5 Links to Read Before Baking Bread

Each week, we’ll be sharing a comprehensive list of links to help you master something new in the kitchen. Culinary greatness, here you come.

Today: Learn the timeless art of baking bread.

Winter is the ideal season to bake fresh bread at home. Time spent posted up inside -- hiding from below-zero temperatures -- could be time spent making a starter or mixing and shaping perfect loaves. Handmade bread saves you money and promises for a more wholesome product (you're controlling the ingredients, after all). Plus, it has the added bonus of making your home feel like a cozy French patisserie. Ready to get baking? These links will help.

• Bread genius Chad Robertson gives us five essential tips for baking bread. (Food52.)

• The science behind making sourdough bread. (NPR.)

• Five ways to tell if you've made a good loaf or not. (The Kitchn.)

• Secrets to making almost no-knead and yeast breads. (America's Test Kitchen.)

• We can't discuss no-knead bread without including this famous recipe. (The New York Times.)

What do you want to read about next? Tell us in the comments!