If bread begins to brown too quickly, cover with aluminum foil for duration of baking time.

Carefully measure your ingredients. Too much flour, or too little sugar or fat, can toughen your crust.

Doughs made with water generally yield a crispier crust than those made with milk.

To soften a crust, brush crust with melted butter as soon as it comes out of the oven.

Aluminum pans reflect rather than transmit heat and can result in a lighter coloured loaf. Try using a baking pan made from something other than aluminum.

For a darker, richer colour, brush finished loaves lightly with butter or margarine and return to the oven for 5 to 10 minutes.

Position pans in the oven so that they are evenly exposed to the oven temperature, allowing air to circulate between the pans.

Bake on a lower oven rack, unless otherwise directed. If crust is becoming too brown, cover loosely with aluminum foil for the duration of the baking time.

Eggs add nutrition and colour, provide volume and bind ingredients together.

Use large eggs in recipes unless otherwise specified. Egg replacement products can replace whole eggs in many recipes. Check product information on package before using.

Fats such as butter, margarine, shortening and oil have a lubricating effect on the gluten's meshwork. In other words, adding fats will permit your dough to stretch more easily.

Fats help improve flavour, tenderness and quality of the bread.

Butter is usually used in rich, sweet and festive breads.

It is important to use shortening to grease your pans. Butter or oil can cause the bread to stick to the pan or burn.

Extracts, flavours and liqueurs should be added to ingredients at room temperature.

Allow to cool completely. Frozen bread keeps and freshens well. To freeze, allow the loaf to cool before placing it in freezer bags. Remove all of the air from the bag or ice crystals will form during the freezing process. Allow bread to thaw inside plastic bags to re-absorb the moisture lost during the freezing process. To freshen, place on a baking sheet and heat 10 to 15 minutes at 350°F (180°C).

Test by slapping your open hand against the ball of dough. If your hand comes away clean, the dough has enough flour. The combination of flour and kneading should be sufficient to let the dough stand on its own.

Allow dough to rise in a warm place, 75°-85°F/24°-29°C and away from drafts that can inhibit rising.

To eliminate large air bubbles when shaping loaves, roll out dough into a rectangle approximately 9" X 12" (23 cm x 30 cm). From shorter end, roll up jelly-roll style, sealing dough with heel of hand after each turn.

For a different look, loaves may be baked free-form on a baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal or greased. Cornmeal will prevent bread from sticking and provide an interesting texture to the bread.

For a supple, more elastic consistency, carefully measure the wet and dry ingredients. If dough appears too wet, add 1 tablespoon (15 mL) of flour at a time and knead to consistency. If dough appears too dry, add 1 tablespoon (15 mL) of liquid at a time and knead to consistency. Given a choice, start with a soft dough and then add the flour. It's much easier to knead flour into a dough than liquid.

For a crisp crust, keep in a paper bag for up to two days. Do not wrap in plastic unless you want an especially soft crust. Store at room temperature, or freeze. Refrigeration tends to dry bread. To freshen bread, heat unwrapped in a 350°F (180°C) oven 10 to 15 minutes.

Sugar is quick food for the yeast, helping it to produce carbon dioxide gas that allows the yeast to activate.

Sugar adds flavour to breads and can give a golden colour to the crust.

Substitute sugar with brown sugar, molasses or honey for fancy or whole grain breads.

Too much sugar can slow down the yeast action or prevent it from activating.

Too much flour or salt, or too little, will inhibit the gluten's performance and the dough will not rise to its full potential.

Use the amount of flour your recipe calls for to ensure the dough will hold its shape while baking.

To test if dough has sufficiently risen on the first rise, insert fingers into dough. If indentation remains, it is ready to punch down. If not, allow to rise longer.

Do not allow dough to overrise, otherwise, it may collapse in the oven during baking. Only allow dough to rise until it has doubled in volume.

To test the vitality of yeast, dissolve 1 tsp (5 mL) of sugar in 1/4 cup (50 mL) of lukewarm water. Sprinkle in yeast and allow to stand. This is also known as "proofing yeast". If yeast does not bubble within 10 minutes, it is no longer active.

Too much heat will kill the yeast.

Too much sugar can cause the yeast to rise at a slower rate than normal or prevent it from activating.

1 (8 g) package of active dry yeast is equivalent to 2 1/4 tsp (11 mL).