You can only watch, bookmark and share so many YouTube recipe videos before you start to believe you’ve have hacked chef-hood. I’d devoted hours of my life to watching people all over the world make batches and batches of all kinds of dough, and after all this time, the moment finally came to put my freezer-stored yeast to work. This is what led me down the path of bread-making.

There’s nothing as effective as warm bread and a thick slab of quality butter (that cost you N4900, by the way) on Saturday afternoon, to help remind you just how sweet life can be. But, as successful as my first attempt was, it wasn’t without challenges along the way.

Here’s what making homemade bread taught me — and some mildly important lessons you can learn too.

Chefs make everything look easy

How many times do you hear some Instagram food influencer tell you how “quick” and “so easy to do!” a recipe is, only for the video to require that you whip out 25 ingredients from your kitchen cupboard, only 4 of which normal people have lying around?

God bless my hero, Joshua Weissman, but all that fermenting, kneading and waiting isn’t for everyone.

A little more salt goes a long way

You’d be surprised just how much undersalted bread can fall flat. It’s a mistake I made when baking bread for the first (and only, so far) time and I regret it, particularly because the loaf was actually pretty good. Use the precise amount of salt your recipe calls for and maybe even a pinch extra for yummier results.

It’s okay to do something well and still quit

As I mentioned, my milky, sweet bread was a success but it’s not an experience I’m convinced I want to have again. Albeit quite fun to try, it was quite a technical process and the pressure was on to really get it right. Ultimately… 👇🏾

Cooking trumps baking

Ugh, God bless good old easy stir-fries, goat meat stew and Jollof rice that require more cooking from the heart than precision. I love croissants and cheesecake as much as the next sweet tooth, but I’m very happy to leave the hard labour to others. Patience is a virtue — except when it’s not necessary.

Everything is better with good butter

I made my bread with margarine because I was saving the real stuff for the slathering stage, but retrospectively, it would have been worth splashing out a little. It was tasty, good bread but good quality butter in the dough would have taken it to another level.

GIVING UP CARBS SHOULD NEVER BE A THING

What really is life without the beautiful things flour, salt and water produce? In our pursuit of fitness, let’s remember all the great things bread, pastry, pasta and rice have done for us, and honour them as often as possible.

6 Life Lessons You Can Learn From Making Bread at Home