For example, if I use milk instead of water, what will happen? If I add a whole egg, or egg white, or egg yolk, what will happen? What will butter do? Do butter and oil affect bread differently? Does honey work differently in bread than sugar? Stuff like that. Thanks for any help!
Hey, I am not sure If you have checked this out already but TFL has a great lessons section that covers some basic techniques and in lesson 2 it goes over what different additions will do to your bread.If you have not already I would recommend going over all of those lessons as they are very helpful. Good luck
-Niccolo
Look for books like:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GUPBRUG/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1
There is a chapter on ingredients.
This is her website:
http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/2010/08/the_complete_bread_bible_inclu.html#.WAjEKyxSNmB
There are other authors and other books and websites. You have a great question and the info you find will hel you but the best way to understand the ingredients and their role in a given recipe is to bake thoughtfully with the information in mind. Plan multiple bakes of a recipe, tracking what you do, and change only 1 thing with a subsequent bake so you can see the difference. This scientific method of experimentation will get you furthest, the fastest. Then you can change your name to "Canbakeall"
USE THE SEARCH! It works well on this site and there are great resources here, in addition to the people.
http://www.thefreshloaf.com//bookreviews/breadscience
For your specific questions I cannot think of a better resource than the 2010 teaching text "bread baking An Artisan's Perspective" by Daniel T DiMuzio. It is the best resource I have come across.
I purchased mine used on Amazon and it was well worth it for me.