Better Yet, Please Pass the Lemon Curd
We tried our first batch of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day today. I used the “Light Wheat Bread” recipe (a mix of whole wheat and unbleached white flours). It was supposed to make four loaves but we only got three out of it. This just means I get to try another recipe tomorrow.
Notes:
—Very tasty bread, but a bit salty, we thought? I’ll reduce the salt in the next batch.
—Fabulous crust and a wonderful crumb. Very pleased with the texture. Just perfect.
—Would definitely double the recipe next time, since the point is to have enough in the fridge to bake a new loaf every day or so. A batch of dough should keep up to two weeks. I love the thought of the flavor intensifying over time, as the dough ages and develops sourdough notes.
The method was every bit as quick and easy as advertised. Took us all of ten minutes to mix up the big batch of dough (and half of that was ingredient-assembling—I need to restock my breadmaking supplies). You’re supposed to give it an initial rise of at least two hours, and then you can use the dough right away or put it in the fridge. We cut off enough for one loaf and enjoyed that with friends a couple of hours later. The rest went back into the fridge, and I sent a loaf’s worth of dough home with my friend and baked the second loaf for our dinner.
So good.
The dough was wet and sticky—deliberately; that’s part of the method—and I really thought the first loaf was going to be a flop because it spread out a lot during the short rising time. But then it baked up beautifully. Awesome oven spring. Quite thrilling, really.
I’m itching to try the peasant rye loaf and can see keeping batches of the “light wheat” (the whole wheat/white flour mix) and of rye in the fridge all week and alternating for each day’s baking. I’m also eager to try the whole wheat recipe and the brioche.
The possibilities for that brioche dough are intoxicating.
Oh, and I must say a bit of lemon curd countered the saltiness of today’s loaves quite nicely.
I may cross-post this at the old bread blog for easier reference (that blog used to be my breadmaking notebook, for collecting recipes and advice) but for now I’m going to post my bread notes here, too.
Related:
Please Pass the Butter
Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day website (the videos are especially helpful)
Jennifer says:
I only made half a recipe the first time and forgot to halve the salt and thought, “Wow, that’s salty!”. I also did this the second time. Is there a chance you did this as well?
I like the light wheat recipe best so far. It feels a bit more virtuous and so crusty!
On March 16, 2010 at 7:02 pm
Cheryl M. says:
http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=139
Check out this link for info on the salt in the Artisan recipes…I made one batch that was too salty. I used granulated sea salt and didn’t reduce the amount. I’m now using the Morton’s Kosher Salt and find it perfect. I’m using the Cambro brand 6 quart round buckets (bought them off Amazon) and also purchased a Super Peel. I don’t want to ever buy bread again as this is better than any store bought bread. The buttermilk bread makes a great sandwich bread.
On March 16, 2010 at 7:24 pm
Mamalion says:
I think when we make bread and keep it around for a few days, the loaves out of the fridge come out a bit smaller though. I don’t care for it as much as fresh, but it’s still really, really good.
On March 16, 2010 at 7:35 pm
sarah says:
How wonderful, you have me missing my own homebaked bread.
On March 16, 2010 at 8:20 pm
Amber says:
I want to second what Cheryl M said about the salt. I’ve made it occasionally with the generic grocery store iodized salt and found the bread to be far too salty. I make it now with sea salt (from the bulk bin at my local natural foods store) and it is just perfect. I’ve made quite a few loaves from the book and I really enjoy it. I generally just make two loaves from each batch. That makes for a nice sized loaf for my family of five to eat with dinner and have a little left over for some toast in the morning. Then I put the rest of the dough in the fridge for later in the week. At this point the only bread I make is either from this book or my WW sandwich bread (I use Marilyn Moll’s recipe at the Urban Homemaker) It is such a fantastic method!
I haven’t tried anything in the last chapter yet (beyond cinnamon rolls with the basic bread recipe – they were delicious and easy), but I’m eager to do so. I just haven’t gotten around to it. And I’m a little daunted by all that butter… but I’m sure it’ll taste good!
On March 16, 2010 at 8:29 pm
Laurie M says:
What brand of Lemon Curd and/or what store did you get it at?
thanks!
sorry I’m not getting to WWF. We are skiing until the last minute, eating & collapsing!
We are having so much fun and the weather is so so beautiful!
Today we were in sweatshirts which is so nice.
However, the kids got a little sunburned yesterday and we were more diligent with sunscreen today!
On March 16, 2010 at 9:34 pm
Elizabeth M says:
Definitely check which salt you are using — and make sure you check the errors listed on the authors’ Web page. The wrong salt makes a big difference.
I can’t imagine doing a double batch — just because of space issues in my fridge. The large 6-qt container takes up enough space as it is!
Our old stand-by was the light wheat, with some oat bran and flax seed added. Right now we’re on a European Peasant Bread kick (with extra whole wheat, rye flours, and wheat gluten added).
It does keep well, but I wouldn’t plan to make enough to last 2 weeks. Some work better than others after a week — but there are some that work better as flatbreads out that far (which are still tasy). But it’s still a time saver (and delicious) even if you only have enough for a couple days.
To keep some of the developed flavor, keep some of the “old” dough in the container and mix the new dough right on top. It works really well. If there are a lot of dried edges on the side, I add a little more warm water when making the new dough.
Almost forgot — time to make a fresh rye bread to go with corned beef and cabbage tonight! Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
On March 17, 2010 at 3:19 am
Carlie says:
We’re quite addicted to lemon curd at our house. Yum!
On March 17, 2010 at 5:11 am
Melissa Wiley says:
Hmm, now I’m really confused! LOL. I used Morton’s kosher salt—saw the note about kosher vs table salt. And I checked the errata ahead of time because one of you tipped me off to that after the first post. I’m almost positive we measured the flour right because there were three of us counting together. But—I used a big 5-qt tupperware container and was surprised to see the recipe didn’t fill it even halfway. But I figured that was because the recipe, as printed in the book, is actually a half-batch, it says. So I figured they meant use the big container for a full batch (which would mean doubling the recipe).
Very strange! I just went and double-checked the errata, and it looks like mine is the newer edition with the corrections made, and one of the correx in the older edition mentions the same amount of salt we added…unless I’m confusing their instructions and should have used less *kosher salt* than *sea salt*? (And still less if I’d used the finely granulated table salt?)
Well, either way, we’ll try less salt next time around. Today! After I buy more yeast! All I had was the packets, but this time I want a jar, right? More economical?
Ooh I’m so excited to try the rye. Are caraway seeds expensive?
On March 17, 2010 at 6:16 am
KC says:
I buy my yeast in big packages from Sam’s.
On March 17, 2010 at 10:36 am