If you're on the fence about making bread...

[rickgregory]

I've seen a few comments in other threads about whether baking your own bread is worth it, how hard it is, etc. Well, all the talk got me wanting to make bread again. That and the snow and the lack of bread in the house...

The bread below is a no-knead loaf that's 75% bread flour (King Arthur IIRC) and 25% rye. 6g salt, 3g instant yeast. 75% hydration (750g water).

Mix it all up in a large bowl, pour it into a 4 quart rectangular cambro (that's just what I had around). Left on the counter overnight... over night house temps are about 50F. Brought into my home office in the morning where I keep it around 68F. 18 hours in it had risen to a little less than double and I wanted bread so...

Oven preheated to 450F with an empty stainless steel skillet inside. Dough put into a loaf pan as the oven preheated. Once the oven was hot, I tossed 1/2c of water into the skillet to get some steam going and put the loaf pan in. Baked at 450 for 30 minutes, then reduced to 350 for another 30. Pulled where a thermometer read 204F internal. Let it rest, ate dinner, watched some football...

Verdict? Tasty. Very nice loaf, the rye adds a rustic touch. Crust has some crunch but is not tough. Decent oven spring, the bread is still moist.

I've got a starter going and next loaf will be done with the same technique but subbing in a levain which I hope will add some complexity.

[rickgregory]

My point here isn't "Wow, Rick is a great baker!" (I'm not... yet) but for those people wondering about making bread... it's incredibly easy to turn out a very decent loaf. It is easily as good as most $3-4 loaves that I get here. Maybe better than that... and all I really did was mix some ingredients, let them sit for 18 hours, pour them into a loaf pan and bake.

[scottranda]

Yes!! Get the bread bug!! Post the pics here!! We love some fresh baked bread here on the Pit!

[radshop]

Nice! If I can add a point to your excellent point, I would pointedly point out that...

It’s not actually necessary to be good at baking bread to make it worthwhile. On my second weekend baking sourdough, I burnt one loaf. But the inside was still yummy to scoop out by hand and eat. Second loaf, I forgot to score when I put it into the Dutch oven, but it still turned out delicious. I’m not on the fence - I’m gonna keep making bread every weekend until I get good or die trying.

[rickgregory]

Oh excellent point. Last week I was doing this kind of loaf and preheated the loaf pan. I thought I'd just move the dough from the proofing basket into the preheated pan by pouring it from one to the other. On the oven rack.

It stuck to the proofer, flipped over the side of the (450F) loaf pan, and... sucked. But I baked it and like you scraped it out of the misshapen crust and... it was TASTY.

PS: Nice looking loaf!

[DavidNorcross]

Great post and great looking bread! I am not a baker either but love to make bread!

[wu7y]

It looks like you are a baker to me.

[DavidNorcross]

I bake bread so I guess technically. But when it comes to cakes, etc that is just not me. I make only 3 deserts and that is cheesecake, apple pie and bread pudding.

[Pequod]

Preach it, brother!

[RonB]

Everyone should at least try makin' bread. It can be as easy or as difficult as you want...

[DavidNorcross]

Great work!

[RonB]

Dewesq55 - sorry, but this is not Challah. It's just a white bread with poolish from "Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast" by Forkish. All I did was braid it and add sesame seeds. I do wish I had a good challah recipe, but I don't and I have tried a number of them over the years... The kitchn has a good lookin' recipe that I will try:

https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-challah-bread-181004

I will sub melted and cooled ghee for oil though.

[Dewesq55]

RonB - Thanks. I was thrown by the braiding.

[Richard Chrz]

great photos, thanks for sharing!

[rickgregory]

Happy this is resonating with folks and thanks for all the cool photos! One thing I think we lose, sometimes, is that making many of the kinds of food that we love isn't that hard. Pickled veggies, sauerkraut, kimchi... bread of all kinds... bacon... even ham and other cured meats. As long as you're willing to read up a little, do some experimenting and eat your (safe) failures you realize that so much of what we really like is not only not hard or expensive, but that making these foods is satisfying and often much better than most of what you can buy.

[Richard Chrz]

I am pretty new at bread myself, just started in late July I believe, but, I find really good therapy in it, and I really enjoy it as an art form as well. I only eat maybe 1/10th of what I make, I give or sell the rest of it. It has been my first learning of fermentation, I am hoping to find time to try kimchi sometime this winter. I am hoping to make 8-12 loaves in the next few days. I am currently double feeding my starters right now (every 12 hours) I tend to do that leading up to the day.

[rickgregory]

kimchi isn't hard. If you have the space and containers it's interesting to let it age and taste the difference between the kind that you make and use right off (or within a few days) vs the kind that ferments for months. Sauerkraut is even easier.

And yes, there's something viscerally satisfying about making bread, isn't there?

[Dewesq55]

Here is my second straight successful loaf of the no-knead bread I posted the recipe for over a week ago. This time, I sort of timed the prep. It took me almost exactly 15 minutes to weigh all the ingredients and mix them together in a bowl with my gloved hand. That's it. Covered the bowl with a dinner plate and put it on top of the fridge (warmest part of my kitchen) for 20 hours. Next morning, I dumped the dough onto a lightly floured board, folded it on itself 4 times (once in each direction), gently patted it into a rough circle/ball and placed it on a piece of parchment paper which had been well coated with medium grind corn meal. sprinkled a little more corn meal on top and covered with the same bowl I made it in for 2.5 hours. Pre-heated my oven to 450 with my enameled cast iron dutch oven (5.5qt) inside. Then lifted the dough up by the ends of the parchment paper and dropped the whole thing into the very hot dutch oven. Covered and baked for 30 mins. Uncovered and baked 10 minutes more until I liked the color. That's it.

[rickgregory]

Very nice. And I like the parchment paper trick to get the bread into the preheated dutch oven. I'll need to try that.

[Dewesq55]

rickgregory It also lets you take the loaf right out of the pan without any sticking. I learned about it on the Leite's Culinaria site which features the Jim Lahey recipe.

[Chief1232]

All of this looks amazing, but where do you start??? I mean I have the cast iron dutch oven, etc. but are there any good videos/ beginner recipes that you guys like?
What special ingredients do you need and are they available at a normal store or do you order online?

I would love to try it, just not quite sure where to start!
Thank you!

[Dewesq55]

Chief1232 - there is a very easy and delicious recipe in this thread that uses only flour, water, salt and yeast (the basic ingredients of any dough). It requires no special equipment. It needs to sit for about 18 hours after you mix it (by hand) but there is no kneading or physical work of any kind. You should give it a try.

[rickgregory]

For any bread you'll need instant yeast, bread flour, salt and water plus a bowl big enough to let the dough rise. That's all. (some types of bread add milk powder, eggs, etc etc. Ignore that to start).

There are 2 places to start.

For no-knead bread the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes is a good start. Their master recipe is here - https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2013/...asics-updated/

For 'traditional' kneaded bread, I'd grab this book by Peter Reinhart - https://www.amazon.com/Bread-Bakers-...s%2C205&sr=8-2.

Alternatively I'd hit up the King Arthur flour site https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/bread and try things there. The advantage here is that they use their own flour which eliminates one variable.

Two things:

First, GET A KITCHEN SCALE. Doing things by weight is much more consistent and less error prone.

Second, FOLLOW THE RECIPE. Do things by the book the first time and you'll be less prone to an error that might seem minor but which really messed things up.

Other books that are excellent:

Ken Forkish - (don't start here) https://www.amazon.com/Flour-Water-S...s%2C273&sr=8-3

Chad Robertson - https://www.amazon.com/Tartine-Bread...s%2C215&sr=8-2

The latter two are more about using a starter to bake bread and while a lot of people believe a starter gives better, more complex flavors, it's another variable in the way of just starting to bake.

HOWEVER, Forkish has a bunch of very useful Youtube videos here: https://www.youtube.com/user/KensArtisan

Don't be afraid to jump in and... ask questions! I do.

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

baking bread in my smoker is on the list of "to do" things this year

[rickgregory]

By the way, if you're in the Northeast or Pacific Northwest, check out the King Arthur baking school... They, along with Washington State University, have a bread lab an hour from me and I really need to get up there.

https://www.kingarthurflour.com/baking-school

[RichieB]

I've been to their VT. location a few times. Its on the way (sort of) to my son in Northern Vermont, about a 2 hour drive to KA. Yes, they do offer classes. Maybe this summer I'll look into it. Their baking facility is wide open for viewing through glass. Now, most of the activity is over as the baking for the store and cafe takes place way earlier than they open. It's an impressive operation. And when you stand at the counter of the bakery, its nirvana for site and aroma. Go if u can.