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The Complete Guide to Baking Bread

Professional chefs share the secrets to making exceptional breads from scratch-and you can learn to make them in your own home.
871
 
 
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Great method for the beginner baker Zoe's recipes work amazingly well. Bread looks stunning, and it is very tasty and much better than typical grocery store staff. I've cooked with bread flour rather than all-purpose flour. High hydration works 100%.
Date published: 2025-02-03
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Now I understand why! I have baked basic breads in past years with varied success. I would slightly modify recipes, proofing time, not precisely measure ingredients (as I could do with my cooking)... and now I understand how all of that affected my final baked loaf. The chefs were informative and entertaining with differing styles. I put this info to use and my recent loaves have turned out great!
Date published: 2024-01-19
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Super fun! Bought this course for my son and I in '23. It was super interesting, but taught with a fun and easy approach. I saw a review saying that the course material did not come with the video version, but it is there if you click "Guidebook". Please don't write a review like that unless you're certain because it can mislead others as it would have done to me if I had read it. Enjoy!!!
Date published: 2023-03-04
Rated 2 out of 5 by from Disappointing Very simplistic and off-putting corny style. Not up to TGC standards.
Date published: 2023-01-14
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Baking Bread I learned a lot so far. New way (to me) they use is to make a large basic recipe that can be saved in the fridge and used several times. I also bought a cutter and a Danish mixer.
Date published: 2022-12-21
Rated 4 out of 5 by from Said Information Generally well delivered Many useful techniques and methods from professional bakers paired with interesting and engaging ideas for applying the same.
Date published: 2022-09-29
Rated 5 out of 5 by from Easy to follow. Bread is one of those things that doesn’t keep once made. When you don’t live close to a store you can’t just pop out and get more. Being able to keep dough on hand and make a loaf anytime has been wonderful. The bread is delicious. Once I finish renovating my kitchen I’ll be excited to try all the recipes. I love it so far. Everyone loves the cheese bread.
Date published: 2022-06-30
Rated 5 out of 5 by from This class covers all the bases. There several instructors - scientific applications from one and easy, practical dough from another. Sourdough, whole wheat, and an easy white dough that is stored in the fridge for many different breads are all covered.
Date published: 2022-04-17
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The Complete Guide to Baking Bread

Trailer

The Ecosystem of Bread

01: The Ecosystem of Bread

While you’ve used many words to describe bread over your lifetime, you’ve probably never used “ecosystem.” And yet, as Chef Kalanty explains, bread is exactly that—an ecosystem supporting one living organism: single-celled yeast. Learn the appropriate protocol for creating dough and the FATTOM constituents of this environment: food, acid, time, temperature, oxygen, and moisture.

27 min
The Chemistry of Gluten

02: The Chemistry of Gluten

Discover the important role of gluten, the protein that gives the dough its elasticity and shape. Learn how it develops in the dough and what causes dough to become sticky. Experiment with the dough’s moisture content to determine how that affects gluten development and subsequent bread shape and texture.

24 min
Fermentation Civilization

03: Fermentation Civilization

Learn about the conditions that cause yeast to start and stop fermentation as part of the organism’s natural life cycle. Discover how yeast creates carbon dioxide and how you can influence that production by using water to change the dough temperature. Chef Kalanty also illustrates how fermentation affects the crumb of the finished product.

21 min
Shaping Physics

04: Shaping Physics

You’ll be surprised to discover how your posture, table height, and the force you apply to the dough all affect the bread’s gluten elasticity and carbon dioxide content. Follow Chef Kalanty as he shows how to create first-form options and then the final shapes for baguettes, bâtards, dinner rolls, and knots.

28 min
Why Do We Proof?

05: Why Do We Proof?

After creating your final shapes, but before baking, the dough is proofed, a resting period during which the yeast is left to create more carbon dioxide. Learn how to develop an appropriate proofing environment in your kitchen using your dishwasher, kitchen cabinet, or second oven as you manage the humidity, temperature, and timing of the yeast environment to create the desired bread structure.

17 min
Inside the Bake

06: Inside the Bake

Learn about the three stages of baking and why the bread must ripen before eating. Watch Chef Kalanty as he demonstrates how scoring the top of the dough affects the bread’s expansion and ultimate shape as gases escape during the first phase of baking, oven spring.

28 min
The Master Recipe

07: The Master Recipe

Learn how to make an all-in-one-bucket dough that can stay in your refrigerator for up to two weeks while you cut pieces off to make breads, flatbreads, and dessert rolls. Follow Chef François as she builds the master recipe from the basics: water, salt, yeast, and flour.

17 min
Boule Variations and Slow Cooker Bread

08: Boule Variations and Slow Cooker Bread

Using dough from the master recipe, learn to make a couronne, a traditional circular bread, this time with embedded olives, as well as a delicious cheddar cheese bread. You’ll also experiment with baking bread in a Dutch oven and a slow cooker.

16 min
Baguettes

09: Baguettes

Chef François demonstrates how to make the classic baguette, the long, thin bread of France known for its soft interior and crunchy exterior. Learn how the stretching, relaxing, and shaping of the dough all affect the final product. In addition, you’ll learn to make the traditional epi, using kitchen shears to shape the baguette dough, and wreath bread.

24 min
Sandwich Breads, Buns, and Rolls

10: Sandwich Breads, Buns, and Rolls

Learn a simple way to make a tasty sandwich bread with very little dough work. Chef François also demonstrates how to make a delicious sandwich-shaped loaf swirled through with apples and cinnamon sugar. For smaller breads, you’ll be surprised how easy it is to make individual buns, pull-apart rolls, and crescent rolls.

18 min
Pita and Naan

11: Pita and Naan

Although naan is traditionally cooked on the side of a super-heated tandoor oven, Chef François demonstrates how to make this quick flatbread in both a stove-top skillet and on a cooking stone in a preheated oven. You’ll also learn how to make pita, both as a bread and as a crispy cracker bowl in which you can serve a variety of other foods.

18 min
Pizza and Focaccia

12: Pizza and Focaccia

Have you ever wondered how and why pizza chefs twirl their dough high in the air? You’ll learn that and more as Chef François prepares a classic Neapolitan pizza, sauce and all; a cracker-crust pizza with apples, pine nuts, and honey; and a Sicilian sheet-pan pizza with numerous toppings. You’ll also learn to make a delicious focaccia in a round cake pan.

23 min
Stuffed Breads

13: Stuffed Breads

If you love both savory and sweet, you’re in luck! Learn a simple way to make an elegant spinach-and-feta stuffed bread, sweet pinwheels, cinnamon buns, and caramel rolls. Although the dough itself is not sweet, you’ll discover how to use butter, sugar, cheese, jelly, and more to create these various delights.

28 min
Getting Started with Whole Grain Baking

14: Getting Started with Whole Grain Baking

Chef Kalanty reviews key bread ingredients and provides an overview of the language of baking. As you tackle a honey whole wheat sandwich bread, you’ll gain valuable tips about desired dough temperature and learn how to prepare your mise en place.

24 min
Dough Development and Fermentation

15: Dough Development and Fermentation

Discover the importance of dough hydration as you develop the dough’s structure through kneading. Chef Kalanty also demonstrates how fermentation creates flavor and shows you ways to increase the bitterness of your breads.

23 min
Shaping, Proofing, and Baking

16: Shaping, Proofing, and Baking

Fitting your bread into loaf pans for proofing can be a challenge. As you prepare it for baking, Chef Kalanty explains each stage, provides some tasty tips before it goes in the oven, and reveals how to evaluate a finished loaf.

22 min
Raisin Whole Wheat Swirl Bread

17: Raisin Whole Wheat Swirl Bread

Bringing a little sweetness to this section, Chef Kalanty demonstrates how to incorporate solid ingredients and roll the dough so your bread bakes evenly. Because adding ingredients can add a challenge to baking, Chef Kalanty also breaks down the whole wheat structure.

26 min
Rustic Whole Wheat Boule

18: Rustic Whole Wheat Boule

Starting with a lesson on how to soak whole wheat berries in order to release the nutrients and soften them, step by step, you’ll follow Chef Kalanty as he forms a boule shape, uses proofing baskets, and bakes on stone in order to create a rustic boule.

29 min
Multi-Seed Bâtard

19: Multi-Seed Bâtard

Revisiting the steps to soak seeds and grains, you’ll apply what you’ve learned to multigrain bâtard, which incorporates a pre-fermenting phase that will add to the structure and flavor of this robust bread. Chef Kalanty demonstrates how to use a couche—a linen proofing cloth—for this long-lasting loaf.

37 min
Multigrain Boule

20: Multigrain Boule

Using techniques from previous lessons—including soaking grains, pre-fermenting, and developing the dough—Chef Kalanty will walk you through creating a beautiful multigrain loaf and demonstrate how you can easily experiment with variables to develop both your skills and palate.

21 min
Introduction

21: Introduction

Sourdough bread is different than yeasted breads. Chef Miscovich explains why as you look into the science of natural fermentation and create, grow, and feed a sourdough starter.

20 min
Making Pain au Levain

22: Making Pain au Levain

Learn how to use your starter to create a preferment—or levain—which is the leavening agent that is the base of your sourdough. Chef Miscovich demonstrates a traditional French cutting method, as well as several ways to knead your dough, as he reveals the autolyze method, which results in strong gluten bonds.

25 min
Baking Pain au Levain

23: Baking Pain au Levain

Find creative alternatives to a cloche if you don’t have one, as well as easy ways to create steam in your home oven, as Chef Miscovich takes you through the steps of resting, shaping, scoring, and baking your sourdough.

28 min
Pain au Levain Variations

24: Pain au Levain Variations

Take your newfound lessons in traditional sourdough bread to the next level as you experiment with three variations: olive focaccia, rosemary fougasse, and olive fougasse. Here, Chef Miscovich will show you tips to overcome the challenge of keeping a balance to the dough formula as you add in new ingredients.

14 min
Going Whole Grain

25: Going Whole Grain

With an eye on healthy eating, this lesson looks at how whole grains affect hydration in dough and how to vary your technique if you want to create a heartier, healthier loaf with an increased whole grain content by sprouting whole wheat berries before adding them to your mix.

19 min
Something’s Gone A-Rye

26: Something’s Gone A-Rye

Discover the joys of rye bread, and its Danish cousin Rugbrød. Chef Miscovich demonstrates how to use a stand mixer and which techniques are different when you add rye flour to your dough.

24 min

Overview Course No. 80160

Bread is one of the most popular foods on the planet, baked around the globe and in all cultures—round, knotted, woven, flat, dimpled, sweet, sour, crusty, soft—all of it beginning with the same four ingredients. In The Complete Guide to Baking Bread, you will learn the secrets to making dough and a wide variety of breads in your own kitchen. You’ll follow along at your own pace through four sections, as three renowned chefs demonstrate every step of the way: Zoë François, Michael Kalanty, and Richard Miscovich, all expert bakers, authors, and culinary educators. Their obvious skills and passion for their craft, step-by-step instructions, and ability to clarify the science as well as the art of bread baking will have you making bread in no time.

Over four sections covering 30 lessons, you will learn to make a wide variety of baked goods: baguettes, dinner rolls, olive fougasse, naan, raisin swirl bread, caramel rolls, pizza, and more. And just as important, you’ll dive into the science of baking as these professional chefs unpack the magic of fermentation, proofing, shaping, and how to overcome the further complexity of adding ingredients.

At its very heart, this course is a practical one. Even though professional chefs are demonstrating these lessons, everything they show you can be done in your own kitchen. They provide alternatives for ingredients, tools, or techniques that can’t be duplicated at home. No matter what your experience has been, what your skill level is at, or even what your kitchen looks like, you can create homemade bread like a professional baker. The Complete Guide to Baking Bread will provide you with detailed ingredients and recipes you need for success!

About

Michael Kalanty
Michael Kalanty

The world of bread sustains life and celebrates the passage through it.

Chef Michael Kalanty—The Art and Science of Bread & Secrets to Whole Grain Bread Baking—has more than 20 years of baking and cooking experience. He is a published author who teaches at the International Culinary School and is the director of education for the California Culinary Academy.

By This Expert

The Complete Guide to Baking Bread
855
Zoë François
Zoë François

I'm Zoë François and I love to bake. This is where I play with sugar and take the mystery out of baking everything.

Chef Zoë François—Artisan Bread in Minutes—is a best-selling author, coauthor of several bread cookbooks, and a renowned blogger. She’s a seasoned baking instructor and frequent contributor to The Cooking Channel, Fine Cooking magazine, and Disney Channel.

By This Expert

The Complete Guide to Baking Bread
855
Startup Library: Baking & Pastry
855
Richard Miscovich
Richard Miscovich

I live my dream everyday – baking the best artisan breads and pastries using the same old-world techniques that make artisan baking so unique.

Chef Richard Miscovich—Handmade Sourdough: From Starter to Baked Loaf—is a published author who currently serves as an assistant professor at Johnson & Wales University, where he teaches bread production. He was the recipient of the Baking & Pastry Service Award in 2006 and 2009.

By This Expert

The Complete Guide to Baking Bread
855

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