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

hathor

Thanks for the encouragement, WeBeBroke. I will give it another try.

I take your point about using an oven thermometer. One thing occurs to me that I'd like an opinion on: the book talks about pre-heating for a good 30 minutes or so. I had assumed this only applied if you were using a baking stone, so that it could thoroughly come up to temperature. I don't have a stone, so have been baking just on a metal baking sheet, with a floured silicone sheet to put the bread on - purely to save washing up. I have been putting the bread in the oven a few minutes after it had come up to temperature. Do you think I should go for a longer pre-heat, even without the stone?

pixie1

Well my bread didnt actually look that great but t tasted nice. We decided to warm it through later last night and turn it into garlic bread :j

This is before it got drenched in garlic butter and herbs



I then made a large loaf in a cake tin (I dont have a bread tin) which turned out ok but Im not getting a nice colour to the crust. It also feels extremly heavy lol. Im going to keep trying, will try again next week. I think it maybe something to do with my oven no getting hot enough.

Pix

WeBeBroke

hathor wrote: »

Thanks for the encouragement, WeBeBroke. I will give it another try.

I take your point about using an oven thermometer. One thing occurs to me that I'd like an opinion on: the book talks about pre-heating for a good 30 minutes or so. I had assumed this only applied if you were using a baking stone, so that it could thoroughly come up to temperature. I don't have a stone, so have been baking just on a metal baking sheet, with a floured silicone sheet to put the bread on - purely to save washing up. I have been putting the bread in the oven a few minutes after it had come up to temperature. Do you think I should go for a longer pre-heat, even without the stone?

Yes I usually heat up for around 30 minutes - whether I use the stone or the tin. But mainly because I have a silly-size oven which takes ages to heat up to the right temp. Requires planning so I don't waste the heat! Sometimes I make bread after I've made a cake or a roast dinner (this method makes it really easy as the dough is already in the fridge and just needs to warm up for 45 minutes) which means I don't have to wait the 30 minutes. I can just turn the oven up high and put it in after 5-10 mins.
The thermometer really helps as sometimes what the dial says and what the thermometer says are two different things.

WBBx

rowsew

hathor wrote: »

Any clues as to where I'm going wrong? The kitchen's not warm, but the book led me to expect that it would simply take the dough longer to rise. I left the second one for a whole day without improvement, so I don't think temperature's the answer. I've got some in the kitchen now, and have even heated the room, but it isn't making any difference.

Is my dough too wet to hold its shape? Having said that, I haven't had any better luck on the rising front when I've used a loaf tin. I used yeast from a new tin, dated until 2012, so the yeast should be active, and the initial rise was very encouraging.

When baked, the loaf tastes okay, with a good crust, although the texture is closer to a crumpet than bread, if I'm honest.

Help, please; I so want this to work!

Hello there. I note you said 'tin' of yeast. Are you using active dried yeast or fast acting yeast? This will make a difference - I mistakenly used the active dried yeast from a tin once, and had a really cr*ppy rise. Now I only use Doves Farm yeast (about £2) - it comes in an orange foil packet, which makes *loads* of batches. The other stuff you can use is the sachets - but they work out to be really expensive. I keep it in the fridge once it's been open, and that helps to keep it fresh. Otherwise, I can't think of a specific reason for the flatness.
Hope this helps, let me know how you are getting on.

rowsew

For those of you having problems at the 'shaping your loaf' stage, after 3 years, I have come to the conclusion that doing it with NO flour, and very wet hands works the best. The only time I use flour now is if I am rolling out the dough for a pizza base, pittas and the like. Otherwise, me and the dough box are over to the sink, getting friendly with the tap!

hathor

Hi Rowsew

Thanks for your comments. You make an interesting point. I have been using dried active yeast, which is what I use when baking bread in the conventional way. The initial rise from the dough in the bucket is spectacular, just like the pictures posted here, in fact, but it only seems to have the energy for the one rise.

Next batch, I'll try some Dove's - hope I can get it, we only have a T Exp & T Metro supermarket, and I have found that they often don't have the full range that a "proper" supermarket would stock. Thought: maybe I'll try H&B for Dove's yeast...

rowsew

hathor wrote: »

Hi Rowsew

Thanks for your comments. You make an interesting point. I have been using dried active yeast, which is what I use when baking bread in the conventional way. The initial rise from the dough in the bucket is spectacular, just like the pictures posted here, in fact, but it only seems to have the energy for the one rise.

Next batch, I'll try some Dove's - hope I can get it, we only have a T Exp & T Metro supermarket, and I have found that they often don't have the full range that a "proper" supermarket would stock. Thought: maybe I'll try H&B for Dove's yeast...

If you can't find it yourself, find someone who can get it for you, and buy a few at a time if you can afford it. My Mum goes to a Waitrose that stocks it, so when she's on her way I always ask her to pick up several packets for me. It keeps for ages. And I did find out the other day that the wholefood shop sells it too, so H&B might as well. Good luck!

MaggieBaking

Made some the other day - a right flop It wasn't anywhere near watery enough - and I forgot the instruction to pour water on top and let it soak in. Instead I roughly mixed some more water in and then created a loaf.

And by created, I mean manhandled onto a pizza stone and prayed. It was terrible!

My own fault though, so I will try again.

angeltreats

Is anyone still using this book/method?

Months and months after buying the book and then ignoring it, our breadmaker is on its way out. I wouldn't care but my DH refuses to learn to make dough from scratch, so I figure this might be the way forward - if there's always dough in the fridge he can just pull a bit out, shape it, let it rise and bake it. Currently he is happy(ish) making dough in a breadmaker and then shaping it and baking it in the oven.

Just made up a batch of dough for the first time and it's sitting on the sofa beside me rising, but it's just so wet in comparison with "normal" dough that I'm not convinced it'll work.

pixie1

I tried once more ans it didnt work out well again but after reading through these posts again it looks like using organic flour maybe the way to go for a better more firm loaf.

Im busy all weekend but i may try and do this in the week - give it one last go. I will let you know how it goes.

Pix