Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day; recipe at post 30

Magentasue

Having tried this a few times now, I've found:

1) 2lb flour for 750ml water works as a guide but sometimes I need more water. I think it's like pastry. When you've made enough, you can just tell when it's the right mix.

2) The first batch spreads more and bakes flatter. The following day, it seems to behave better.

ashbart

I made cinnamon rolls last night and they were nothing like the ones from previous posts.... I took the dough out of the fridge, let it rise for an hour, rolled it out, added the sugar, cinnamon, and butter, rolled it up, cut it and they were not fluffy at all! The 'rolls' collapsed even before I put them on the baking tray. They tasted ok but, I'm not satisfied...!

Anyone know where I'm going wrong?? Thanks! x

mumoftwo

I spread the cinnamon/sugar/butter mixture on, rolled it, cut it and then rested it, then baked it.

ashbart

Thanks mumoftwo - I will try again! Did you use melted butter or unmelted and how thick was your dough once you rolled it out? I just found they completely fell apart, once I cut them and tried turning them over...!

champys

Did you know you can make artisan bread in a cast iron casserole (lid on) in the oven without even needing to preheat the oven?

I was just browsing the internet for a French version of the recipe for my neighbours, who are very interested in the technique, and found a French lady reporting that is how she is making the bread. She makes the 'boule', puts it in the pot lined with baking parchment, closes with the lid and then it goes into the cold oven. She sets it for 240° and takes it out 40 to 50 mins later depending on the quantity of dough she has used (1/3 or 1/2 of the full quantity). A link to her website with photos is here.

Jeff Hertzberg, author of the book, has put a comment on her website as follows:

(quote)
Florence: Very nice-looking bread and pizza, thanks for trying all these. I'm Jeff Hertzberg, one of the co-authors of the book.

We've had great success baking our dough inside closed heavy containers like the cast-iron casserole in your pictures. The crust becomes crisp and caramelized without adding steam to the oven because the container traps steam next to the loaf. This technique isn't in our book (we tried to keep it simple), so thanks for getting the word out!

Jeff www.artisanbreadinfive.com (unquote)

Thought this was interesting - no messing around with a pizza peel, cornmeal, baking stone or water container.

ethansmum

sunnth wrote: »

Hi, i'm still having trouble getting this recipe right. I've watched the videos but my bread is still not much good - my kids eat it though and have named it flatbread! It looks lovely when I cut a bit off, shape it gently into a ball and put it on a tray but after an hour of resting before putting in the oven it hasn't risen upwards at all - just spread outwards like a very large fat cookie. Any ideas of what is going wrong? I have tried several times with no improvement so far. The texture of the dough seems ok and I used 3 cups water to 6.5 cups flour. I really want to get the hang of this.

Personally, I gave up with that method. I bought some loaf tins from Tesco(non stick 2 quid each). I pull a piece of dough off and just flatten it out into the loaf tin. It rises beautifully just like a mini loaf of bread. The bonus is that you don't need to line it either because it just slips out of the tin

ethansmum

Wheres everyone buying the book from? I saw it for £8 but was out of stock then when it came back in the price had gone up to £12!

mumoftwo

ashbart wrote: »

Thanks mumoftwo - I will try again! Did you use melted butter or unmelted and how thick was your dough once you rolled it out? I just found they completely fell apart, once I cut them and tried turning them over...!

I didn't bother melting the butter because it was really soft already from sitting in the cupboard, so was easy to spread. It is fiddly but better if the dough has been in the fridge so it is cold and easier to work with. I either just push the dough out with my hands or roughly roll it out into a rectangle, don't spend ages on it, mine isn't very thinly rolled or anything, HTH

ashbart

Thanks mumoftwo! I am making another batch tonight/tomorrow so will give it another go!

ethansmum - I bought it from the 'used and new' section on amazon from a company called Aphrohead. It was £9.61 + delivery. Here is the link: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/0312362919/ref=dp_olp_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1217836499&sr=8-1

mumoftwo

Made the Brioche, it is fantastically good, far too good!! Everyone loves it and it is soft and melt in the mouth, much better than any supermarket. Here is a picture:



What has everyone else made from the book?

I got the book from Amazon, it had to come from the States but I phoned Borders and WH SMith and they can order it.