Take a Photo of the Dough Before Resting
When it comes to baking, a good recipe can do a lot. It’s an inevitable learning curve with visual and tactile cues that you should see and feel for yourself. This makes some would-be bakers nervous, but a quick shot can help calm you down.
“Let it rise until the volume doubles” or some variations of this phrase are ubiquitous in bread (and other yeast dough) recipes, but this visual comparison can be difficult, especially when your baseline has been lost in the endless march of time. But there is a simple solution to this problem: just take a “before” picture and compare it to the rising test. A visual cue tells your anxious brain, “Don’t worry, you’re not making this up – the dough has really changed in shape and volume,” which makes the stressful process of baking bread a little less stressful.