4 Breads You Shouldn't Bake at Home

Some breads are tricky to make. They require years of practice to learn how to make perfect. If you are a really dedicated baker, then go ahead and experiment. However, if you just want a nice loaf of bread for a party or for a weekend dinner, then it is sometimes better to buy a loaf from a local bread supplier. 

Some breads are more suited for home bakers. For example, the perfectly named Pane di Casa is an Italian bread that is easy to make. It's name translates to homemade bread. It is made all over Italy.

Here are four breads you shouldn't bake at home. Two are Italian and two are French.

The Italian Breads

Focaccia

You can think of focaccia as a sort of pizza dough. The dough is very similar. It is chewy, due to a high gluten content. It is also shaped in a pan into a shallow and flat shape.  Unlike pizza, focaccia almost never has cheese.  It will often have olives and herbs baked into the crust. It is then salted and served with olive oil.

The reason that it is very difficult to make focaccia at home is because it requires a special oven. The oven is traditionally a brick oven. This provides the unique crust. If you don't have a pizza oven, then it is best to buy this bread.

Ciabatta

Ciabatta is a very interesting bread. For one thing, it is relatively new. The recipe was only created in the 1980s. The ciabatta was created as a response to the popularity of the French baguette. Italian bakers set out to create an Italian style bread that mimicked the popularity of the French loaf. What they came up with was a huge success.

The ciabatta is tricky to make for home bakers because it requires a special bakers oven. If you don't have the right baking conditions, the outside of the bread won't be crusty, it will be soft.

The French Breads

Brioche

Brioche is a very different kind of bread. There are purists who don't even consider it a bread. These purists consider it a  Viennoiserie, which is a bread like food that has extra ingredients that make it sweet. Unlike most breads, brioche has eggs and cream.

A brioche is often eaten at breakfast. It will sometimes have fruit or chocolate baked inside.

The difficulty in baking a brioche is in getting the texture right. It can be very difficult to get the consistency right. Often times the resulting bread is too soggy and heavy.

Baguette

The baguette is a long, thin, crusty bread. It is commonly associated with French culture. It has also spread out across the globe and become a popular bread.

It is, however, a very difficult bread to make at home. It requires a special oven to bake. Steam is needed to create the lovely crusty texture. Without the proper baking conditions, the bread won't rise and it will be soft on the outside.