Artisan Breads & No Knead Ideas

[Buccaneer]

The idea is to maximize the principles of baking bread so to make quality bread as easily and efficiently as possible.
I'm no baker, so all the missing detail can be filled in by those who have far more knowledge in depth, and practice at baking too!

Basically, we use time to let the yeast do what traditionally in the modern era kneading has done, to get the tangled bundles of gluten to straighten and shorten so they will make nets and trap the gasses expanding when the dough gets heated. This is more effective than kneading.

Second, we think about what the bakers oven does.
Its a chamber of heat radiated from the walls and floor, and humidity helps give a crisp crust.

I used the dough on a pizza stone in the BigSteel Keg and got great bread.
Then, when doing a two hour roast, I put my dutch oven in there and let it get really hot, finishing the roast at 240C I pulled out the pork and put the dough into the hot cast iron vessel.
I read this somewhere!
Now, instead of the large chamber of a bakers oven needing to radiate heat across air, which breaks down the temps, my dutch oven was a micro bakers oven where the air was already at 240C.Right there, at the dough surface!!
Humidity trapped by the lid and coming from the well hydrated dough, you get a crisp crunchy crackling loaf.

2 Loaves.
1kg flour
15g salt
10g yeast
700ml water @ tepid temp.
Plastic tub
Whisk flour , salt and yeast together.
Change whisk for wooden spoon.
Pout in water, mixing so there are no pools of water or dry flour. It makes for quite a wet dough.
Cover with plastic wrap and leave in room temp environment for 24 hours.
Then put in fridge for at least two days.
For my house, I then divide and bake one loaf, leaving the rest to develop for another day or two.
Or three.
Flour work surface a little, and I fold the dough once, turn, fold it the other way once, roll so the seam is down, flour top a little and cover with tea towel.
A few hours later when the dough has risen (doubled) and become springy, slash with a sharp knife, then tip the dough up into the tea towel and then inverse over the dutch oven, which has been heating in a 240C oven for a long time.
Lid on and bake for 20 minutes then remove the lid.
Bake for about 30 minutes more, and it is ready when it hits 98C.
Let cool on a wire rack.

Other notes:
I never clean the tub, the scrapings remain for the next batch I make up.
Just pour in dry ingredients and start the process again.

If you use a pizza stone in the kamado, you can put ice cubes in a wide mouth container like your wife (sorry, she is yelling at me as I type) and use that to increase the humidity as you bake.

Bakers note, if you will wonder at this modest amount of salt, the reason is salt can inhibit the action of autolysis.
So, for no knead to be effective we limit the amount of salt used.
The yeast is obvious, time is the key, not volume and speed.

The worst loaf I have made using this method is was still better than 95% of the bread I have purchased so proceed with confidence!
The toast is freaky good, addictive!

[beachbums]

Nice post as always Bucc.

Have to admit that I'm more of a Damper type of BBQ'er but this has me very interested. For some reason I just never really play with yeast (unless it in a stubby )

I'll pop a batch together today and see how it turns out.

Thanks again.

Cheers, Wayne and Jan

[Smokey]

Thanks Buc

[chrisg]

As noted in the originating thread definitely trying this, a few thoughts:

The amount of salt isn't really that small, it's about what I use, in my mind salt is mainly there for flavor

I always slash bread before the rise, just habit I guess but especially on French loaves gives a great result

I'd exercise some caution about not having a clean bowl, only because yeast is delicate stuff, if there did happen to be any adverse contamination it could well kill the yeast

If you think about this, and thinking a bit about damper as well, this baking method has a lot in common with cake making, in fact it's ringing bells of some yeast cake I made ages ago, must see if I still have the recipe.

Doesn't really matter though, with cooking there's usually more than one way and its results that count

Cheers

[beachbums]

It's alive!!!!!

Wandered off and got some bakers flour and some seeds (pumpkin, sunflower and some mixed ones) and chucked them into the mix with a handful of oats. Looks like the Dough Monster is eating them haha it's nearly doubled in size already!


Cheers, Wayne and Jan

[chrisg]

Fresh yeast mate?

It's a near on ideal day for bread making, especially indoors in a warm kitchen

(In case that sounds odd I quite often make bread out on the back table )

Cheers

[beachbums]

Fresh yeast mate?

It's a near on ideal day for bread making, especially indoors in a warm kitchen

(In case that sounds odd I quite often make bread out on the back table )

Cheers

Oooooohh just had a look at the yeast packet ..................... it was made in 2010 and Best Before August 2011.

As you can see we don't do a lot of baking with yeast. We do keep it in the fridge though, that must help? Anyways should I chuck it out and get a new tin to sit in there for another couple of years?


Cheers, Wayne and Jan

[Card Shark]

A few others with ideas on Artisan Breads and baking. CS

http://www.ted.com/talks/peter_reinhart_on_bread

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/

http://www.fornobravo.com/pizzaquest/

[chrisg]

Fresh yeast mate?

It's a near on ideal day for bread making, especially indoors in a warm kitchen

(In case that sounds odd I quite often make bread out on the back table )

Cheers

Oooooohh just had a look at the yeast packet ..................... it was made in 2010 and Best Before August 2011.

As you can see we don't do a lot of baking with yeast. We do keep it in the fridge though, that must help? Anyways should I chuck it out and get a new tin to sit in there for another couple of years?


Cheers, Wayne and Jan

Dried stuff I keep in the freezer, but hey, it's rising

Personally I would chuck it, but, seems to be working

Cheers

[Smokey]

I wanna make manna from heaven
,,,,, But how I imagine it,,, White fluffy bread as wispy as fairy floss
Blame the Catholic primary school I went to for that

[chrisg]

Can get you pretty close smokey, with Burger Buns

Found this - it's an amusing commentary on the boot I referenced, back in another thread, but includes the recipe for the best sort of "real" American Burger Buns I've ever cooked, and I cook them reasonably often.

http://uktv.co.uk/food/blogpost/aid/636857

They really are good, they also freeze fantastically well.

Whenever my kids would complain about wholemeal this was what I baked

Cheers

[Ciapek]

Bucc....I was intrigued, and had a crack at it yesterday.
Into the bowl went,
Flour, salt, dried yeast and water... I won't mention proportions as yet, as I'm experimenting.
So, wet dough, stirred it through, and left it covered for about 16 hours, got back from work and folded it through, into a bread tin, aluminium foil on top, into the Akorn for 30 min covered, 20 min uncovered.....
Akorn at 250C as I was getting it ready for a Pizza run.

Results.....
Initial 30min was all good, took the foil off the baking tin, burst of steam followed through, bread was rising well.
Got distracted by my daughter, and the 20 min uncovered was way too hot and I slightly burned the loaf.....



Verdict,
Well developed and risen bread, the flavour however is not winning me over......a little too doughy and heavy.
I think it needs a little sugar and vitamin C for my liking.
I'll work on it and report.



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[chrisg]

I can't really comment yet but maybe 16 hours not long enough ?

There's a big difference I think between letting bread ferment over a long period of time compared to the more common practice of kneading and that most likely is the degree to which the gluten sheets are expanded and formed to avoid that doughy taste?

Cheers

[urbangriller]

Ciapek, that looks fine to me, I'd rather that than fluffy bread!

Cut a slice and make French Toast....then tell me what you think...it'll be awesome!

Chris

[Ciapek]

Gents, taking all advice on board.
Setting up another test batch, will let this one bubble till Saturday, will report then.
UG, this is way better than fluffy, but I want more....lol....


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk