Friday, April 25, 2008

Making bread the easy way!

I know, this is not a knitting post and belongs in hakucho's kitchen, but I just had to share with you my latest bread making experience. I found out about this super easy technique for making this bread in my ravelry group Bread and Yarn. Does that make it count as a knitting post now that you know that?The recipe for this delicious, wonderful, hard, crispy, crunchy, crusted artisan bread is from the book: Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking.
This book contains the basics for making the bread plus a large quantity of additional recipes.

This is an incredibly easy method of baking bread with four basic ingredients: flour, water, salt and yeast. You do need a large mixing/storage container, a pizza peel and a baking stone. Although all of these things are not 100% necessary it does ensure a hard artisan crust. This bread is much better than the other No-Knead method I had tried and liked before I knew about this method. Much better...hands down! My first loaf was going well until I heard a big bang from the oven. My approximately 20 year old baking stone cracked into 4 pieces! Have no idea why that happened except for the fact the stone was so old. We ate the bread even though I had to finish baking it on the broken stone. Did this discourage me from wanting to try again?...NO....the bread was incredible!! The loaf was a little small for us, but I knew I would be baking more of this bread so I went right out and bought a replacement stone from our Williams and Sonoma outlet store for eight dollars and some change. Baking on the new stone yielded a wonderful loaf and no breakage this time. I did make a larger loaf though (hard to tell from the picture). If you want to see a video of the book's authors demonstrating the technique click here. Here's the link to their website. Here's a link for you to try the basic recipe before buying the book. I think if you try it you will be impressed. I can't wait to try more of the recipes. Yesterday I baked a loaf in a bread pan for sandwiches. Sorry no photos. My only problem now is slicing the bread. I sure wish I could afford a bakery type bread slicer like this one or even this one. I am terrible at slicing even slices. Does anyone know the secret for slicing perfect slices of homemade bread? Do you think this Rival Folding Food Slicer would do the trick? I would be so happy if I could find something that would make slicing bread easy and affordable :)

As far as knitting goes I should have something to show you soon. In addition I am working on a top secret project for a birthday present that is not a quick knit, but so far I am really enjoying working on it.

Hope you all have a nice spring weekend. Happy Knitting everyone :)

21 comments:

  1. You are not alone with the cutting issue. I can't cut a straight anything. lol

    That bread looks delicious! I need to pay a visit to hakucho's kitchen. :P

    You do yourself a fancy little slicer.

    Hugs!

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  2. Oooo, that's cruel, showing such beautiful bread to a pregnant woman, and just before dinnertime, too! Ha ha!

    Really, that looks like something out of a New York posh bakery! Wow! Thanks for sharing the source, too. I'm going to look that up.

    I don't personally have problems cutting straight slices, but my mother in law insists that straight slices are easiest to achieve with an electric knife. She also uses her knife for turkey, etc.

    Hope that helps!

    (Personally, though, I'd just grab that whole hunk of bread and start chewing . . . )

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  3. Mmm... fresh homemade bread. Can I come over to your place?

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  4. I'm so glad to hear your rave reviews. At the urging of Marcia of Spinnerella's Attic - I just bought the very same book. I'm anxious to bake my first loaf of bread - but it will have to be next week. Thanks!

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  5. Now, you do realize in less than I week, I'll be sitting here scratching my head, trying to remember where in the heck the recipe link is....right?

    I hear ya on the slicer. My bil made a beautiful homemade one that slices one at a time with the gide on the side....but I don't like 1.5 inch slices!

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  6. The bread looks yummy. I will have to give it a try I have a a house full of serious bread eaters.

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  7. yummy! i can smell it from here! : )

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  8. That looks like real, delicious bread to me. I've never heard of a non-kneading bread before. When you tap the bottom of the bread, does it sound hollow? Ah, I think I can smell it. Memories emerging of my grandmother and me as a child, baking bread (12-13 round loaves each 4lbs heavy rye bread) in her big bread oven).

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  9. the bread really does look amazing! and i second the suggested use of the electric knife...i got a bread machine for xmas one year and when i got really into making homemade bread for awhile, my friend bought the knife for me and it really works well.

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  10. That bread looks sooooo good! Thanks for the link - I've been seeing a lot of this bread making technique lately and I'm wanting to give it a try!

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  11. Hmmm, I thought the uneven slices were part of the charm of home made bread!

    I for one and glad you posted about bread here; there are at least a million bread making techniques I have not tried yet.

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  12. We love artisan crust breads!! Yours looks so wonderful I can almost taste it! Thanks for sharing your breadmaking discoveries!

    I can't wait to see your newest knitting projects.

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  13. I too had the exploding pizza stone. And I went right out and got another for baking bread. But this one I don't leave it in the oven all the time like the last one. I am hoping it will last longer.

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  14. Mmmmmm.......that looks delicious! I might just have to venture into bread making now!

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  15. In the words of sally (Meg Ryan)
    YES! YES! YES!

    Our local paper had a feature on artisan bread/this book last year and I tried the recipe. it turned out great and I'm so tempted to toss the ol' bread machine since, but that has it's place to! I mix my perogi dough in it!!!

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  16. YUM!!!! I made some tonight to go with the apple butter I made out of almost expired apples....and I cannot even beging to explain the yummies!!!

    Thanks for sharing.

    Now it's time to go put that on my book wish list!

    Mrs. B. and "I'll have what she's having"

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  17. I can attest to the incredible results of all the breads in this book with the 5lbs extra around my middle! I am an accomplished baker and I can't believe how wonderful & easy and allways at the ready this method is. Yours look just beautiful. The stone exploded from the steam! I am waiting for mine to do the same any day now. As for slicing.............try on the diagonal, it helps me.
    Miki

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  18. Hi all: I'm Jeff Hertzberg, one of the co-authors of the book. Come visit us anytime at www.artisanbreadinfive.com, and post comments or questions into any of the "Comments" fields.

    Now, we've got to get to the bottom of that exploding stone. Water the culprit? Jeff

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  19. Mmmmm! That is some delicious looking artisanal bread!

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