Q&A MISC. Bread Questions
Until we can figure out a more sophisticated way to handle your feedback, your praise and your questions, we hope the following series of Q&A posts will help. Our goal is to get a conversation going about a particular topic in one location. Hoping that it will be easier for you to follow and get the information you need to bake gorgeous bread.
If we haven’t started a thread on the subject you are interested in then leave it here and we can create another post!
Thank you so much for all of the conversation. We enjoy it immensely and are learning so much from you all!
Zoë and Jeff
I made bread successfully for the first time last night thanks to your baking method! Thank you so much for such clear instructions–this will add something special to the dinner table and save us money at the same time.
I’m afraid my question is not about bread: Zoe, where did you get your glasses? I love the frames!
Hi Em,
LOL! I have a few pairs so I’m not sure which ones you saw.
So glad you are baking!
Thanks so much! Zoë
It was a youtube clip from a news program in MN if that helps. I think it aired in November.
I don’t use plastic. Can I use glass, ceramic or metal for my dough storage? Is there a reason other than weight and availablility, for using plastic?
Ivy: Food-safe glass, ceramic, or metal containers are just fine, so long as their lids don’t make completely airtight seals. I’ve sometimes used lidded stainless steel pots for exactly this purpose. Whatever you use, you don’t want a completely airtight seal (especially for glass, which can shatter under pressure in this situation).
Nothing magical about plastic, so use whichever of those you like. Jeff
Love the book! Just got it and made a batch of the master & the light whole wheat. The master turned out awesome tonite and I even think I over-handled it! Can’t wait until I really get it down. A couple of (possibly stupid) questions – when I put the light whole wheat in the nonstick loaf pan I still have to grease the pan, with what? What do you use? Also, do you clean your stone after each loaf? or each day? Thank you so much for the great recipes and answers!
Meg: So glad you’re having a good experience w/the book! Your questions:
I usually use canola oil to lightly grease the pan, but anything works– butter, any oil, sprays, shortening.
If there’s visible cornmeal, flour, or residue on the stone, I scrape it after each use. If there’s cheese or oil (from pizza, let’s say), that stuff burns nastily. I wait for the stone to cool and then rinse it in hot water while scrubbing with a plastic brush, but DON’T USE SOAP– it absorbs and leaves a smell. You have to deal with some smoking after an oilspill on the stone. It doesn’t last all that long. Jeff
I finally got around to making Pumpernickel Bread pg. 67 using your recipe for homemade Carmel Color. The bread turned out perfect. The Carmel Color recipe turned out to be less than 1/4 cup. I added water to it to make it 1/4 cup and used 2 3/4 cups of water to total 3 cups. Did I do something wrong in making the Carmel Color?
Thanks
No, this sounds great Barbara. I’m guessing that you just boiled off a little more than I did when I made it. And it made no difference because you just adjusted for the water difference to keep the total constant.
Strong work!
thanks jeff!
Hi Zoe & Jeff,
I recently purchased your book, and have been baking bread constantly since the afternoon it arrived! I love to cook,and LOVE bread,but up till now my baking experience has generally been limited to muffins.
I have a couple of issues I cannot seem to compensate for, however, and would love to hear from the experts!
I have made the master loaf, light whole wheat,and rye, and have had the same issue with all types…
1 – the tops and sides of the loaves look magnificent but the bottoms are always cracked! I have not had any sticking problems getting them off the peel to the stone, so i’m a bit confused.
2 – I cannot tell when the dough is cloaked properly…for that matter I’m not sure I’m even doing it correctly!
3 – finally, if the dough is too slack, is there any way to correct it after the initial rise and refrigeration? I had one batch of rye that too wet to hold its shape while resting on the peel, so when I made the second loaf a few days later I tried to add more dusting flour while cloaking and let it rest longer. Didn’t seem to do anything (and that may tie back to whether I’m cloaking properly!)
Thanks for listening – I look forward to any insight you can provide. Folks at my office are looking forward to some bread and I want the loaves to look as good as they taste!
-scott
Hi Scott,
Have you watched any of our videos? It may give you a good sense of how we do the cloaking. Here are a bunch of links: https://artisanbreadinfive.com/?page_id=63
If your dough is too slack you can add more flour at any point. It will require that you let it rest again for a couple of hours to allow the water to properly absorb into the new flour. I’ve done this a lot with really old dough that becomes too slack.
Your first question is a hard one. I have heard of this and even seen pictures of it, but have not experienced it myself. My thought has always been that the dough is either too cold or too dry. The dough should no longer feel chilled when you go to put it in the oven. This allows a nice smooth and even oven spring. If your dough still feels chilled at the end of the suggested rest time then just give it another 10-30 minutes to warm up. It will somewhat depend on how warm the room is.
Given that you said your dough was slack I’m assuming the cracking is not due to it being too dry?
Let me know if this helps. If not we’ll think of something else!
Thanks, Zoë
Not sure where to put this but just wanted to share that in the Deli Rye recipe I used barley flour instead of rye flour and it worked out very well.
Obviously the result wasn’t a rye bread but it’s another version of your breads that include a different grain.
Yep, that should work, I bet it was great. Jeff
Dear Jeff and Zoe – I’ve been making bread from your book for about 2 months now. It is wonderful!
We have a family bread recipe–Susan Poupore’s Wild Rice Bread–that we would like to modify to see if it could work using your format. Do you have a general recommendation for modifying “traditional”recipes so that they work using your technique?
Ellen: In general, play with more water for these non-flour additives. How much depends on whether or not the rest is whole wheat or white flour. Also, consider adding some vital wheat gluten when there’s something heavy in it like wild rice. Much more of these to come in our 2nd book, tentatively titled “Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day” to be released in 12/09. Jeff
I bought your bread book last December, and I love the recipes. Hard to pick a favorite, because I like so many. I do have a question tho’. I made the oatmeal bread for the 1st time on Friday, and when I baked it, it didn’t rise much at all; 2 inches high, maybe. I’m thinking maybe the yeast froze in the back of my refrigerator. Should it rise quite a bit? Thank you!
carol
Hi Carol,
I’m so glad you are using the book. It is so wonderful that people use it over and over again!
I don’t think it is the yeast, I tend to freeze mine when I buy huge quantities. I think it may be the amount of time that the dough is resting before you put it in the oven. With the heartier breads with whole grains you may need a longer rest. A good rule of thumb is to allow the dough to rest until it no longer feels dense and chilled.
Does this sound like it may be a possibility? Let me know and we’ll go from there.
Thanks! Zoë
Hello,
I go your book about a month ago, and it is unquestionably the best bread book I have ever used! I do have a question about adding flax – we are trying to incorporate more fiber into our diet, but do not like wheat breads. Is it workable to add ground flax seed to the basic white bread recipe? It sounds like it might work, but I am not sure what amount of flax would be viable, and if I should substitute some amount of flax for flour, or just add flax. Any suggestions/advice you can give would be GREATLY appreciated.
Thank you!
Suzanne
Hi Suzanne,
Thank you so much for trying out the book. We are so glad you are enjoying all the breads.
I’ve got good news and bad news. Good news first…we are working on a new book that will include several recipes that have Flax seeds. the bad news is that we aren’t quite done yet and are still playing with the recipes. The book should be out next year.
I wish I had a more concrete answer for you!
Thank you so much for writing.
Zoë
I’ve just tried the Buttermilk Bread from the book: truly wonderful!
I’ve been meaning to ask this for ages: do you think folding cold butter into the boule dough or the brioche dough would result in something similar to croissants?
Hi Magali,
Yes, you can use the dough to make a laminated dough like croissants. I’ve done it and it is wonderful. A bit complicated to explain here. If you have done it before, just replace this dough for the dough in your regular recipe.
Have fun and I’m so glad you like the buttermilk bread!
Zoë
Hi –
Up here in the USA and visitng – bought your book and wondered about any high altitude adjustsments. I live in Antigua, Guatemala and we are @ 5000ft +/-
Anything special / different I need to do for the basic recipe and / or challah ?
Thanks – come visit !
– Nancy
Hi Nancy– check out our post on high-altitude baking: https://artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=144
Just wanted to let you know – my Deli Rye Bread (with the KA rye enhancer) took a 1st place at the NC State Fair in Bread, Other Grains and the Artisan Boule took an Honorable Mention in Breads, White. The judges’ comment on the boule was “very creative.” Not maybe what I expected but acceptable nonetheless.
Hi Felice,
Congratulations! That is so exciting.
Thanks for letting us know!
Zoë
Do you have any plans for classes in the Washington, DC metro area? (Suburban MD).
Thanks.
Hi Esther, welcome to the site. Unfortunately, there’s nothing scheduled in DC at the moment. We’re hoping that we’ll have a more extensive book tour for our second book (tentative title “Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day”), but for this first book, we were in Chicago, Phoenix, Atlanta, and San Francisco; there probably won’t be any additional touring until the 2nd book’s out. All this is up to the publisher.
Our updated Events and Classes are at https://artisanbreadinfive.com/?page_id=3
If we don’t end up seeing you at a class, check out our videos by clicking on the links at https://artisanbreadinfive.com/?page_id=63
Thanks! Jeff
I really love your book. The bread is absolutely wonderful. I’ve already passed it on to many friends and relatives. My question has to do with high altitude baking. I live at a 5000 ft. altitude. Do I need to make any adjustments to any of the recipes because of this? So far, I have found that I get better results using slightly less flour than called for in the recipe. I’m not sure if this is because of the altitude or because of our dry climate (Arizona). Any help would be appreciated. Thanks. I’m already looking forward to your next book.
Hi Rosemeri,
Have you had a chance to read through this information? https://artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=144
You should also read the comments, where other high altitude bakers have given their advice.
Thanks and have fun!
Zoë
Hi I love your book!
I do have a couple questains for you–
Is there any way we can make dill bread(with pickle juice and dill) with any of your recipes for bread and can we make beer bread too with any of your recipes and do we go about doing that?
Thanks so much
Lynne
Hi Lynne, and welcome to the site!
Pickle juice has vinegar, which has been tried as a food additive. But, usually not much vinegar, about a tablespoon in our basic recipe. You could swap out a tablespoon of water for a tablespoon of pickle juice as a first try. Then add your dill, fresh or dried (half as much if dried). I’d go by taste first, then gradually increase.
The vinegar (or pickle juice) will decrease gluten strength and allow for larger hole structure. It may also may the dough less “storable” before it gets weepy and hard to hold a freeform shape, so please keep us posted.
Then, about the beer, try a half-cup in our recipes, instead of a half-cup of water. It gives the batch a head start on sourdough flavor and I’m pleased with the results. Jeff
Thanks so much for replying to my questains bout the pickle juice and beer in your bread recipes–will let you know how it goes
I have another questain for you–
I just bought a La Cloche covered baker for bread and wanted to know if we can use it for baking your bread in it and how would we go about doing that? I mean like when we make up your dough do we just let it rise in the baker and cook it at 500 or lower or what? I have made alot of your bread without a baking pan but wanted more uniform shaped ones for the holidays
Again thanks
Lynne
Follow the directions that came with your La Cloche as though our dough was typical stuff. If the directions say 500, you can do that with ours, but ONLY the lean (not enriched) doughs, the ones without eggs and fat. You won’t need to worry about getting steam in the oven the Cloche traps water vapor and does it for you.
Make sure you cloak well and use a good amount of flour so it won’t stick to the clay surface as it bakes.
Let us know how it comes out if you have time. Jeff
I saw above someone asking about gluten-free recipes – could you post one, or tell how to adapt one in the book? We’ve got a 10 year old coming for dinner and I’d LOVE to surprise her with bread she can eat! Thanks!
Chris: Our next book, Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, will be out in 12/09, and it will have a whole chapter on gluten-free breads, pizza, crackers, and breadsticks. Unfortunately, the recipes just aren’t ready to post here, so stay tuned. Till next Holiday season, unfortunately. Jeff
I love the book and have made my first couple of loaves. However, I think my dough is too dry, when I mix everything, the dough is not wet enough to conform to the bowl- it is more like a wet cookie dough. My bread tastes great, but doesn’t look very nice, it doesn’t seem to rise very much and it doesn’t rise in the oven as much as I thought. It also doesn’t “sing” when it comes out of the over. The finished loaves are very small and not pretty. What am I doing wrong? Thanks,
Kathy: If your dough seems drier than what we describe and what you see in our videos https://artisanbreadinfive.com/?page_id=63, then two things come to mind:
1. Are you using unbleached all-purpose flour? If you use bread flour, or other high-protein flour, it will be drier than what we describe. Switch to unbleached all-purpose if that’s the explanation.
2. Let it rise longer after shaping. Our 40-minute recommendation for rising-resting was a compromise between people’s need for speed, and the height of the rise. Many people have preferred the bread when the shaped loaves are rested for an hour and a half.
But for whatever reason, your result may be too dry. If that continues, add more water, starting with 1/8 cup additional each time you increase. It shouldn’t take more than about 1/4 to 1/2 cup extra or I’d be very surprised. When it’s slacker, the hole structure will be more open (but if you go too far, the free-form bread will spread sideways rather than rising upward). Jeff
Zoë and Jeff:
Is it just natural that the rounded ovals or enlongated loafs I bake on my stone “lift” on the sides? It doesn’t stay flat as it bakes and rises.
Only when I have a couple of baguettes in my baguette tray do I get a more “flattened” bottom on the loaf.
Thank you!
Lu
Lu: That lifting is normal, I’d say. I’ve seen a little more of that with parchment rather than corn meal or flour, but I’m not absolutely certain that this is the crucial factor. Jeff
Thank you,
You have passed on life changing info.
I hope my home town paper the Seattle P.I. sponsers a trip for you to great N.W. Baking is beautiful.
Dave,
The dude gathering bricks to build an oven
in back yard
Hi David,
We, more than anyone, would LOVE to come to Seattle! We are hoping the publisher will send us with the next book.
Have fun with your brick oven, I’m so jealous!!!
Thanks, Zoë
Jeff and Zoe, I attended your recent U of MN Compleat Scholar course, it was great! Two questions:
1. How can I make hamburger buns?
2. What would happen if I substituted olive oil for butter in the enriched recipes (must reduce my sat fat intake)? I know it’ll alter the flavor but I’m interested in what might happen to the texture and baking qualities.
Thanks so much. Richard C.
Thanks for coming to the class, Richard, we had a great time doing it.
Hamburger buns are best made from enriched or slightly enriched dough. The fats keep the top and bottom crusts soft, and that’s what people are usually looking for in hamburger buns, otherwise it starts cutting the roof of your mouth.
The buttermilk bread is pretty soft too, even though there’s no fat.
Just form flattened rounds of dough and let them rest for 40 minutes before baking. You don’t need to be directly on the stone because you don’t neccesarily want that bottom crust to crisp up.
About oil instead of butter… the dough will be looser and tends to spread sideways. Could try the various butter substitutes (check label to be sure you’re actually getting less saturated fat), or a mixture of those substitutes and oil. We’re busy at work experimenting with these approaches because it’s going to be in “Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day” coming out in 12/09. Unfortunately we’re not ready to put those out just yet, really not ready. Let us know how your experiments turn out. Jeff
Waiting to get a dough bucket, meanwhile I can’t wait to start baking. Ordered the book, but trying the recipe that was in the Seattle PI. To store the dough it says not air-tight. Can I just lay a lid on top without sealing it?
Kim
Kim: Welcome to the site; thanks for trying our method. Absolutely, you can just keep the lid open a crack. Jeff
I occasionally want to bake one of the baking stone recipes in a bread pan and am wondering about a “rule of thumb” for making the switch. I usually let the dough rise in the pan until it looks good, but am unsure about the baking temperature and baking time. Sorry if this is on your blog somewhere else – I thought I had seen this addressed but cannot find it now!
(I just pulled an absolutely beautiful bran-enriched white bread out of the oven; I used a bread pan, brushed it with egg, and baked it at 400 for 40 minutes. Can’t wait until it cools!)
I’ve found that you can actually use the same temperature in a loaf pan bread. It may take longer because the loaf is likely to be bigger than 1 pound. My 9x4x3-inch loaf pan makes a 1 1/2 to 2 pound loaf when I fill it 3/4 full. So that requires more like 40 to 45 minutes, not 30 like for a 1 pound free-form loaf.
Thanks for all your questions over the past year, much appreciated. Jeff
Dear Jeff: I’ve just made the master recipe again and already eaten far too much of it! My question concerns freezing the dough and baking it in loaf pans. Could I proceed as follows:
1. Make the dough.
2. Let it rest for 2 hours.
3. ‘Cloak’ and shape the loaf (according to Page 28 of your book).
4. Put dough into loaf pans.
5. Let it rest for 40 mins.
6 Could I then put the dough, loaf pan and all, covered with plastic wrap, into the freezer? This should be airtight enough, shouldn’t it? The advantage is that I wouldn’t have to handle it again before baking it.
7. Then on baking day I’d just have to remove the plastic, let the dough (still in the loaf pan) come to room temperature, and bake it.
Please let me know if this sequence would work, or if you have any suggestions.
Many thanks again to both of you for your great book!
Britt in Oxford/UK