Making Your Own Banana Bread? – Why Not?

Some Basic Techniques in Bread Making

Your Own Making Banana Bread is actually quite easy to get, once you learn some basic techniques, and nothing smells as wonderful as your own baking bread.

1. Proofing the Yeast

Make sure the yeast is fresh. Active dry yeast, sold in individual packets, is the easiest type to use. Proofing the yeast to ensure that it is fresh and active by sprinkle it over the liquid, that has been measured and heated to the correct temperature and let this sit for a few minutes. When the yeast mixture rises and starts bubbling, proceed with the rest of the recipe.

Cake yeast, if you can find it, really makes a wonderful loaf of bread. This form of yeast is fresh, stored in the refrigerator, and is very perishable. You can also make it yourself by adding, in a clean jar, 4tsp whole meal flour and 4tsp water each day for three days. The next days remove four-fifths of the mixture each day and replace with a half-and-half mixture of flour and water until the mixture bubbles and smells pleasantly sour. Then add 150g of this mixture to every 500g flour in the recipe together with the yeast to help the loaf stay moist and give the crumb more flavor.

Sometimes the yeast is stirred into the flour, instead of being proofed separately. The only change in this type of recipe is the water should be warmer.

2. Mixing

Mix part of the flour in a bowl with any other dry ingredients or flavorings. Make a depression, or well, in the center of the flour, and add the dissolved yeast and other liquids, including the banana in banana bread recipe. Beat well to combine.

Add another part of the flour gradually and mix until the dough forms a good ball. At this point, dump the dough out of the bowl onto the floured surface and let it sit for ten minutes. Then begin kneading the dough.

3. Kneading

To knead, turn the dough over several times, gathering any stray particles. Fold the dough inward in half, and push away with the heels of the hands. Turn the dough one quarter turn, and repeat this process until the dough is smooth, elastic, springy, and no longer sticky. This will take from 5 to 10 minutes. Dough made with bread flour typically require more kneading than those made with all purpose flours.

4. Let Rising

Grease a large mixing bowl lightly with shortening. Place the smooth, kneaded dough into the bowl, turning it over so the top is greased as well. This step makes sure the dough doesn't dry out as it rises. Cover with a clean cloth and place in a warm spot. An electric oven with the light turned on, or a gas oven with the pilot light are perfect places for rising.

Let the dough rises until double for about an hour. It will increase in size, and when you press your fingers into the top, the indentation remains when you remove your fingers. Punch down the dough, and turn it onto a floured surface. Cover and let rise again until double in size for 30 to 45 minutes. This second rising takes less time, because there is more yeast in the dough. Divide into two equal parts and shape into loaves, for banana bread, or on a cookie sheet for free form loaves, or shape according to the recipe for sweet breads.

Batter bread starts with wet dough or batter. This type of dough isn't kneaded, but stirred vigorously for a longer period of time to develop the gluten. The dough is stirred down after rising, instead of punching down, and spooned into loaf pans to rise and bake.

5. Baking

Place in loaf pans and bake the bread in a preheated oven at 425 degrees for about 25-30 minutes. The bread should rise a bit in the oven too - this is called 'oven spring'. Bake according to the recipe until golden brown. The bread is done when it sounds hollow when you tap it with your fingers. Remove from the pans and let cool on a wire rack. See, it is easy to make your own banana bread.