Daily Bread

[Paul_H]

I found a recipe in a magazine for a bread dough you make and store in the fridge.They call it a artisan bread or a 5 minute bread and it's nice and easy to make.
It's similar to how I used to make sourdough but it's not sour.It is crusty and pleasantly chewy,good as toast or fresh with soup and even better hot out of the oven with butter and some cheese on the side.

3 cups lukewarm water
1 1⁄2 tbsp granulated yeast (1 1⁄2 packets)
1 1⁄2 tbsp coarse kosher or sea salt
6 1⁄2 cups unsifted, unbleached, all-purpose white flour

(makes 4 small loaves)

The water salt and yeast are mixed and then the flour is added and mixed with a spoon,no kneading.The bread is left to rise covered for 3-4 hours and then placed in the fridge til you're ready to bake.
The dough is quite "wet" but a little flour helps to form it and put on the peel/bread board.My peel is just that,a 8" wide cutoff from some t&g flooring we milled awhile back.

When ready for bread,put a baking stone in the oven with a small pan of water underneath and turn the oven to preheat 450° F.In the mean time,sprinkle and spread corn meal on the peel and form the loaf and plave on the peel.When the oven is ready,open the door and give the board a flick and the dough slides off onto the stone.Shut the door and wait 30 minutes.

Here is the container we use for mixing,rising and storing. It tucks in the fridge nicely and other things can stack on top if needed.





The results,(only a 1/3 of the loaf left)





and it's good with soup!






I make it with white unbleached flour but it says you can use whole wheat etc.Ol' Buckwheat Bill from 'Brunswick could use something else   

It really is a good fast bread to make and we've had it daily since the beginning of December.In moderation  ;D

[Tom]

I love to bake bread.  Your recipe is similar to mine except that I use some sugar, less water and kneed the dough two or three times.  I kneed it to break the air bubbles up into small ones.  the more I kneed, the smaller the bubbles and the finer the bread.  Also, the more I kneed, the tougher the bread can get.  I have a use for tough bread.  It can be sliced as thin as a piece of paper, if you like, for those sandwiches where you don't want a handful of bread with a slice of ham.

[Paul_H]

Do you let yours rise and then set in the fridge or do you bake it all the same day?

[Jeff]

That looks like one of my soup recipes. 

[Paul_H]

It does doesn't it?
Carla made it tonight for the first time but i don't know where she got the recipe.

[Tom]

I will mix, kneed and rise two or three times and then bake, all in a period of about 3-5 hours.

That soup looks good, but I've gotten to where I prefer a really brothy soup.  One that can be drank from a cup.  I think it is because I'm a glutten and relish saving the flavor as long as I can.  When it is brothy, I can drink the soup and then eat the vegetables.   Glutten for Gluten.  hee hee!

[Paul_H]

A Brothy Loon :D

[WDH]

I found myself tasting both that bread and that soup .

[ohsoloco]

I got that recipe in one of my Mother Earth News emails, and I just had to try it.  It's good bread, but definitely not for making sammiches. 

Tom, the article mentioned that the dough is a little more "wet" so that it can be stored in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.  My batch didn't last that long  ;D

[Paul_H]

That's the same recipe with the same comments here.Too small for sandwiches but good with supper,soup etc.

[Tom]

I love to read the recipe's that you fellows print.  I'm going to try that recipe of Paul's one day, when I get enough room in the refrigerator.  :D

Here is the old standby recipe that I use for Yeast bread.

6-7 cups of all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons of sugar
1 tablespoon of salt
2 tablespoons of shortening
2 packages of quick acting yeast
2 1/4 cups of water (120°-130°)

Mix 3 1/2 cups of flour with the sugar, salt, shortening and yeast in a 5 quart bowl.
Stir it up with your hands, a spoon or a mixer on low, for about a minute.
Stir in enough of the remaining flour to form a manageable dough.

Turn it onto a lightly floured surface and kneed for about 10 minutes.

Place in a greased (buttered) 2 1/2 qt. bowl and let it rise, in a warm place, to double.  (cover it with a towel to keep a skin from forming)

Punch down and divide into two loaves, turning the ends and sides under.

Place the loaves into two 9" bread pans (brush each with butter)
Let rise to double

Place loaves in 425° preheated oven, on a low rack, so that the tops of the loaves are in the center of the oven.

Bake until they sound hollow when tapped (about 25-30 min.)

I will sometimes kneed and let rise as much as three times.  The fewer times you rise, the more yeast flavor occurs. The more you kneed and rise, the finer textured and denser the loaf.

The butter brushed atop the loaf just makes it brown and keeps the crust soft.  I don't always do that.

[ohsoloco]

 :D  Speaking of room in the fridge...when I made that recipe I took out a hunk to make a loaf, and put the rest in a tupperware(ish) container that the rest of the dough would fit in.  I thought the cool temps in the fridge would keep the dough from rising anymore.  Wrong  :  Popped the lid right off  :D

Tom, your recipe sounds similar to one I have for Italian bread.  A slice of that stuff freshly baked with some sour cherry preserves on top is better than cherry pie  8)

[Tom]

Yeah, this is a  basic yeast bread.  I think that most Italian breads have oil as an ingrediant.  It makes them be kinda tough.  More like a bread that you would hand break and serve with hunks of cheese.

I just called up some of the Italian and French bread recipes and they are real close.  The difference seems to be the addition of egg or egg white, not oil.

[zopi]

Set a small pan of water in the oven before baking, makes a nice chewy
crust..

or brush the tops of the loaves with salt water for a hard crust...like a baguette or boule.

If you are really into bread, get a copy of Professional Pastry Chef from the Culinary Institute of America..

[SwampDonkey]

Did I here someone calling for dinner. ;D

Looks good from here. 

I must admit though, I'm not a big bread eater.  But with that meal, I would say a piece of bread would go down pretty good.

Hmm.... Billy Buckwheat (well it was actually Buck Shot but whose counting?), reminds me of my school bus driver, he was always calling me that.  The old fart.  :D :D

[treenail]

Tried that artisan bread method too, and it was a keeper. The problem is that I'm eating too much of the stuff now. That warm , fresh bread smell from the kitchen is pretty hard to resist.

[Jeff]

This thread got me hungry for homemade bread. I have never made bread before, so this will be an experience.    I have some whole wheat flour here so I'm making honey wheat bread.

I just got it in to a bowl and covered to rise in by the fireplace.

[Paul_H]

What is that double cup? I've never seen one before.

[Jeff]

That's my dry stuff on one side, wet stuff on the other side measuring cup.

It comes in very handy sometimes.

[DanG]

I used to have a cup like that, but I threw it away.  I would put the wet stuff in, and that went well enough, but when I'd put the dry stuff in, the wet stuff would fall out. :

[Jeff]

Honey Wheat

INGREDIENTS

    * 3 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
    * 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
    * 1/3 cup honey
    * 5 cups bread flour
    * 3 tablespoons butter, melted
    * 1/3 cup honey
    * 1 tablespoon salt
    * 3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
    * 2 tablespoons butter, melted

DIRECTIONS

   1. In a large bowl, mix warm water, yeast, and 1/3 cup honey. Add 5 cups white bread flour, and stir to combine. Let set for 30 minutes, or until big and bubbly.
   2. Mix in 3 tablespoons melted butter, 1/3 cup honey, and salt. Stir in 2 cups whole wheat flour. Flour a flat surface and knead with whole wheat flour until not real sticky - just pulling away from the counter, but still sticky to touch. This may take an additional 2 to 4 cups of whole wheat flour. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to coat the surface of the dough. Cover with a dishtowel. Let rise in a warm place until doubled.
   3. Punch down, and divide into 3 loaves. Place in greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pans, and allow to rise until dough has topped the pans by one inch.
   4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 25 to 30 minutes; do not overbake. Lightly brush the tops of loaves with 2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine when done to prevent crust from getting hard. Cool completely

[WDH]

OK Boss, this is not fair.  You should have to pay some kind of penalty for making me this hungry for some of that bread .

[Jeff]

OK Boss, this is not fair.  You should have to pay some kind of penalty for making me this hungry for some of that bread .

Ok, :-\  I felt so bad I just went out and forced myself to make two pieces of toast with it. You should feel good now that I feel so bad about this tasting so good. :D

Tammy was on a trip today and just got home and had a piece. See came in the living room where I was watching 20/20 with a big smile on her face.   

[WDH]

Well I am glad that you feel so bad for making my stomach sad ;D. 

[Norm]

Yummmmm!