Slightly Off-Topic... Make Artisan Breads in 5 Minutes!!!

[JB]

Breadmakers:

Have any of you tried putting two separate pieces of dough together and does it work? (For example, if you pulled a piece off that was too small, or you have two small pieces left over from different batches)

JB

[Flapam]

Yes, sometimes I pull a piece off that I think is too small.  As long as you have not done the cloaking part of the method, just pull of another hunk and the dough should be sticky enough that you can incorporate them together while cloaking the dough ball.  It is pretty hard to mess this stuff up.

[Flapam]

Hello Fellow Breadmakers,

I'm wondering what you do when you have only a small amount of dough left--it's not really enough to make a boule.  I used the master recipe and made two loaves in loaf pans, so they were larger, leaving me with this small amount.  It doesn't seem like it's worth the oven heat/time to bake it.  I wanted to try to add it to the piece I had cut, but i've noticed that when it's not a 'cohesive clump' two pieces don't stick or blend well together. In fact, I get something that almost resembles a crease.

Also, have any of you baked two on the stone at once?  If so, any problems getting the bread onto the stone?  Did you need to adjust cooking time?

Thanks,
JB

I have baked two boule at once on the stone, but I believe I used two different boards to rise and slide into the oven.  It was a while ago but I don't think  I adjusted the time.

This morning, I baked 3 baguettes at the same time.  For baquettes, I let them rise on a silicone pad on the pizza peal, no flour or cornmeal involved, slide the whole sil pad onto the baking stone, let cook 3/4 of the way through (16 min for baguette) and then slide out the sil pad and let them finish directly (8 more min)on the stone so that the bottoms brown.  When I looked at the bread, I let it go another 2 or 3 min cause I wanted it browner.  I often let my bread go a little longer than suggested, no matter what the type or method.

[Deb]

JB-
I'd be tempted to make a couple of sweet rolls with a small piece of dough.  Mix in some cinnamon and dried fruit - bake until done.

I'm just back from a week off and trying like mad to catch up with the life that went on without me.  I hope to soon get out 'The Book' that has been on the shelf for several months and join into the 5 min bread group.  ;>

Deb

[gardendoc]

I bet if you use some of that brown and raw sugar sprinkled liberally, BTW this is the only time I can use that word, on the basic recipe would be pretty good.

[PeteFrame]

Yes, I've seen the concept of leaving the dough in the fridge to develop used in a bread making competition. 
The bread that won was called "autodigested Japanese barnyard millet" bread.

[CarolSoprano]

I just made my first batch of "Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes" over the weekend (a wheat & flaxseed mixture) and we've had 2 loaves so far. My goodness, the house smells heavenly. It's really simple and the bread tastes absolutely wonderful. I will never buy store-bought "artisan" bread again - it's so much more economical and tasty than anything you can buy, and I know what I'm putting in it. I can't wait to use some of my fresh rosemary from my EBs in my next batch of bread! 

[JB]

Hi all,

I made a batch last week (regular master recipe), and when I went to make loaf #2, I noticed the top of the dough looks a little on the gray side.  Have any of you noticed this before?  Can it get moldy or go bad that fast?  (saw a pink-ish spot also) The gray color is of concern and I'm thinking of tossing it.  What do you think?

JB

[CarolSoprano]

JB, are you keeping it refrigerated? How does the dough look under the very top? If it looks OK I would just skim the top off and use as usual. I didn't notice that my dough was turning colors but the last couple of loaves were wetter and denser than the first two and next time I will add more flour to make the dough a little drier...

Hope this helps..

[JB]

Hi Carol,

Yes, it's refrigerated. I tossed it, just because I didn't like the gray.  Of the remainder, the underneath looks ok.  I think you're right, it was a little too moist. There's even a little liquid on the side of the container, and I usually don't see that 'til I'm near the end of the timeframe. Maybe my refrigerator is suffering in the heat, too!!!!

JB

[JB]

Hey, Healthy Bread Makers (or not!)

I'm doing my first loaf from the second book, with assorted seeds on top.

When you buy flax seed, do you buy it raw or roasted? I thought it should be raw, but only saw roasted.

Mickie, have you made a loaf YET??? !!!!   

[Rockporter]

Bump!   

I just had to bump this, I was looking for recipes and came across this post from a long while ago.

I have recently purchased a Breville Smart Oven and was really thinking about making some bread and this post fits the bill perfectly.  I needed an oven I could rely on because this darn RV oven is just so unreliable for baking anything without burning it or getting really different results each time I baked in it.  Not to mention the heat it would put out and the noisy fan I had to turn on each time I used the propane.  Between all that and the A/C coming on because of the heat, and with the TV running it made for a very chaotic cooking period.  Ahh, the pleasant quiet we now have while using the Breville and the A/C doesn't come on because it doesn't heat the whole kitchen.  Now that is priceless.

Have you heard of the Smart Oven?  It's a countertop Convection Toaster Oven and it is "oh so perfect"  I do believe bread would be fantastic in this oven.  I would only go with the largest one they have because of the size of the oven (it's only a couple of inches bigger) and the ability to use a 13" pizza pan(included) or round baking stone(accessory, or use your own) in it as well as a straight sided 13" x 9" baking dish without handles(your own).  The smaller oven's won't accomodate these sizes.  I roasted a 4.5 lb chicken in it the other day, fantastic, and I am making an 8 lb pork roast in a couple of days and I already checked, it fits perfectly in the 12" x 12" roasting/broiling pan included with the oven. 

Everything I have made in this oven has come out fantastic and better than I ever thought it could.  Roasted chicken, roasted veggies, baked fish, homemade pizza, toast, bagels, english muffins, broiled fish, broiled sandwiches.  You name it and it has been great so I am going to make some bread because they advertise you can bake a souffle' to perfection.  Here is the website for the Breville, you can see so many great reviews on Bed bath and beyond website as well.  The only down I see with this is the included pans are nonstick and you cannot use any citrus juices on your food because it will react to the coating and cause it to come off.  I just cover the pans with foil and cleanup is far easier so I just turned that negative into a positive on this end.

If you do decide to buy it then get a 20% off coupon and it knocks the price down $50.00 off the biggest one, I purchased in store and it must be the regular price not sale price before coupon.  BBB's rules on the 20% off one item Q.  If you don't have one you can sign up for discounts in your email and they will send you one to print within about 48 hours or so.

http://www.brevilleusa.com/cooking/ovens/the-smart-oven-tm.html#product_tabs_video

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=16423165


Anyway, I am going to get the stuff together and bake some bread soon, I'll keep you posted on how it turns out.

[Rockporter]

Oh yes, forgot to mention that I made some banana bread a couple of times and it has been perfectly baked each time.  I couldn't be happier with the Breville Smart Oven.     

[gardendoc]

This book is great, we have made some delish loafs.  But the title is a bit off.  It should be 'Gain 100lbs in 5 minutes a day with artisan bread'