Water Vs Milk: How They Affect Your Homemade Bread

Baking bread is one of the kitchen's most rewarding adventures. Few things compare to kneading by hand, patiently waiting for dough to rise, and then finally tearing into a warm loaf fresh from the oven. And for all its potential pitfalls, baking bread can be quite simple when you get the hang of it. Once you've got a bread recipe that you're confident in, you can try substitutions, swaps, and embellishments to zhuzh up your go-to loaf. One substitution that you may have already tried is swapping water out for milk.

Water and milk may seem like a low-consequence swap to make, but the choice can affect how your bread turns out in several ways. When substituting the standard water for milk in a bread recipe, you'll want to consider what kind of milk you're using, the fat and sugar content, and the flavor that may or may not be affected depending on what kind of milk you use. After all, there are lots of different kinds of milks, and each will interact a little differently in the  breadmaking process. You'll also have to consider the ratio of water to milk, because it's not an ounce-for-ounce match. But whether you're in a pinch or just curious, it's worth exploring milk versus water in your bread — who knows, you might discover your new favorite recipe.

The most basic of bread recipes include flour, salt, yeast, and water. It's a tried-and-true combination that has been around seemingly since the beginning of time. From crusty French bread to a soft and puffy pita bread, this mix of ingredients can create all different kinds of bread textures, crusts, and flavors just with a simple shift in amounts and process.

Water is extremely important in breadmaking because moisture is a crucial element. The chemistry of bread is quite complex, and water is necessary for several key reasons. In simple terms, water activates the fermentation process of the yeast (which also requires a specific temperature), helps dissolve and evenly distribute salt or sugar, and hydrates the proteins and starches that develop gluten. Water is literally the glue that holds bread together and helps to kick off all the chemical reactions that occur in your dough. Water is the common choice of moisture in most bread recipes because it's accessible, cheap, and doesn't have extra fat or sugar content that could disrupt gluten production or strongly influence the flavor. Unless following a recipe that specifically says otherwise, it's probably best to stick to using water in your breadmaking until you get comfortable making substitutions. After all, bread can be a finicky medium, so it's easier if you nail the basics first.

You may see some bread recipes call for milk instead of water as the hydration factor in bread dough; this could be for a few different reasons. One, milk has fat and sugar in it but is still mostly made up of water — about 87%, according to the International Dairy Foods Association. One thing to consider with milk and breadmaking is that you'll need more of it than you would water in a recipe to account for that 87% water content. So if you're following a recipe that calls for water and you're using milk instead, you'll have to do a little math.

The fat and sugar in milk inhibits gluten production, which, in turn, makes the texture of the resulting bread a little softer and less chewy. Gluten is also what creates the pockets of air that you see in typical crusty loaves, so with less gluten there's less air bubbles too. The fat and sugar from milk can also add some flavor to your bread and help caramelize the crust quickly while the inside remains fluffy and doughy. That's why you might see milk as an ingredient for things like cinnamon rolls, white bread, sweet Hawaiian rolls, and, of course, milk bread. All in all, milk and water can certainly be used in place of one another in bread recipes, but you'll need to make some other adjustments as well to ensure consistent results.