The most important thing I ever did to improve my bread-making skills was to take "FLOUR WATER SALT YEAST" out from the library and read it cover to cover.
http://smile.amazon.com/Flour-Water-Salt-Yeast-Fundamentals-ebook/dp/B007SGLZH6/ref=smi_www_rco2_go_smi_2053980522?ie=UTF8&%252AVersion%252A=1&%252Aentries%252A=0The most important thing I learned from reading that book is that time, temperature and yeast are ingredients that can all be substituted for each other. You can make bread fast in a warm environment with a moderate amount of yeast, or make bread slow in a cold environment with a teeny-tiny amount of yeast, or make bread fast in a cold environment with a large amount of yeast, or any number of combinations.
Here's how I make a relatively fast, basic white bread:
1. Get a 2 cup glass measuring cup. Fill with 1.5 cups water and put in microwave for a minute. Stick a meat thermometer in it to check the temp, then microwave in 30 second intervals until it is between 95 and 115 degrees. Anything in this range is just fine, but if you are above 115, you can kill your yeast, so if you accidentally heat too much, just stir with a fork until the temp drops to 115 or below.
2. Add a tablespoon of whatever dry yeast you already have in the fridge, a tablespoon of sugar or honey or whatever other type of caloric sweetener you have in your kitchen, and stir well. Let the yeast develop for a few minutes while you do the next step. It should become at least a little creamy or foamy. If it doesn't, your yeast might be dead.
3. Put 3 cups of any white flour (I use ALDI brand because it costs between $1.29 and 1.69 for a 5-pound bag, and you can substitute up to a cup of whole wheat to make it healthier, without any other modifications, but I would learn to make white before you learn to make wheat) in a big-ass bowl and add 1 tablespoon of salt. DON'T FORGET THE SALT!
4. Stir a tablespoon or so of olive oil or (less ideally) any other oil or fat into the 2-cup measure. Then hold the 2 cup measure over the big-ass bowl and stir in a tablespoon of flour. Depending on the temperature of the water and the temperature of the room and the freshness of the yeast, it may foam over into the big-ass bowl. In any case, it should at least become creamier and foamier as you add the flour. Pour the water/yeast/sugar/oil mixture into the flour/salt mixture and stir until you can't stir any more.
5. Clean a nice-sized area of your table or counter with a damp sponge and then dry thoroughly so that the dough doesn't stick and make a huge mess. Sprinkle about 1/4 cup of flour on the table/counter and then dump out your dough and anything you can scrape off the sides of the bowl. Knead until all the flour is incorporated into a smooth ball. This could take around 10 minutes. If it is still very sticky, add flour a couple of tablespoons at a time and knead until incorporated. This is not the type of dough that will ever become fully unsticky - at that point it will be drier than is ideal. You should be able to knead it without it sticking to your skin when it is in a big ball, but when you pinch off a little bit and play with it, that will stick to your fingers somewhat. For best results, let sit a few minutes and then knead a few minutes more, but don't add more flour.
6. Pour another tablespoon or two of oil into the bowl, form dough into a nice ball, roll ball in oil to coat, then cover with a hot, damp dishcloth and leave in a warm place until doubled in size. You can check on it in half an hour, but it will probably take 45 minutes to an hour. (Alternately, cover with saran wrap and put in the fridge and it will rise overnight and have a more-developed flavor, but I don't often have time for this.)
7. Once dough has risen, remove back onto floured table/counter, punch it down, and shape the way you want it. I suggest one large loaf if you are patient and don't like a lot of crust, two smaller loaves if you are less patient but still want sliceable bread, or 3-8 baguettes or rolls if you want bread fast and/or LOVE crispy crust. Re-oil and re-cover with hot, damp dishcloth or saran wrap. Keep the cloth or the plastic right next to the dough so that it doesn't dry out. You might need more dishcloths/plastic than you used in the first rise if you are making multiple loaves.
8. Put a pizza stone or a Dutch oven or a loaf pan or even a cookie sheet into the oven and preheat to about 400. Do this as soon as you finish shaping the loaves.
9. When loaves are almost doubled in size (15-30 minutes depending on loaf size), slide them on to a pizza peel (or a cold, edgeless cookie sheet or a cutting board) that has been sprinkled with corn meal or even just flour, and slide onto pizza stone (or into dutch oven or onto cookie sheet). If you have a broiler drawer below your oven, open it up and pour in a couple of cups of cold water to make steam.
10. Cook until crust is browned, then pull out and stick meat thermometer in and see if interior is at 200 degrees. If not, put it back in. This can take anywhere from 10 minutes for breadsticks to over an hour for one big loaf.
11. If you don't have a meat thermometer, order one on Amazon now. I don't believe in bread machines or flour scales at all, and I don't think everyone needs to run out and buy some of the stuff I use right away (pizza peel, pizza stone, various ingredients I use for more complicated breads), but I'm pretty sold on the importance of a cheap thermometer that is long enough to reach the center of the loaf. I got mine at ALDI for $7 and there are several on Amazon right now for $6-10. But for anyone who doesn't have a meat thermometer and wants to make bread today, you can just cook it until it seems almost burnt on the outside, then pull it out and cut it in half. If the cut is doughy *at all* throw the pieces back in for another 10-20 minutes until you get a completely clean cut.