Welcome to Bread Month!

I've been making my own bread for years, and although the results were often quite tasty, they rarely turned out how I expected them to. One loaf would be as solid as a brick and the next would spread out over the tray as it proved, making something more similar to a paving slab.

I knew that bread reminiscent of building materials would not be good enough for Bread Month, so I decided to cheat a little on the whole 'teach myself how to bake' thing and signed up for a bread baking course with the Hornbeam Baker's Collective.
 

And I was really glad that I did: It would have taken years of trial and error in my own kitchen to work out all the things I was doing wrong! But before I put everyone off giving bread baking a go without attending a course first, I think most of my problems were down to the fact that I never once used a recipe, and therefore didn't understand some basic facts about the process. For example, I had no idea you could add more water as you knead the dough if it's too dry after being mixed, and I didn't know that it should go in the oven at a very high temperature to begin with - I often put the loaf in the oven before even switching it on!

Baking beautiful bread is a science AND an art: you need to have an understanding of the chemical processes taking place as well as an appreciation of the many nuances and variables involved, if you want to perfect your bread baking technique going on a course really is the best way.

So, my challenge this month is to combine what I learnt on the course with everything I've learnt from the many, many mistakes I've made, in order to adequately explain both the art and science of bread baking to help you make a decent loaf at home. Looks like May is going to be a rather busy month then...
 

Happy Bread Month everyone!