How do I bake Bread like a Bakery?
My local shop has bread from some Bakery, I bought a loaf and it's the most amazing white loaf I've ever had. It's a real big loaf but it is light as anything, it feels lighter than my attempts and I weighed it at 800g but mine are 500g. It has the most amazing crust, it's somehow chewy but crispy and yet not hard or thick, it's just got this cracked layer that looks like the ground when it gets too dry, you can pick it off too. Then the bread has the smoothest texture, it's not all uniform and perfect, but it isn't full of massive bubbles like no knead breads either. The taste is so lovely as well, usually mine just end up bland and I'm using the standard White bread recipe. The crust has this nice very dark brown to it on top like it's burnt, but it isn't and it doesn't taste burnt either. Most breads are very stiff but this one is like stretchy and chewy, but not too chewy...
http://us.123rf.com/450wm/senk/senk1109/senk110900304/10729464-bakery-bread.jpg?ver=6 [1]
It looks like that, only darker and bigger, it's not like most breads I see where it is has a crust that's dry looking like these... http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/bread-stand-bakery-food-market-34903461.jpg [2]
Whenever I try to make bread, I use a kneading machine, I follow the instructions perfectly, I put it in the Oven and instead of raising up, it grows mostly outwards and it ends up rather flat. I can put it in a bowl and then it's fine, but I want it to be free standing so the whole crust is cooked the same, rather than having just the top cook in free air and the rest of it cooking against the bowl.
So getting it to ride on it's own without it just going flat is one problem.
The second problem is just the bland taste, I'm not sure if Fan Ovens make it taste a certain way, where Bakeries have some kind of special oven? I'm guessing they add something in for taste? I'm not sure...
The third problem I have is getting the crust like theirs, mine just ends up rather heavy, rigid, dry and then it quickly goes soft even if I don't cover it. Theirs has this crispy thinness to it that's not dry, it's chewy and it stays that way for days.
Can any one help? I want to get to the point where I can make Sandwiches for work every morning with fresh bread.
Thanx.