Your title seriously made my cringe, as I thought of another "mastachef" and his recipes.
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I wish I could answer more questions on this, but I am still a novice baker. I'll still give you the knowledge I've gleaned from messing with dough.
Pizza stone? I don't really use one (I like my pizza a bit on the doughy side) but I'll pass this link on that was given to me by Snowy or Amonkie (I forget which one) for a DIY pizza stone that is light on the wallet.
DIY: Make a Homemade Pizza Stone for $5 Dollars - Planet Green
Yeast: I use Fleischmann's active dry yeast, but it's only cause I can't find any different kinds of yeast in my town. Charlatan's link on yeast summed up a lot of what I could say, so I'd read it. The only difference between packet yeast and jarred yeast is that most recipes I've come across call for a packet of yeast. Packets make it easy to measure, but are more expensive. [For the record, when a recipe calls for a packet of yeast, it is equal to 2.25 teaspoons of yeast.]
Jarred yeast needs to be refrigerated and packet does not. Yeast needs to come up to room temp before proofing so packets save time in that aspect. I'd say go with packets until you get a few loafs under your belt and then upgrade to jars. It really depends on how much bread/dough you make a week. If this is going to be a once in a while thing, go packets.
Having baking powder and baking soda on hand isn't a bad idea. I've had a lot of recipes call for it and the shelf life on the items are long. It is a good investment if you plan on baking a lot of different items.
Flour: I've come to find out, you can't have enough flour. I use AP flour for most things, bread flour for heavier loafs, and have 3 other flours in my cabinet (Semolina, Corn Meal, and Whole Wheat) for various reasons. If you really get into baking, you are going to have a mectric crapton of flours around.
Flour, Types of Flour, How To Buy Flour, How To Store FlourBuying
I couldn't find the exact link to the article I read on flour, but that sums it up on flours.
Tools of the trade are a good thing to have. I have two sets of measuring spoons, a rolling pin, two 5x9 bread pans, and a host of other things. Baking takes a lot of tools, but just start small and work your way up. You don't need a bread machine (tho they help) or a Standing mixer like snowy has (she bakes way to much), those things are costly (She went the easy route and got married to get one).
Recipes are important and where you find them is as well. I've heard good things about
, but haven't looked at it myself. I get my recipes off of http://allrecipes.com or http://www.bakespace.com which can be hit or miss. Snowy and I discussed this earlier and she doesn't hit those sites. The recipes are not tested and can be difficult to reproduce a good bread out of them. What works in one kitchen doesn't always work in another. Like I said, hit or miss.
All and all I'd say, get you a good book and play around in the kitchen. Baking is a science as cooking is an art. Baking is precise and cooking has a lot of wiggle room when it comes to recipes. Follow the recipes exactly to the gram or you end up with rock hard baseball like rolls.