Plaid Dad Posted June 15, 2008 Share Posted June 15, 2008 If you have not yet discovered Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, run, do not walk, to your nearest source of books and have a look. It is just incredible. My dw just made the most delicious semolina bread with no kneading and no fuss. The only requirement is a big bowl and a baking stone - dw got an unglazed slate tile at Home Depot for about $5. Oh. my. word. (Can you tell I'm really, really excited about this book?) Enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HollyDay Posted June 15, 2008 Share Posted June 15, 2008 Thanks!! Always looking for great bread baking books!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diana in OR Posted June 15, 2008 Share Posted June 15, 2008 Yum! I will check the library this afternoon. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver0f10 Posted June 15, 2008 Share Posted June 15, 2008 Sounds great, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommieeeee Posted June 15, 2008 Share Posted June 15, 2008 It says that you can make a weeks dough and store it in the refrigerator and then just pull out what you need and bake. Have you tried this yet? I would be really interested in this book if someone I knew tried this and it worked. I looked at the link and read the excerpts. But, I can't figure out if it allows you to use wheat flour or not. Can you tell me if it does? Or are the recipes white flour specific? (I just don't like how all bread recipes taste when they are made for white flour and wheat flour is substituted.) Looks like a great book! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storm Bay Posted June 15, 2008 Share Posted June 15, 2008 If you have not yet discovered Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, run, do not walk, to your nearest source of books and have a look. It is just incredible. My dw just made the most delicious semolina bread with no kneading and no fuss. The only requirement is a big bowl and a baking stone - dw got an unglazed slate tile at Home Depot for about $5. Oh. my. word. (Can you tell I'm really, really excited about this book?) Enjoy! Dh, the only wheat eater in the house, will have 2 questions. 1. Can you toast it in a conventional toaster? 2. Does it work well for sandwiches to pack along for work? As the bread baker, I love this time saving idea, but so far dh likes his bread made in traditional loaf pans. I should add that dh eats a lot of toast. A lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleepy Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 Okay, okay, I'm going to check it out. I promise. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plaid Dad Posted June 16, 2008 Author Share Posted June 16, 2008 But, I can't figure out if it allows you to use wheat flour or not. Can you tell me if it does? Or are the recipes white flour specific? There are several of whole-wheat recipes: light whole wheat, 100% whole wheat sandwich bread, and another mixed white-whole wheat recipe. There is a soft white sandwich loaf (which I would bet would make good toast), challah, fougasse, brioche, bagels, bialys, babka...it goes on and on. We've only tried two recipes so far, but both have been fantastic and super easy. Dw did indeed make a batch of dough and let it sit in the fridge for a few days, since it was really hot here and she didn't want to fire up the oven. The book says the flavor improves as the dough sits. That particular recipe reminded me of San Francisco-style sourdough. The one we had tonight, a semolina bread, had the same flavor as an Italian bread my dw used to get in Boston. I love home-baked bread, but it always seems to daunting to make it. This makes it easy enough that we can pretty much kiss store-bought bread goodbye. Even our super-picky dd will eat it. :hurray: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommieeeee Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 One more question, Does this book have lots of pictures? When it comes to cooking and baking, especially bread, I need pictures! I am very much a visual learner, then kinesthetic... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjzimmer1 Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 I got this book from the library about a month ago. I have never baked bread before because the whole mix, knead, raise, punch down, raise process seemed a bit daunting to me. With this book I through 4 ingredients (water, salt, yeast and flour) in a plastic bucket stir it up. Let it sit on the counter for a while and stick it in the fridge. Over the course of a week or so (the longest I've kept it was 10 days and yep it was still good) I just scoop a chunk out of the pan and spread a little flour over the service so it doesn't fell sticky anymore and drop it on a piece of parchment paper. Come back later and put it in the oven and we have fresh bread. I've only tried wheat once (and with my first ever attempt at fresh milled flour at that) and it came out way too heavy so I mixed another batch of straight white in on top of the remaining dough and our 1/2 white 1/2 wheat came out very tasty. Anyways I bought the book before my month from the library was up because I was so impressed and with 76 people on the wait list at the library it wasn't likely I'd be getting the book again anytime soon and my family was so spoiled with the fresh bread that they would not have been happy if they had to wait months for me to make some again. Stephanie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vida Winter Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 It says that you can make a weeks dough and store it in the refrigerator and then just pull out what you need and bake. Have you tried this yet? I would be really interested in this book if someone I knew tried this and it worked. I looked at the link and read the excerpts. But, I can't figure out if it allows you to use wheat flour or not. Can you tell me if it does? Or are the recipes white flour specific? (I just don't like how all bread recipes taste when they are made for white flour and wheat flour is substituted.) Looks like a great book! It works best with unbleached white flour but I have successfully used 50% wheat flour (which I grind). It is so easy to make this bread that I have started baking the communion bread for our church and usually bake a big batch of bread for the coffee hour after church as well (the morning of our church service). Since I started using this method I do not knead dough - ever. I also no longer bake in a pan; all my loaves are free-form. I did have to invest in a baking stone and pizza peel (super peel to be exact). Very good bread; excellent method. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diana in OR Posted June 17, 2008 Share Posted June 17, 2008 I didn't get to the library. However, since Borders is right across the street from ds' school, I stopped in there when I went to pick him up from football practice today. I did something totally out of character... I found the book, looked it over and was impressed, and I bought it, totally on a whim, all $27.95 of it (well, I had $2.00 left on a gift card). No coupons. :eek: No discounts. I am going to take $25.00 of my grocery budget this week. I will be glad to report the results as soon as I make my first batch of bread, which will hopefully be tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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