Basic Ingredients
I will go into more detail about each of these in the future, but here are some basic thoughts
The flour
It's important to use good quality, strong flour, also known as high gluten or baker's flour. Gluten is a protein which stretches and becomes stringy, allowing the dough to 'wrap around' the bubbles produced by the yeast. Some people are allergic to gluten, and suffer from coeliac disease. I use Kialla brand flour, but if you can't get this try your local health food shop for an alternative. Good quality organic flour from the supermarket will do just as well.
http://www.kiallafoods.com.au/
The water
Most domestic water contains chlorine. I use filtered water at room temperature. If you don't have a filter use still mineral water, tap water will impede the yeast. I live in a warm climate, if you live somewhere colder you may need to heat the water until it feels slightly warm to your hand. It doesn't really matter, but it will take longer for the bread to rise if the water is cooler.
The salt
I used non-iodised salt, because as for the chlorine in water, I worry about iodine interfering with the yeast. Coarse sea salt or rock salt is ok but you will need to grind it or dissolve it in the water. Otherwise you'll have a crunchy load, and not in a good way.
The yeast
I have found the best yeast to use is the dried yeast sold for beer making. I keep it in the freezer. Most authors say fresh yeast is better, but dried is perfectly fine.
A bit of fat
A small amount of butter, oil or cream added to a basic load is not necessary, but it can improve the taste and the texture of a loaf. Not too much though, roughly a tablespoon for a standard load.
Basic Equipment
You don't need much, but once you get into it you could keep on buying forever.
Oven
Each oven is different - you just need to know your own. I have made bread in a pizza oven, in a Weber barbeque, and attempted and failed dismally to make some in a brick woodfired oven on a holiday in Cyprus.
Kneading
I have to confess I cheat here. Kneading by hand is ideal, and I do do it, but I find it really boring and I have a wrist injury, so I tend to be lazy and use machines to help. Kneading is good exercise, and the warmth and moisture from your hands will make a better loaf, so please try! Or you can be lazy like me. I always do the second knead and shaping by hand so that makes me feel less guilty.
Initially I used a dough hook on a Kitchenaid mixer, but I found this unsatisfactory. I now use a machine called Thermomix, which as well as having a dough mixing function can also mill the wheat grain, so this is perfect for me. It is an incredible machine which does a lot of other useful things, but it is expensive. If you're interested:
http://www.thermomix.com.au/
Bread tins
I tend to go for the free form loaf, but bread tins are useful. I will do a couple recipes using them next. I have to say the standard bread tin available in most department stores etc are next to useless. They are not deep enough and they are too light, and buckle in the oven. I managed to find a couple of bread tins in various cooking/kitchenware shops that are solidly made, black on the outside and grey on the inside. I don't know the brand but these are the only ones worth buying.
No knead dough and cooking under cover
Most of the bread I cook is inside a cast iron pot or clay roaster, inside the oven. This is a fairly new technique which gives an incredible taste and crunchy, shattering crust otherwise not possible in a home oven. To read more visit:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/081mrex.html
These guys are simply amazing and I will do a separate post on this type of bread baking in the future. It's so much fun to experiment with this style of cooking, and I have used a number of different techniques and pots to get some really good results.
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