Bread – Does proofing time affect the density of bread

I'll try to be specific without getting into too much detail here:

1. The chewiness (AKA elasticity) - of dough is due to the formation of gluten. This is affected by:

   • The amount of flour used (gluten is the result of water and various proteins in flour, specifically glutenin and gliadin);
   • Type of flour used (high-gluten flour such as bread flour gives means a chewier result);
   • Fat content (fat insulates the proteins from the water, slowing gluten formation);
   • Sugar content (in order for gluten to form, it must be dissolved; a high sugar content saturates the water and prevents dissolution of the proteins);
   • Baking time (up to a certain point, until all of the available proteins have been used up).
     
     

2. The crust (I assume this is what you're referring to by "softness") - is primarily the result of the Maillard reaction, which requires an amino acid and a sugar as well as heat. The longer and more quickly the reaction carries on, the crispier and browner the crust will be. The factors are:

   • Baking temperature (higher = crispier);
   • Baking time (longer = crispier);
   • Moisture (less = crispier). This has an effect because the evaporation temperature of water (100° C / 212° F) is lower than that required for the Maillard reaction (154° C / 310° F), so the reaction can only take place once all water has evaporated or been converted to gluten.
   • Acidity (pH) also inhibits the Maillard reaction but this is not normally a concern in bread.
     
     

3. Finally, the moistness of the bread is essentially a combination of the first two:

   • Higher fat content means less gluten is formed and more of the moisture is preserved, as long as it doesn't evaporate. The fat itself also adds a certain amount of moisture as far as mouth-feel is concerned.

   • Higher sugar content also preserves more of the moisture and using a wetter sugar (i.e. brown or muscovado) provides some moisture of its own - although the latter can easily evaporate with over-baking.

   • Longer baking times cause more of the water to evaporate, which reduces the final level of moisture in the finished bread.

   • Higher baking temperatures also cause more water to evaporate. However, it's usually a trade-off between higher temperatures or longer baking. A good recipe tends to be optimized to provide a slightly crispy crust without over-developing gluten or drying out the bread.

If your bread (or similar baked product) ended up too dry, it's probably because you over-baked it or baked at too high a temperature. If it came out too chewy (glutinous), you might have used too strong a flour or not enough fat/sugar.

To make basic bread, including Zwiebelbrot, all you need is a place to mix and knead ingredients (clean work surface or large mixing bowl), a warmish place for rising, and an oven with reasonable temperature control.

For the onions you need a small pan, and a stove top. Or you can do them in the oven too!

Therefore, your kitchen looks fine.

Making bread is not difficult, or hard work. The effort and time required for kneading bread is way overrated. Also have patience, allow the dough to rise properly.

Expect a few failures; search the net about any failures, if you have them.

Use a marker pen on the oven dial when you find the right temperature (The calibration of the dials is usually not very accurate).

For Zwiebelbrot, you can cook the onions in a shallow tray or light pan in the oven while waiting for it to come up to temperature for the bread. Make sure you cool the onions before spreading on the dough. A simple way is to spread them out on a spare metal oven tray for a few moments first.