Basic Dough for Buns 基础发面

If you follow a few key points in rising basic dough for buns, it’s almost a foolproof process.

Keep dry yeast in ziplock bag and store in refrigerator or even freezer. I buy RedStar 2lb bag from Costco, and they stay very effective even long past expiration date.
Use warm, but not hot water to dissolve yeast. By warm, I mean it’s warm to your touch. Hot water will kill yeast.
Use 2 tsp of yeast or 1 packet for every 3-4 cups of flour.
Use 1 teaspoon of sugar in the water to dissolve yeast. This will ensure a successful batch of dough. You will see the top of the water and yeast mixture becomes foamy. This will definitely guarantee good raised dough.
Different brand of flour has different absorbance rate, so use judgement rather than exact measurement. In general, flour to water ratio is about 2-2.2 : 1, for example 3.25 cups of flour with 1.5 cut of water. After kneading, the dough should not stick to your fingers, and it should feel very dry either. Add 1 tsp of water at a time if necessary, or 1 tbsp of flour at a time to adjust.
Let rise in warm place. In the summer I leave it out in the sun for 30 minutes. During winter months or rainy days, I place dough in warming drawer. Make sure the bowl is covered with plastic wrap so the top of the dough doesn’t dry out.

This dough can be used to make steamed pork bun, fried bun, plain bun, raised scallion pancake (with minor adjustment), Savory Scallion Bun and other types of steamed sweet buns.

南方长大的我其实对发面一窍不通，以前对发面的认识只有包子馒头，也都是店里买来吃。住在美国大农村，想吃包子只能买到冰冻的。于是开始学习自己发面做。很多次实验，失败成功参半终于悟出了一些确保零失败的发面方法。

买来未用完的干酵母一定要密封保存，放在冰箱或者冻室里，这样即便过了包装上显示的保质期还会一样有效，低温保存的酵母基本不会过期。Costco的两磅装RedStar干酵母非常经济实惠
用温水融化酵母，我一般用2：1（热水：冷水）来配置温水，热水会把酵母烫死的，如果不是太确定，宁愿用凉一点的水
融化酵母时加一点点糖，静止5分钟左右就能看到水面上浓浓的水泡，面一定会发的很好。其实对于刚买来很新鲜的干酵母第2和3这两步都可以省略，但如果不确定酵母是否有效，加上这两步肯定可以使面团发酵成功
每个牌子的面粉吸水性不同，所做的食物对发面的软硬度也会不同，总体讲面粉跟水的比例在2-2.2 ：1应该不会错。揉完的粉不应该粘手，用手指按下去能轻松地出一个坑然后慢慢反弹。如果太干或者太湿，加水或面粉都只能一勺一勺加，揉匀了再衡量
发面需要比较暖和的环境，夏天我通常放在太阳底下，半小时基本就够了，冬天或者阴雨天，放在烤箱里，烤箱打开一两分钟，让内部温度升高就行了。太热了会烫死酵母。如果温度低，多加时间也是可以的。

基础发面可以用来做各种蒸包子，水煎包，戗面馒头和发面葱油饼（略微调整酵母量）