough temperature stayed completely cool. I am thrilled with it 👍👍👍. For this bake, I used King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour (12.2% protein), which gives a different texture compared to the Central Milling 14% protein whole wheat flour I used previously, though I am happy with both. Also, the 8-quart mixer runs much quieter than the 5-quart while delivering far stronger kneading power. Those are my impressions so far. I will share more updates as I keep baking with it.
❤️ Bread Tip: How to Store Artisan & Homemade Bread ❤️
The best way to store fresh bread short-term is at room temperature, and the worst place is the refrigerator compartment, because fridge temperatures actually accelerate starch retrogradation (staling). However, if you bake more bread than you can finish in two days, room-temperature bread will also start to stale. My routine after baking and cooling a loaf is to set aside two days' worth of slices at room temperature. For the rest, I portion the slices into single-serving packs, wrap each portion tightly in plastic wrap, place them inside a zip-top freezer bag, seal it airtight, and store it in the freezer. Whenever I'm ready to eat, I take out one portion and let it thaw at room temperature, or warm it briefly in the microwave or toaster. The texture is just as good as freshly baked. Make sure your wrapping is completely airtight. Otherwise, the bread will lose moisture and dry out, and its porous crumb acts like a sponge that absorbs freezer odors, ruining the flavor. Here are the simple steps: 1️⃣Wrap individual portions tightly in plastic wrap 2️⃣Place inside a zip-top freezer bag and seal airtight 3️⃣Label with the date 4️⃣Store in the freezer
Essential Guide: My Honest Review of North American Baking Flours ❤️
After ten years of baking bread, I have tried plenty of flours. Here is a summary of the ones I have used over the years. When choosing flour, I follow two general rules: 1. Never buy bleached flour. 2. Buy organic whenever possible. Let's take a closer look below. By function, flour is divided into bread flour, all-purpose flour (used for steamed buns, mantou, and handmade noodles), and cake flour. By brand, the most common ones in North America are King Arthur, Bob's Red Mill, Gold Medal, and Central Milling, along with various grocery store house brands that I won't list one by one. Here are my impressions of each category of flour. 🎈All-purpose flour (Photo 1): These are all flours I have used, liked, and recommend. I left out the ones I tried and didn't like. All six of these are great, but following my rule of choosing organic whenever possible, my top recommendation is Central Milling. If you can find it at Costco, the price is fantastic too. My second choice is King Arthur Organic. 🎈Cake flour (Photo 2): All of these are good. The Central Milling one in the bottom right corner is organic. Ever since I discovered it last year, it has been my go-to. 🎈Bread flour (Photo 3): King Arthur and Bob's Red Mill are the two I have used the most over the years. Both are excellent and equally great. White Lily is one I spotted at Walmart last year and bought to try. It was a wonderful surprise, producing Pullman loaves with a great feathery shred and a fine crumb structure, so I recommend it. I might have had overly high expectations for Central Milling's High Mountain high-protein bread flour. The bread didn't turn out as fine-crumbed as I imagined. Looking at the specs, although the protein content is high, the ash content is also quite high, which is probably why. The last one in the bread flour photo is what I bought when I first started baking bread and knew nothing. It makes loaves with a great feathery shred, but the downside is that the flour is bleached. Whole wheat flour (Photo 4): I highly recommend the Central Milling one in the bottom right corner. It is super fragrant and high in protein, making whole wheat loaves with great crumb structure and tall oven spring. You can check my whole wheat loaf posts for photo proof, and it is organic too. The third one in the top row of the whole wheat photo makes super fragrant naan. It is organic, offers great value for money, and is also what I use daily to feed my sourdough starter. Photo 5 is listed separately because I use it specifically for pizza, and it makes super fragrant pizza crust. I also added notes on a few other specialty flours directly onto the photos due to the word limit. As for where to buy, regular grocery stores carry most of these, except Central Milling. Costco only carries their all-purpose flour, so I buy the rest from their official website. If you live near one of their stores, you can order online and pick it up in store to save on shipping. They never offer free shipping regardless of how much you buy, and shipping gets expensive for big orders because flour is heavy.