So, I had a much needed victory in the kitchen while it was snowing yesterday. Not only did my second try at this bread look good from the outside...
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| Good looking on the outside! |
But look at the inside!
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| Big airy holes!! |
This is how its supposed to look. And it has a crisp, shattering crust, lots of airy holes, a nice soft crumb and tastes good, too.
I realize now that I made some kind of measuring error in my first sorry boule. This time I measured by weight, which is how I normally bake. Conversions are in the follow-up article about the bread. The dough looked totally different when I measured by weight, so I knew at once that I had made some kind of mistake last week.
So, the verdict is that this recipe is as easy as promised and, when I actually measured correctly, the results were great. I can see myself making this bread often. I do like kneaded breads, but don't always have the time to be home to do all of the rising and punching down in one day. With this bread, I mix the dough one afternoon (it takes 5 minutes including clean up), rise untouched until the next morning, and by lunchtime am taking the bread out of the oven.
Anyway, three cheers for bread. I'm already thinking about all kinds of variations with whole grains and other enhancements.
17 comments:
that looks scrumptious!
Wow - what a difference. And that bread looks gorgeous. I'm not into bread, as a rule, but when I eat it - I like it to look like that.
I baked bread yesterday, too. Snowstorms are the perfect weather for baking. The low barometric pressure makes it easier for the yeast to rise.I don't have a kitchen scale, but what I have found works well is fluffing the flour, then scooping it gently into a measuring cup and gently leveling off the top with a spatula. That seems to keep me from putting too much flour in my bread.
Yay, perfect bread! Victory! You must have accidentally had too much flour the first time. I've done that too. Measuring by weight works every time. When the weather is dry I find I need a little more water. Now all is right with the world.
That looks impressive!
Yayyyy!! Victory!
Looks yummy! Must be the same recipe I am making, although I always use wholemeal and or spelt flour plus gia seeds and sunflower seeds. Very nice as well, the only thing it does not rise as much.
I am so pleased (& relieved seeing as I recommended this recipe) for you. I find baking bread one of the most satisfying things to bake. One day I will do a detailed post about how I make my bread, I promise.
SO not your fault! I knew something was wrong with the execution and not the recipe given how many other people have made it. I'd love to read more about yours.
Oh no! Does that mean that I will have to wait until the next storm to bake more? I hope not!
I can't wait to start making it with some other flours and seeds!
Yeah, that's what I think, too. I generally only measure by weight these days - it's much more accurate.
That looks yummy! How does the taste / texture differ from kneaded bread? I miss NYC bread...too many gooey bread here in London.
Good question! I'm not sure my answer is really adequate. All the kneaded bread I've made is much more like sandwich bread - teeny tiny holes and very small fine crumb - no big holes. This is like an artisan bread with big airy holes and a very crisp crust. So, they are really different animals entirely. I'm not sure how you would make this kind of boule/artisan bread with a kneaded dough. I don't really know enough about bread baking (yet). Add to my "goals for 2014" list!
Yum, I love baking bread and yours looks amazingly delicious!
OMG nom nom nom. Now I want bread.
Thanks for sharing the recipe, winter is the perfect time to bake bread! Goodness knows how I love bread. Yours looks perfect!
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