Simple Bread

[caleb]

My nearest Breadsmith is probably in Winnipeg and the border crossing these days is slow, so I'm working on baking my own bread. I've been having good results so far, but most recipes I've used have required multiple steps and even days.

I'd really like to develop a collection of simple bread recipes to work from once or twice a week, treating home baked bread as a staple rather than a novelty. I'm thinking water/flour(s)/yeast/salt/honey in the Kitchen Aid with the dough hook, let it rise in a bread pan, then stick it in the oven.

I know about the no-knead approach, and I'm planning to get the Tartine Bread book. Beyond those, what simple bread recipes are you guys using?

[maunahaole]

I'll check with the Mrs. She has been experimenting with bread over the summer and had some good results. The only takeaway that I have from this is that precision in measurement of your ingredients is key.

[robin3mj]

I use Jamie Oliver's basic recipe:

3x sachets yeast
1kg flour
tbsp salt
honey
1 (UK) pint (20oz) tepid water

Dissolve the yeast and honey in half the water.
Pour into a big bowl with the flour and salt.
Knead. Add the rest of the water as needed.
Cover and let rise.
Bash the hell out of it and let rise again.
Bake/freeze.

If doing pizza- don't let it rise the 2nd time- just bash the air out and roll into crust shape.

Easy peasy.

I usually do at least 2 batches at once and freeze a bunch. You lose a bit of the airiness upon baking when you freeze it, but I think it's still better than most store-bought bread. Doesn't matter as much for pizza, so it's nice to have that option on a random weeknight you don't wanna cook.

[jitahs]

I've baked about 75 loaves over the last year and consider it a staple. Nothing but spontaneously-leavened starter, salt, flour. Some malted barley flour helps the nuttiness and gets things fermenting, available in what some manufacturers call Unbleached All Purpose Flour. The Tartine book was overwhelming for me, frankly. No way to control temps to that precise a degree, or fermentation times, but you get a very good grounding in basics.

It is amazing how different every loaf is.

[Dorman]

I have used King Arthur's white bread 101 recipe for a couple of years and it always turns out great for an easy to make white loaf.

3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup nonfat dry milk
1/4 cup potato flour
1 1/8 cups lukewarm water

Melt the butter and combine all the ingredients in the mixer/processor. I use my kitchen aid with dough hook on medium speed for 15 minutes. Then I work it with my hands until it feels right and put it in a plastic proof bucket with a lid for about an hour (maybe more depending on temp). Then shape into a loaf and put in greased loaf pan and cover with plastic until it rises a couple inches above the pan edge. About another hour. I find it helps to do all of the rising on the counter right above a running dishwasher.

Bake at 350 deg. for 35-40 minutes and tent with foil towards the end if it is getting too brown on top. Immediately remove from pan and cool on a wire rack. You can brush it with butter after cooling 15 minutes if you want a softer crust.

The yeast I'm using is the instant stuff you buy in a 16 oz. package. I keep it in the freezer in an air tight container.

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[Too Tall]

Jim Lahey "My Bread". Worth the read. This is about as little effort as you can and still have crusty goodness.

[AJPM44]

20oz flour. I use half white, half whole wheat
12 oz water
1 teaspoon yeast
2 tsp salt
1 tbl honey
1 tbl olive oil

bake it in a dutch oven at 450 for 30 minutes, take the lid off and bake another 10 or 15 more.

With this recipe you can add different dry ingredients once it starts to come together. If you add wet ingredients, add a little more flour. The basic premise is 5 parts flour to 3 parts water, adjust for more as needed.

[randonneur]

I've heard good things about this no-knead recipe which was featured a while back in the NYT, but I haven't got around to trying it out myself.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/di...mrex.html?_r=0

[Bkat]

Once you get the hang of one of the no-knead concept you can improvise variations and assimilate recipes with other ingredients into the mix without too much fuss. I find making bread is more a matter of feel more than a strict adherence to any particular recipe. Basically, bread is just flour, salt, yeast, and water. It's the little things (temperature of the water, temperature and humidity of the air, etc.) that are what really make or break a good loaf. That being said, The Bread Baker's Apprentice covers a good range. Even an oldie like the Tassajara Bread Book gives you a nice, friendly walk-through on baking good bread.

[caleb]

I've heard good things about this no-knead recipe which was featured a while back in the NYT, but I haven't got around to trying it out myself.

I made a batch on Tuesday night and used the NYT recipe with the addition of Test Kitchen's idea of transporting the dough on parchment paper. Turned out great, although the crust was overly tough. It would have been great with soup, but not so much as a sandwich bread to be sliced thin.

[randonneur]

I made a batch on Tuesday night

Thanks for the report. Now I'm definitely going to have to try this out...

[rwsaunders]

Firing this thread back up as I dusted off the old bread maker over the holidays and I forgot how easy and fun it is to play baker, especially when the machine does the kneading. Any personal favorite recipes out there for a 1.5 pound loaf maker?

[htwoopup]

There is a two year old in the family who, as my late mother would say, is going to turn into a banana he eats so many of them. So I have been experimenting with banana breads. i think today’s bake is better but not better than yesterday’s as it has four times the butter and twice the sugar.



Taste test at the swings in the playground a few blocks away at 11.

[Too Tall]

Right on. Bittman suffers no fools and I can confirm that even a lowland ape like me can make crusty goodness using that method.
The real problem is not eating an entire loaf in one sitting.

[jitahs]

If you store the bread in a plastic bag the crust should get softer.

There's an old thread about bread somewhere...the Dutch oven/Tartine way works well.

[Jason Musgrave]

Right on. Bittman suffers no fools and I can confirm that even a lowland ape like me can make crusty goodness using that method.
The real problem is not eating an entire loaf in one sitting.

Whats wrong with that?! We always bake 'em two at a time, one to eat now and one for the next several days...

[caleb]

Couple reflections after a few months making my own bread.

The no knead recipe is good, and it's even better if you give it a 24-30 hour rise. If you're on the ball, this is as good of a way of baking bread as I've found.

The speedy version of the no knead recipe isn't as good. I can't seem to get it to rise as high.

I have yet to find a single rise recipe I like. Most are overly dense. I'm still looking, though.

[maunahaole]

One thing that has really been beneficial for our bread is a pan of water in the oven. The higher humidity seems to make for a nicer crust on the outside. Don't skimp and put the water in when you start to heat the oven.

[caleb]

One more question: Most recipes indicate that the dough needs to rise twice, i.e. let it rise, bash it down, then let it rise again. Why? What will happen if I just let it rise once and stick it in the oven?

[Bkat]

Punching down the dough and letting it have a second rise makes for a finer crumb and helps eliminate big pockets caused by gas bubbles.