- lovely color. - crazymonkey
Jan. 28 (beautiful crumb structure)
We finally got to bake the bread. It was pretty good, and I'll probably add it to my semi-regular recipe rotation.
A few notes:
- I followed the directions pretty much to the letter. The thing I
was most disappointed in was the flatness of the bread. This may be
because I did bake it, as directed, in a big 6-qt enamel dutch oven.
But the dough barely filled up a quarter of the space, and it didn't
rise much during baking.
- Related: Predictions about bread dough "doubling in bulk"
for recipes like this is just rubbish. Or maybe I'm working under poor
conditions, or doing something incorrectly every time. I've made a few
yeast breads and doughs over the years, and never at any time has the
dough doubled in bulk at the appointed time. The stuff rises a little
bit, but never like those glamorous photos in the cookbooks that
depict someone's fist disappearing into a soft pillow of doughy
goodness. It just doesn't happen. What am I doing wrong?
- The flavor was kind of sourdough-y, which was quite nice. And true
to everyone's suggestion, the bread does indeed have a nice chewy
crust and a "beautiful crumb structure" (I just love that
phrase).
- Really, worth it all for the smell of baking bread in the house.
Making things with your hands is a good use of your time.
Additional photos/reviews of Flickrers' no-knead bread.... as you can
see, many had more photogenic results and better rises:
Alaina
flickr.com/photos/86069225@N00/333290533/in/photostream/
Elizalou
Scott Partee...
You can try it yourself here.
Comments and faves
chadmiller (77 months ago | reply)
I just made my first bread yesterday, and I think mine doubled (and then some) in volume.
Maybe I used the exuberantly gifted variety of yeast. Hi ho, hi ho...
scottpartee (77 months ago | reply)
Your photo looks better than my crappy cameraphone picture!
Since I've baked this bread, I have learned a little bit. However, I don't know why yours didn't rise so much. Mine got quite big -- definitely not double, but certainly big. Did you set it out for a couple hours in the towels *before* you baked it? Also, what kind of yeast did you use? I used the highly active kind in the package.
personally, I've since found a friend here in Vienna who has started a sourdough culture and I think that's the next step. I found the minimalist bread I baked to be lacking in character, and I'm hoping this improves it somewhat.
I also recently read the most in-depth analysis of pizza crust and the author indicated that yeast exists in a symbiotic relationship with some other organism and that yeast provides the rise, while this organism provides the flavor. He recommended letting dough rise in the refrigerator, which extends the amount of time the flavor-producing critter can kick it while minimizing the yeast "rising" action. Also, yeast should only produce tiny bubbles and steam should be the force behind the larger ones. This article is amazing, I will send it to you when I find it again.
You know what, this is fun: baking tips via Flickr. It's the new grandmother.
Revisions (77 months ago | reply)
In my experience sourdough does not rise that much to begin with.
scottpartee is correct about letting the dough rise longer but still sourdough never rises that much. It pretty much just conforms to the pan depending on how much dough you use. Look at all the comerical bread from S.F. They are not big fluffy loafs.
By the way, you much remember that the food used in photo shoots is never (or hardly EVER) real. It is all fake food with special effecst such as glycerin, smoke and coloring to make it look good. This is because food never looks like it should in photos, and with the hot lights, and prolonged shooting sessions, the food would not stand up.
And most important of all, if it taste good, it doesnt matter what it looks like!!!!!!!
Beringela [deleted] (77 months ago | reply)
Sometime i make bread, in a old way.
That one looks delicious, warm and with butter... a disaster to diet!!!
originalmulli (naomi) (77 months ago | reply)
We got given a still-warm loaf of bread by a client on Saturday as we were leaving the job. He said his new year's resolution was to "bake bread for the world." How cool is that!
BigBen1861 (77 months ago | reply)
I don't bake a lot of bread, but what I have baked...did double in size before being punched down. I'd recommend two things. 1) make sure you get a good "bloom" on the yeast before adding it to the flour. For me this means adding the yeast to a small portion of warm (but not TOO warm...about 80 degrees if memory serves) water with some sugar. Wait till you see the little yeasties belching away (bubbling), then proceed. 2) Make sure you let the dough sit in a warm place. If the yeast get cold, they go to sleep. One technique I've seen is to boil about a quart of water, and pour that into a bowl which you place in the bottom of your oven. Then place your dough on a rack just above the water. This will provide a warm moist environment.
romanlily (77 months ago | reply)
OK, I'm already getting fired up again about trying another loaf of this bread. Thanks for your comments, everyone.
LunaDiRimmel added this photo to her favorites. (77 months ago)
shouldbhappy (77 months ago | reply)
Looks good. Now I am hungry.
Take Care
Michael
mirjam* added this photo to her favorites. (77 months ago)
HamWithCam (77 months ago | reply)
Yes, very nice crumb structure, indeed.
:-)
JG/HamWithCam
j david (77 months ago | reply)
I've done this too-- try to find a "rising place" that's a bit warmer.
Have fun!
gwen (77 months ago | reply)
I printed out the recipe the other day...I'm glad I haven't had time, this is going to be my inaugural bread bake and the tips in your comments are very helpful. And your photo certainly helps in the inspiration department, that looks delicious. i wish I'd started it yesterday...
--
Seen on your photo stream. (?)
JS North (77 months ago | reply)
i haven't had much luck (or patience) with the no-kneed bread recipes, tho i'm totally intrigued by the whole slacker-bread movement.
frankly, i enjoy fresh bread too much to be willing to wait half a day for it, rather than 3-hrs, just so i can say, 'see, i didn't hafta touch it!'
joe's 3-hr bread recipe coming shortly...
.KAMM. (77 months ago | reply)
Oooo, mine turned out great!!! Thanks again!
scotthz (77 months ago | reply)
Letting your dough rise in a warmer space will make the yeasties more active and give you higher rises. I like it to be 75-80F if I can, at least for the first 24 hours. Put it in the fridge if you aren't ready to bake it. Since I don't want to heat my house, or even just a single room to over 75º, I put it in the oven with just the light on (no heating element). It works well, and the dough gets a big lift.
You might enjoy trying this starter which is dried and you use like dried yeast (except you use a lot less).
yayaempress, tingilin, comidademama, The Romster, and 3 other people added this photo to their favorites.