8 Commom Mistakes Newbie bread bakers make that ruin their business

Bread baking, especially for commercial purpose is not just fun but brings fulfillment when you get it right. When you see would-be bakers handle or talk about that nice loaf that is not just nutritious but likewise sweet and inviting in look, many factors would have been responsible.

While I was kicking off with my Bread Baking career at Saipeman, Accra, Ghana years back, I had met about three ladies who were passionate bread eaters with loads of phone numbers of great bread bakeries and bakers they buy their loaves from. Surprisingly, most of the bread bakers were from very far locations across the country from Koforodua, Nsawam in Ghana.



There are breads, including the normal Agege Bread in Nigeria, general Ghana tea bread and lots of other local breads from South Africa, India, USA, United Kingdom Canada etc. But there are classical loaves by professional bread companies. Let me state that even if you are making Agege Bread from Nigeria,  Ethiopia's Injera, Moroccan Pita Bread, making a difference with your baking is what is going to give you repeated customers

During my last bread baking and micro bread bakery training for 2017 in Lagos, an attendee from Republic of Benin, told me that they actually have people who cross the Seme border end of  Nigeria to buy good and nutritious bread on daily basis to eat in Republic of Benin.

If you are going to start a professional bread baking for commercial standard and would want to beat the competition, you will have to understand that bread baking is science and there are a lot of things that goes on with all the ingredients coming together, from mixing, kneading, proofing and baking till it gets to the final consumer.

This is why you may have wondered why your bread is either not cooked well, dense, or not risen or get stale in matter of one day while you see the other bread from another bakery look nice and last long. In my book How to setup a Micro Bakery from Home and bake 100 to 200 loaves daily, I have picked up some of the factors that will make your bread come out bad.

Let us look at common mistakes newbie bakers make. 

1. Not Proofing Your Dough enough: When your dough is not proofed enough before you start baking, your bread will not cook well and it will also not rise normal, especially if your fire is high.

2. Bread Burnt: Yes, you will experience having an end product of burnt loaf if your fire is very high. 

3. Not having an Oven Thermometer: One fundamental method of local oven manufactures use is not to include Thermometers. Therefore, is it important that you ask them to buy and install an oven thermometer if your oven is going to be locally fabricated. 

4. Not galvanized Oven: Let me state that some of these ovens manufactured by local  oven manufacturers from Lagos to Abuja, Onitcha, to Kaduna are often times not gal;galvanized and not well padded. 

5. Old Flour: Bread flour might have expired and some seller will also send to you. You need to watchout.

6. Expired or inactive Yeast: Yeast is actually meant to bring activation and rising as well as proofing of your bread dough before baking. Using expired or inactive yeast will affect your bread.

7. Using a Wrong Bread Pan: Your bread pan will determine if your bread will get burnt easily or not. Some baker make the mistake of buying sub standard or low quality bread pans.

8. Using Soft Flour: Soft flour is used for making pastries while Hard Flour is used for making Bread due to its gluten nature.  So don't use soft flour for Bread.

You could attend our next training or purchase your ebook on Bread baking