A Baker's Weekend
Cooking Skills: Bread 2
Chapter 8 · A Baker's Weekend
Skill goal
Plan and run a weekend of baking, find out why breads go wrong and build a bread basket of your own.
Shopping list for this chapter
The basics
You now have pre-ferments, sourdough, enriched doughs, pizza, laminated breads and other grains. The last chapter is about using them together: planning a weekend, finding out why things go wrong and designing your own bread basket.
Planning a baking weekend
- Mix slow doughs first: pizza dough, sourdough and pre-ferments.
- Use the fridge as a pause button: it moves work to the evening and the baking to the morning.
- Bake in order of heat: hottest first (pizza, sourdough in a pot), then moderate (enriched), then cool.
- Overlap rises: shape one dough while another proves.
- Write the plan down and tick off steps.
- Leave space for the oven: pots and trays need 30 to 45 minutes to heat.
Your skills table
| Skill | Chapter | Best for | My top tip |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-ferments | Bread 2, chapter 1 | More flavour for little work | Ferment a poolish overnight; count it in the recipe |
| Sourdough starter | Bread 2, chapter 2 | Wild-yeast breads | Feed on a schedule; use it at its peak |
| Sourdough bread | Bread 2, chapter 3 | Crusty loaves with tang | Judge by the dough, not the clock |
| Enriched doughs | Bread 2, chapter 4 | Soft breads and buns | Knead longer; add butter late |
| Pizza | Bread 2, chapter 5 | Quick meals and parties | Rest the dough; a hot tray; light toppings |
| Laminated and folded | Bread 2, chapter 6 | Treat breads | Keep it cold; chill between folds |
| Rye, spelt and other grains | Bread 2, chapter 7 | Flavour and variety | Mix with wheat; handle gently |
Fill in your own tips below.
| What I tried | Method or amount | What I saw | What I thought | Will I do it again? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| My best sourdough | ||||
| My best enriched bread | ||||
| My best pizza | ||||
| My best laminated bread | ||||
| My favourite grain | ||||
| My signature bread basket |
Try it
Level 1 · Start here
A weekend plan: sourdough and pizza
A good baking weekend uses the fridge as a pause button. Mix the slow doughs on Friday, shape on Saturday, and bake on Sunday morning.
Ingredients (8 portions)
- 1 batch sourdough loaf: 100 g starter, 450 g white flour, 50 g wholemeal flour, 325 ml water, 10 g salt (Cooking Skills: Bread 2, chapter 3)
- 1 batch pizza dough for 4 pizzas: 500 g flour, 10 g salt, 2 g yeast (a scant ½ tsp), 325 ml water, 1 tbsp oil, with a cold rise (Cooking Skills: Bread 2, chapter 5)
- 1 batch pizza sauce and mozzarella, or your own toppings
- 1 tbsp flour or semolina for dusting
- Friday evening: feed your starter. Mix the pizza dough with the reduced yeast, knead for 10 minutes, rest for 30 minutes, then divide into 4, put in oiled containers and chill for 24 to 36 hours.
- Saturday morning: let the starter peak (4 to 8 hours after a feed). Mix the flour and water for the sourdough and rest for 30 minutes, add starter and salt, then fold every 30 minutes for 2 hours.
- Saturday afternoon: bulk rise for 2 to 4 hours until grown by half. Shape, place in a floured bowl or basket and chill overnight.
- Sunday morning: heat the oven with a pot inside to 240°C (220°C fan). Bake the sourdough straight from the fridge, 20 minutes with the lid on and 20 minutes with it off.
- Sunday lunchtime: take the pizza dough out for an hour to come to room temperature, then stretch and bake the pizzas on a preheated tray at the highest heat for 8 to 10 minutes each.
- Write down what worked and what you would change.
Heat, flour and fridge doughs
Raw flour: flour is a raw ingredient and can carry bacteria such as E. coli, which are killed only by baking or cooking. Don't taste raw dough, don't let children eat or play with it, and wash your hands, bowls and surfaces after handling flour and dough.Hot ovens, trays and steam: use dry oven gloves, pull the shelf out rather than reaching in, and put hot trays and tins on a heatproof surface. If you put a tray of boiling water in the oven for steam, pour it carefully with the oven door open a little and your face well back: the steam is far hotter than the water.
Bread on the table: bread with butter, cheese or dips shouldn't sit out all day. Cover leftovers, keep dairy-filled and egg-glazed breads in the fridge if the room is warm, eat within about 2 days, and throw away any bread that grows mould (the whole loaf). Freeze what you won't eat.
Level 2 · Diagnose
A fault-finding clinic for all the doughs
Use the questions below on any bread that has gone wrong, then change one thing and try again. Cooking Skills: Bread 1, chapter 8 has the basic clinic: this one adds the new doughs.
Ingredients (1 portion)
- 1 a bread that went wrong, or a recipe you have struggled with
- 1 notebook and pen
- Sourdough: dense with big holes (under-proofed or weak starter), flat and sour (over-proofed), pale (pot not hot enough). Was the starter at its peak? Did the dough grow by about half?
- Pre-ferments: flat or sharp (the poolish was too old), no flavour (too young). How old was it, and at what temperature did it ferment?
- Enriched doughs: slow to rise (a lot of sugar and fat), dense (too little kneading), burnt outside and raw inside (oven too hot, or too big). Did you add the butter after the gluten started?
- Pizza: soggy middle (too many toppings, tray not hot), springy dough (not rested), pale base (cold tray).
- Laminated: butter leaked (proofed too warm or not sealed), no layers (butter too soft, or not chilled between folds).
- Rye and spelt: gummy (cut too soon, too much rye), collapsed (over-kneaded or over-proved).
- Write down the cause, change one thing, bake again and compare.
Keep a baking diary
Write down the flour, water, starter or yeast, times, room temperature and oven. The next time something goes wrong, the diary tells you why.
Level 3 · Create
Your own bread basket for 8
A bread basket for a dinner party: one familiar bread, one with character and one quick extra, with a flavoured butter. Plan the baking over two days so that most of it is done before the guests arrive.
Ingredients (8 portions)
- 1 batch a bread that suits the meal: soft rolls (Cooking Skills: Bread 1, chapter 6)
- 1 batch a bread with character: a seeded sourdough, rye loaf or focaccia
- 1 batch a quick extra: garlic flatbread or cornbread
- 100 g butter, softened, mixed with herbs, garlic or honey
- 1 a dip or spread, such as hummus or olive oil with balsamic vinegar
- Choose three breads that contrast in shape, flavour and texture (soft, crusty, flat), and that suit the main course.
- Plan the timing: bake the sourdough or rye the day before (they improve overnight), shape the rolls the evening before and bake them on the day, and make the quick bread last.
- Make a flavoured butter: beat the soft butter with herbs, garlic or honey and chill it in a roll or dish.
- Serve warm: warm the bread for 5 to 8 minutes at 160°C (140°C fan) wrapped in foil, put it in a cloth-lined basket and label each bread.
- Clear up: keep leftover bread covered, freeze what you won't eat, and note what guests liked.
Allergens, labels and keeping
Label for guests: put a small card by each bread saying what it is and whether it contains milk, egg, seeds, nuts or sesame. All of these breads contain wheat (gluten). If anyone has coeliac disease, tell them clearly, because none of these breads are gluten-free.Bread on the table: bread with butter, cheese or dips shouldn't sit out all day. Cover leftovers, keep dairy-filled and egg-glazed breads in the fridge if the room is warm, eat within about 2 days, and throw away any bread that grows mould (the whole loaf). Freeze what you won't eat.
Experiments
Experiment
A timed weekend
Plan it, then run it.
- Write a plan for two breads over a weekend. Note the actual time each step took.
Look for: Compare your plan with what happened. The usual mistakes are forgetting to feed the starter in time and starting the oven too late. Fix the plan and keep it.
Experiment
Swap one flour
One change.
- Bake your sourdough or tin loaf twice, once as written and once with 100 g of the flour swapped for rye or spelt (adding or reducing water as needed).
Look for: The swapped loaf is darker or nuttier, and the dough handles differently. Write down which you prefer and why.
Experiment
Your own recipe
Build a new bread.
- Combine two things you have learned (for example a poolish with a seeded or cheese filling, or a sourdough with a swirl) into a new recipe. Bake it, change one thing and bake again.
Look for: Write down both versions. This is how every baker builds a signature loaf.
Tasting notes
| What I tried | Method or amount | What I saw | What I thought | Will I do it again? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weekend plan | ||||
| Fault-finding clinic | ||||
| Bread basket | ||||
| Timed weekend | ||||
| Swapped flour | ||||
| My own recipe |
Troubleshooting
| Problem | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Starter not ready when you need it | Not fed in time | Feed it the evening before; keep a spare in the fridge |
| Everything needs the oven at once | Poor planning | Bake by temperature order; use the fridge to delay shaping |
| Can't tell what went wrong | Changed too much at once | Change one thing; keep a baking diary |
| Bread goes stale too fast | Stored badly | Freeze slices; don't use the fridge for plain bread |
| Too much bread | Over-baked | Plan portions; freeze or share |
| A guest with an allergy | Didn't ask | Ask beforehand; label breads; keep a safe alternative |
Baking-weekend safety
Raw flour: flour is a raw ingredient and can carry bacteria such as E. coli, which are killed only by baking or cooking. Don't taste raw dough, don't let children eat or play with it, and wash your hands, bowls and surfaces after handling flour and dough.Hot ovens, trays and steam: use dry oven gloves, pull the shelf out rather than reaching in, and put hot trays and tins on a heatproof surface. If you put a tray of boiling water in the oven for steam, pour it carefully with the oven door open a little and your face well back: the steam is far hotter than the water.
Label for guests: put a small card by each bread saying what it is and whether it contains milk, egg, seeds, nuts or sesame. All of these breads contain wheat (gluten). If anyone has coeliac disease, tell them clearly, because none of these breads are gluten-free.
Bread on the table: bread with butter, cheese or dips shouldn't sit out all day. Cover leftovers, keep dairy-filled and egg-glazed breads in the fridge if the room is warm, eat within about 2 days, and throw away any bread that grows mould (the whole loaf). Freeze what you won't eat.
Checkpoint: can you do this now?
- I can plan a baking weekend using the fridge.
- I can diagnose a failed loaf across the different doughs.
- I can design and time a bread basket.
- I label breads for allergies and gluten.
- I keep and freeze bread safely.
Next chapter
Cooking Skills: Bread 2 is complete. Cooking Skills: Pastry 1 is planned, with shortcrust, pies and tarts.