Showing posts with label asrtisan bread. Show all posts
Showing posts with label asrtisan bread. Show all posts
Friday, January 31, 2020
SUPER EASY, SUPER TASTY CRUSTY NO-KNEAD SPELT BREAD
It's taken me some time to get this blog post done and I'm pretty thrilled with this bread! Let me tell you-- spelt has a wonderful nutty flavor! I've been experimenting with spelt flour in yeast breads because it has a lower glycemic load than wheat. I had success with Quick & Easy Spelt Burger Buns in my last blog post. But I really wanted to make a tasty, crusty bread, like the French loaves I used to make.
My first spelt loaf was a disaster, because I hadn't done my homework! It came out like a rock. I didn't know that you need to use less liquid with spelt flour, and that kneading the dough like a wheat loaf is not a good idea! That sent me to the computer to do some research.
For one thing, spelt is more water-soluble than wheat and it also has a higher level of gliadin, the protein that makes dough stretch-- another reason to use less water than with wheat dough. The high gliadin content makes the dough more fragile, which means that vigorous mixing and/or kneading should be avoided in spelt yeast breads. Some stretching and folding takes the place of kneading.
My first spelt loaf was a disaster, because I hadn't done my homework! It came out like a rock. I didn't know that you need to use less liquid with spelt flour, and that kneading the dough like a wheat loaf is not a good idea! That sent me to the computer to do some research.
For one thing, spelt is more water-soluble than wheat and it also has a higher level of gliadin, the protein that makes dough stretch-- another reason to use less water than with wheat dough. The high gliadin content makes the dough more fragile, which means that vigorous mixing and/or kneading should be avoided in spelt yeast breads. Some stretching and folding takes the place of kneading.
The following recipe is a good place to start-- there's a long rise at the beginning, but that can happen overnight, or during the day while you do other things. The rest of the breadmaking process goes quite fast, and the reward is a delicious, crusty artisan loaf!
Happy Bread Baking!
BRYANNA'S SUPER EASY, SUPER TASTY, CRUSTY NO-KNEAD SPELT BREAD
Makes 1 loaf, but the recipe can be multiplied with good results.
NOTE: I do not advise using sprouted spelt flour in this particular loaf. If you do, the loaf will be crusty on the outside, and tasty and moist on the inside, but with a tighter crumb-- without the open and irregular crumb (the holes) of, for instance, a French loaf. See what I'm referring to below:
Here's the recipe:
1 cup whole grain spelt flour (fine grind if available, stirred before measuring)
2 cups white or "light" spelt flour (stirred before measuring)
Optional, but I used it: 1 Tbsp vital wheat gluten
1 1/4 tsp table salt
1 1/4 cups lukewarm water (OR you can use 1 cup water + a generous 1/4 cup of sourdough starter (refrigerated is fine)
1/4 tsp instant baking yeast
1 Tbsp agave syrup, or maple syrup
In a medium bowl, stir together the two flours and salt. In a smaller bowl or 2 cup measuring cup, mix together the water, yeast and syrup until combined. Add the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients and, using a wooden spoon or spatula, mix until the dough comes together. Now, use your hands to mix the dough until the flour completely mixed with the liquid is a bit sticky.
Cover the bowl with a towel and let sit at room temperature until bubbley and the dough has just about doubled. ***(7-8 hours depending on your room temperature).
When this first rise is complete, place a heavy cast iron pot and lid, or a medium-sized Granite Ware roaster with a lid into your oven. Turn on your oven to 500 degrees F. Position the rack in the lower third of the oven. (***The pot needs to pre-heat for at least 30 minutes.)
Generously dust a work surface with spelt flour. (I cover my countertop with a baking or pastry mat.) Use a bowl scraper or spatula to scrape the dough out of the bowl and onto your work surface in one piece.
The Folding Process (this takes the place of kneading in spelt breads): Using lightly floured hands, gently pat the dough out into a rectangle. With your dough/pastry scraper or bench knife (pictures below), fold one short side of the dough into the middle and then fold the other short side on top. Then fold the dough in half the other direction. Dust lightly with flour, cover with plastic and let rest for 5 minutes.
(***While you are waiting, line a medium sized bowl with parchment paper, pushing the paper down into the bowl with one hand and using your other hand to crease the paper around the inside and top edge of the bowl.)
Repeat the folding process outlined above a 2nd time, then let the dough rest for 5 minutes, then repeat folding process a 3rd time.
Now, with lightly floured hands, pull the dough over on itself gently to form a ball or an oval loaf, pinching it together gently. Place it gently, seam-side-down, into the parchment-lined bowl, large loaf pan or oval casserole, depending on the shape you want). Cover the dough and let rest in a warm spot for 20-25 minutes for the second rise.
To test if the dough is ready, gently press down with the tip of one finger, about half an inch into the top of the dough. If the dent from your finger remains and springs back only slightly, the dough is ready to bake. If the dent fills in, give the dough another 5-10 minutes to rise and then re-test.
Remove the cover from your bread bowl. Using pot holders, carefully remove the hot pot that you have been pre-heating from the oven and remove the lid. Using both hands, lift the dough out of the bowl by holding all corners of the parchment paper, and lower it into the pot. The edges of the parchment paper will brown, but will be just fine in the hot oven.
Working quickly, spray a gentle mist of water over the top of the dough. Then dust the top of the bread lightly with spelt flour. Use a sharp pair of scissors to make 3-4 shallow cuts at an angle down the center line of the dough (see photo below). Cover the pot with the lid and place it back in the oven.
Reduce the oven heat to 450 degrees F and bake for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, remove the lid and continue baking for another 5-10 minutes until the bread is a crusty and browned. Using potholders, carefully lift the bread out of the hot pot (right in the baking parchment) and place it (without the parchment) on a rack to cool thoroughly before cutting with a sharp bread knife.
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| The round loaf on the left was baked in a heavy enameled cast iron lidded pot; the oval loaf on the right was baked in a covered oval Granite Ware roaster. |
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
5-MINUTE NO-KNEAD YEAST BREAD (AND FOCACCIA), TAKE TWO!
After experimenting with the "five-minute" no-knead method of bread making in this blog post, which I really liked, but thought could be improved a bit, I made a slightly different dough on Monday and baked a loaf of bread and a focaccia today. The bread and the focaccia were fabulous! Here are the changes I made:
I doubled the recipe because I thought the loaf size of the original recipe was too small. The original recipe called for all unbleached flour-I used more than 1/3 whole wheat. It also called for 1 1/2 tablespoons of yeast for a recipe half this size, which I think is way too much. (I can't figure out why they used so much yeast. ) I cut that by 2/3's. I also added 1/2 tablespoon olive oil per loaf because I thought the dough was a little tough without it, especially for pizza.
I combined some of the quality's of Jim Lahey's no-knead bread, along with his novel baking method, with the Jeff Hertzberg's "five-minute" no-knead, refrigerated dough method.
(PS: You don't HAVE to use Jim Lahey's baking method-- baking in a preheated heavy pot or casserole. If you aren't really concerned about an extra-crunchy crust, you can bake the bread in a regular loaf pan, or baguette pans, or whatever! In a loaf pan, it might be adviseable to bake the bread at only 375 degrees F.)
MORE PICTURES OF THIS BREAD ON THIS BLOG POST! WHY I USED LAHEY'S BAKING METHOD COMBINED WITH THE "5-MINUTE" MIXING AND REFRIGERATION METHOD: 1.) Lahey's baking method (in a heavy covered pot) produces amazingly crusty bread, but 2.) the "five-minute" method of mixing and refrigerating the dough is so much easier and more spontaneous than the long rise at room temperature, and I think 3.) the taste is better. (4.) It also makes it practical to bake bread fresh every day, since you can have some dough in the refrigerator at all times, and this type is really best when eaten the same day it is made.) AND 5.) the wet dough is much easier to handle when cold. I used a little more water than required by the "five-minute" recipe, so that the dough was more like Lahey's very wet dough. 6.) The wetter dough tends to give you more big irregular holes.
MORE PICTURES OF THIS BREAD ON THIS BLOG POST! WHY I USED LAHEY'S BAKING METHOD COMBINED WITH THE "5-MINUTE" MIXING AND REFRIGERATION METHOD: 1.) Lahey's baking method (in a heavy covered pot) produces amazingly crusty bread, but 2.) the "five-minute" method of mixing and refrigerating the dough is so much easier and more spontaneous than the long rise at room temperature, and I think 3.) the taste is better. (4.) It also makes it practical to bake bread fresh every day, since you can have some dough in the refrigerator at all times, and this type is really best when eaten the same day it is made.) AND 5.) the wet dough is much easier to handle when cold. I used a little more water than required by the "five-minute" recipe, so that the dough was more like Lahey's very wet dough. 6.) The wetter dough tends to give you more big irregular holes.
7.) The bread baked by Lahey's method stayed crunchy after it cooled, and I have found that often you'll get a crispy crust in your home oven, after using steam, etc., but then it softens as it cools. Not this way! The baking in a heavy, covered pot acts like a miniature brick oven, creating steam inside to help the
The finalized recipe for this bread will be in a new book coming out late in 2010.
The science behind it-- Harold McGee author of "On Food and Cooking" (Scribner, 2004-- a book I have on my personal shelf!), says:
"It makes sense. The long, slow rise does over hours what intensive kneading does in minutes: it brings the gluten molecules into side-by-side alignment to maximize their opportunity to bind to each other and produce a strong, elastic network. The wetness of the dough is an important piece of this because the gluten molecules are more mobile in a high proportion of water, and so can move into alignment easier and faster than if the dough were stiff."
As well, the long rise produces umami flavor compounds which give the bread outstanding flavor.
This is the casserole I used, but you can also use a deep cast iron skillet or Dutch oven with a lid (can be enamel-coated or not), or a heavy ceramic covered casserole (NOT unglazed clay).
Focaccia made with this dough:
UPDATE: I made some flatbreads with the (cold) dough this morning-- just took fist-sized pieces and rolled them out and cooked them on both sides in an ungreased cast-iron pan over medium heat (heat pan well first). They probably would have made "pockets" if I'd covered them and let them rise for 30 minutes or so, but they did bubble up and they are delicious!
Enjoy!
Sunday, March 16, 2008
ANOTHER KIND OF NO-KNEAD BREAD-- I LIKE THIS ONE!
When I read about a yeast bread that takes 5 minutes to mix (no kneading), and you can keep it in the refrigerator for 2 WEEKS, AND it's tasty and crusty, I just had to try it! I read about it on my friend Julie Hasson's blog. The recipe is from a best-selling book:
"Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois
You may have read about my experiment with the other no-knead sensation from Jim Lahey via Mark Bittman at the new York Times. That was a great bread, but it did require some planning ahead. The "five-minute" bread is similar in some ways-- a very simple dough, very wet, no kneading, long rise. The long rise is what gives it exceptional flavor and gives strength to the gluten the way kneading ordinarily would.
This is not really new. I have a book called "No Need to Knead" by Susanne Dunaway, which was published in 1999:
The author is a professional baker who operated an Italian bread business. Her breads often (but not always) use a starter or biga (firm Italian starter), she stirs the dough with a wooden spoon for about 2 minutes, and then, with many of the recipes, you have the option of using it after a 40-minute rise, OR an overnight rise in the refrigerator. The ones I tried came out pretty well, but I definitely think the longer rise improved flavor.
I compared Jim Lahey's recipe with the "five-minute" one, and a basic one from "No Need to Knead". The amount of water to flour is about the same (Jim Lahey's used a tiny bit more water-- for a recipe the size of the recipe below, you would add about 1/4 cup more water). The amount of yeast really varies, though. The Jim Lahey dough has an 18 hour rise at room temperature, so you start with only 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast (1/3 teaspoon regular dry active yeast). Dunaway uses 2 teaspoons yeast for a dough about 2/3 the weight of the one below.
The "five-minute" dough calls for 1 1/2 TABLESPOONS of yeast-- I find that excessive. I really can't figure out why they would use so much yeast. I used 1/3 as much (1/2 tablespoon) and it rose beautifully, as you can see from the pictures below!
NOTE: I had no suitable container empty, so I used the plastic box that organic baby salad greens come in!
The dough just after mixing.
The dough after being in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
I made some of the "five-minute" dough yesterday, using less yeast and some whole wheat flour, and baked a loaf of bread today (I plan to make pizza with the rest of the dough tonight-- I'll report on that!) I thought 1/4 of the dough looked too small, so I used half the dough for a round loaf.
(UPDATE: SEE BELOW RECIPE FOR PIZZA RESULTS.)
The taste of the bread was fantastic! It didn't have great holes, but I think that is from too much handling on my part-- as I read from an anonymous chef on a forum: "getting the big holes is achieved by:
a) a very wet dough
b) handling the dough with alot of care after retarding, no punchdown whatsoever!
c) NOT overproofing the dough. Dont wait untíl you get EXACTLY double in size
d) a VERY VERY hot oven + spritzing 2 to 3 times to avoid early crusting
all the things in combination work, none of them alone !!"
The crust was better on Jim Lahey's bread, but the taste of this one was better, we thought. I might try the "five-minute" bread in a cast iron Dutch oven. I'm sure that many recipes are adaptable to this very easy method!
SIMPLE CRUSTY BREAD (BRYANNA'S VERSION)
(See my final personal version in my book "World Vegan Feast". I use the "bake in a pot" method now [most of the time]-- see at this post. )
The original recipe called for all unbleached flour— I used some whole wheat.
Adapted from “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day,” by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François (Thomas Dunne Books, 2007)
1 1/2 teaspoons (1/2 tablespoon) dry active yeast [The original recipe said 1 1/2 TABLESPOONS, but this is way too much! It worked fine with 1/2 tablespoon.—BCG]
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
4 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour, more for dusting dough
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (hard wheat flour or bread flour)
Cornmeal
1. In a large bowl, large plastic bowl with lid, or plastic bread-mixing container, mix yeast with 3 cups lukewarm water (about 100 degrees). Let sit until yeast dissolves. [I did this even though the original recipe didn’t say to—mine was regular dry active yeast, not instant, so I thought it might need dissolving.—BCG] Add salt. Stir in flour, mixing until there are no dry patches. [UPDATE: I now use a Danish dough whisk.] Dough will be quite loose. Cover. Let dough rise at room temperature 2 hours (or up to 5 hours). [I let it rise about 4 hours—BCG]
2. Bake at this point or refrigerate, covered, for as long as two weeks. When ready to bake, sprinkle a little flour on dough and cut off a grapefruit-size piece with dough cutter/bench scraper (metal or plastic). Turn dough in hands to lightly stretch surface, creating a rounded top and a lumpy bottom. Put dough on pizza peel [or a or cookie sheet with no sides-- BCG] sprinkled with cornmeal; let rest 40 minutes. [I let it rise 1 hour- BCG] Repeat with remaining dough or refrigerate it.
3. Place broiler pan in bottom of oven. Place baking stone or large cast iron skillet, cast iron pizza pan or cast iron griddle on middle rack of oven and turn oven to 450 degrees F [I used convection, too-- BCG]; heat stone at that temperature for at least 45 minutes (cast iron pans only require 30 minutes).
4. Dust dough with flour, slash top with serrated or very sharp knife three-four times. Slide onto stone. Pour one cup hot water into broiler pan and shut oven quickly to trap steam. [NOTE: I used my little Cuisinart countertop BrickOven and you don’t need steam in that—it worked great! BCG] Bake until well browned, about 30 minutes. Cool completely.
Yield: 2 loaves. [The original recipe says 4 loaves, but they would be pretty small!—BCG]
Variation: If not using stone or cast iron pan, stretch rounded dough into oval and place in a greased, nonstick loaf pan. Let rest 40 minutes if fresh, an extra hour if refrigerated. Heat oven to 450 degrees for 5 minutes. Place pan on middle rack.
PIZZA UPDATE, 7 PM:
I made two 12" pizzas, but I think 3 would have been better. Even though the dough was cold and I got it right into the oven after rolling, it rose like crazy!
This crust was a little tough, but I think that is because it rose so much and had to cook longer because of the thickness. Adding a little olive oil to the dough next time might be a good idea for pizza. It was very good, but I will make 3 pizzas (with half of the dough) next time because I like a thin crust.
Enjoy!
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