When baking bread it is important that for best results you use specialist bread flour. Bread flour contains a protein mixture different to normal flour, which allows the mixture to rise to acceptable heights. It is possible to use normal flour but be aware that it may not rise or keep the shape need to make a good looking loaf.

Most recipes will use milk, but you will find that differing types of milk are interchangeable. Dry milk can be used in place of fresh milk, whilst buttermilk can be replaced by sour milk as an alternative.

Egg products are also interchangeable, whole eggs, egg whites, fresh or frozen will normally work equally well in a recipe.

Most bread recipes will suggest using butter, although using margarine will generally produce the same results. In the use of butter or margarine, it is important that both products are cut into small chunks to allow for a through mixing of all of the ingredients.

It is important that if you are planning to follow a recipe that you read it in detail. Scanning through a recipe will often lead to mistakes. One of the most common mistakes made is in the measuring of ingredients, wrong amounts will often lead to disasters.

Measuring errors in baking can be avoided if you follow the suggestions below