How long does it take to bake bread?

[Mara]

I would like to start baking bread and have been watching a few shows on it, but each time there are the proving breaks. What I want to know realistically how long do I need to put aside to bake some loaves?

That includes everything from weighing the ingredients, kneading, proving and baking.

Thanks!

 

[Winterybella]

I am no expert here but the banana and coconut bread I baked took me about two hours or at the very least one hour and forty five minutes. I distinctly remember that the baking process was about an hour and twenty minutes and because I am slow it took me well over thirty minutes to prepare. I like quick and easy and in fact the process was easy if not quick. It's the baking time which was long and which didn't bother me any as I stuck it in the oven and went about doing other things.

 

[connie]

A lot of time. That is why bakers start very early in the morning and the rest of the population have purchased bread makers (this is a joke btw!)

From weighing out your flour, to proving and baking, when I am making pizza dough only, I am looking at all morning, so 3 hours or more before it is going into the oven to cook. I know I usually want the dough ready and proving 90 minutes before I am preparing to put the pizza in the oven and this dough only has the 1 proving session.

When I make sourdough bread I start in the morning (before 9am), getting the sourdough culture active, then putting it aside for several hours (3 hours I guess). When I get home around midday, I weigh out the flour and salt, and add the culture (by weight). This and kneading will take around 30 minutes minimum.
Proving will take another 3-4 hours if the weather is not too warm (sourdough proving is a slower business, about twice the length of time as normal bread but expect to take 2 hours here plus weighing out and kneading time as well). I hope to have the bread in the oven by 4pm, but I may well be proving the bread in a too warm environment for sourdough. It will take roughly 45 minutes in the oven. Another hour or so to cool enough to be used/eaten/stored.

Normal bread is quicker than sourdough. Sourdough actually gets its flavour from the length of time it is proven. Looking at a basic wholemeal recipe, I think from starting to weight your ingredients out to taking a loaf out of the oven should be about 3-4 hours first time around. You may get it down with practice!

 

[Tina Nord]

Bread is one thing that generally takes a long time to make and that is why most of us buy it at the grocery store as opposed to baking it ourselves. I make a lot of banana and pumpkin bread and it takes at least an hour and a half from start to finish. When you make yeast bread, it takes longer because you have to make the dough and then wait for it to rise once or twice before you can even put it in the oven...and then there is the bake time. I love the taste of homemade bread, but I only make it on special occassions.

 

[Shimus]

Aye, it's not as simple as pull out dough, and make bread. You have to prepare a bunch of stages for the cook as well - the ovens, proving, the salts and spices/herbs, even the counters for rolling and spreading and the dough thawing out and rising properly (if frozen).

And then, even after that, some people may be tempted to raise the oven temperature to cook it faster. DO NOT do this. It will make it too doughy in the middle and the bottom/sides will burn to your pan. You want it as I put it, "Low and Slow" for best results. Bake it until you feel it's done. This is usually up to an hour of cook time and even a half-an-hour to an hour cooldown time before you even want to touch it to slice it (on Normal Breads, anyways).

Admittedly, I've a very novice bread baker so take my word with a 'grain of salt' but I love homemade loaves better than all those enriched white loaves you can buy at the store (not only for taste, but for nutritional value as well!)

 

[Marly]

I actually see it from a different perspective. Baking bread isn't really time consuming when you consider hands on time.

Making the dough takes about 15 minutes and shaping takes about 10 minutes. I don't really worry about or count the rising time since that is time I can reclaim for other uses. I can take a nap, run errands, watch a movie, etc. Same with the baking time. Pop it in the oven and go do something else for 20 minutes.

 

[justme4910]

when ya'll say proving is it the same a proofing ?

ok I just googled it and it is the same, so is blooming