the bread project

[topaz]

Summary: I want to learn to make a better bread.  My mother, like her father before her, is fantastic at bread.  I don't seem to have inherited the knack.  My boys have grown up believing that bread is something you buy in a store, and it's depressing and discouraging.

So I am attempting to teach myself to bake an irresistable loaf of bread.  The kind of chewy, crusty bread that takes you by the throat and begs to be eaten.  The kind that must be baked in at least two loaves at a time because the first one disappears within minutes of coming out of the oven.

I tried several iterations of an oatmeal molasses bread I found in one of our old Sunset cookbooks, figuring that if I want a chewy, sweet loaf, oatmeal bread is the way to go, but it kept coming out dry and crumbly.  (See what I mean?  I must be cursed if I have figured out how to make oatmeal bread dry and coarse.)

Tonight I decided to go back to first principles and made the white sandwich loaf in The New Best Recipe.  The comments in the book were very interesting -- that most of the loaves they tried need very little kneading after all, and they found that they generally came out better when kneaded by machine than by hand.  My first effort is currently cooling on the rack, and while I fear that I overbaked it again, it seems to have come out a perfect size and shape.  Here's hoping.

Comments

[tamidon.livejournal.com]

Use an instant read thermometer when baking bread.It's done at 190degF.Best tip I've ever gotten

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

That was in fact one of the tips mentioned in the book, but I confess that it sounded so picayune that it didn't feel worth the effort of hunting around the kitchen to find ours. Maybe next time.

[harimad.livejournal.com]

If you want to make bread this way, it's most definitely not "[not] worth the effort of hunting around." Although the right temp varies between 190-210F depending on how wet the bread is.

Alternately, Jan 08 Cook's Illustrated has a riff on last year's hyper-buzzed no knead bread. It's reported the have fantastic crust and they say they've managed to add depth of taste.

Bernard Clayton writes excellent bread cookbooks. I used to use his Small Breads about once a week till I became involved with a person who doesn't like wheat products. Check his stuff out, maybe it'll help you figure out what to do.

I like the soft, dense, slightly sweet bread that is characteristic of a bread machine or of challah. If you're interested I can send you my recipe, maybe I'd be able to find the Clayton recipe that's even better, and QuietAnn (whom I know you know) has a terrific challah recipe she shared with me.

[jacflash.livejournal.com]

I'm going to try CI's almost-no-knead bread recipe this week and will share results with anyone interested.

[redheadedmuse.livejournal.com]

You should get primal_pastry to bake bread with you some time. She rocks at it, and has her own Secret Recipe (which is not really a secret at all).

[awfief.livejournal.com]

I've gotten a good crust by spraying water on the loaf just after I put it in the oven, and then again at the halfway mark.

I haven't tried the Cook's Illustrated recipe, but they're usually quite good. From what I understand: The more you knead, the more elasticity you make, which makes the bread tougher when baking. I could be wrong on that, but I've found you get a chewier, softer inside when you knead less.

[jacflash.livejournal.com]

I am no bread-baking expert. But I got this book (http://www.amazon.com/Bread-Bakers-Apprentice-Mastering-Extraordinary/dp/1580082688/) for Xmas last year, and I am serenely confident that a) it's the best bread book out there for serious home cooks and b) if I mastered the techniques and recipes in the book, I'd be able to do whatever I wanted to do with bread-baking. It's excellent.

[ceo]

That is indeed a most excellent book. It's where my pizza dough and bagel recipes come from, both of which have received rave reviews.

[rhean.livejournal.com]

I was just looking up a link to that book when I saw your comment! That's the book a friend recommended me when I asked about his bread.

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

And if three people do it, three, can you imagine, three people walking in
and recommendin' the same bread cookbook. They may think it's an
organization.

[jss]

And if three whole people, why not four? And if four whole people, why not more and more and more?