Have y'all seen the picture circulating on Facebook of a woman from Texas baking bread in her mailbox? I glanced through the comments looking for someone to chime in with a "just kidding" or an "April Fools," but surprisingly, some commenters seemed to take it seriously.

While it's true that summertime might not be the optimal season for baking bread due to the temperature's impact on the process, my enthusiasm for improving my brioche recipe has pushed me to experiment, even in less-than-ideal conditions. As a result, I've uncovered a few tricks that could also enhance your warm-weather bread-making experience.

1. Pre-chill the bread machine pan: Particularly for recipes involving brioche, sourdough, or any that utilize an overnight preferment, cooling the bread machine pan before use is a game-changer.
2. Opt for bread recipes with dough that can be refrigerated overnight. This way, you can bake the bread early in the morning before the scorching temperatures take over.
3. Use liquid ingredients cold out of the refrigerator: No need to let things like eggs, milk, or butter come to room temperature.
4. When the kneading phase ends, remove the bread machine pan from the machine and move it to a cooler location for proofing the dough. Note: Don't forget to set your own timer if you try this.

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​Brioche, as you might already know, isn't exactly a beginner's bread recipe. It ranks with Ciabatta and Sourdough without Yeast in terms of complexity. However, I've tried to simplify the process by capturing step-by-step images, allowing you to compare the dough in your machine at each stage.

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Speaking of temperatures, as I write this, we're experiencing a scorching 106˚F here in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, and my mailbox interior is 96˚F (I actually checked). Trying to bake raw bread dough in my mailbox would result in an anemic white loaf, not a golden brown finish like a conventional oven produces.

Stay cool,

Paula

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