Convert fruited yeast bread to no-knead
i recently tried a recipe from the Britain's Best Bakery cookbook: Crags Bread on p. 39. The dough was much stiffer than I anticipated, even though I held the fruit back until the end. It was way beyond the capacity of my old Brain Kitchen Machine, even dividing the dough into smaller pieces. Both my husband and I tried to knead it manually. The result was a very modest rise and a dense, charred-looking bread. Is there any method for making a recipe like this into a no-knead from the start? Right now, I would say it is roughly 50% hydration, with 600 ml of milk and 1.23 kilos of flour. It calls for a massive amount of yeast (100 grams of what I think is fresh yeast). I looked at a lot of similar recipes and I don't think it's a misprint. I used a scant 3 T of instant yeast, because that was all I had.
Thanks for any input.
From the Panasonic breadmaker manual. It makes a lovely loaf in the machine and perhaps you can try it by hand. No knead it is not but with the butter and eggs it'll be easier to handle then that seemingly off recipe. Take a look and see what you think.
Thank you.
I really like that your recipe has lots of fruit. That's what led me down this rabbit hole in the first place :). I am sure my mixer would be able to handle this and that I can convert it from the bread maker instructions to using the mixer.
My bread-making is on a brief break, as we have company for a few days. However, I will try your recipe ASAP. I really appreciate this suggestion.
Adds the fruit in halfway through the kneading after the dough has been formed. So at a rough guess if making by hand...
1. Form the dough and knead.
2. Halfway through add the dried fruit and carry on the kneading till full gluten formation and fruit is fully incorporated.
3. Bulk ferment till doubled.
4. Shape the dough into a loaf pan and final proof till ready.
5. Bake in preheated oven.
Yes, I think doing the bulk of the kneading first before adding the fruit is the way to go. I have always tended not to knead enough, so am using the window pane test a lot. I find it helps. I am looking forward to trying this bread.
You've been really helpful. Thanks!!
Glad i could help and look forward to seeing the results!
I finally got to make this recipe yesterday. I did add some extra flour. I am starting to think my scale is off, as that happened with everything I tried yesterday. The recipe produced a lovely, good-sized loaf. We had some for breakfast this morning, and it was really good. I look forward to making it again. I didn't take a picture, but I wanted to thank you again for your help.
Gail
My pleasure. When I had a bread maker this was one of my favourite recipes.
Enjoy!