Hi all,

First, I just want to say that I love this site and I apologize if you've heard this story before, but I'm a little overwhelmed by the bread making process. I faithfully followed Peter Reinhart's American Pie napoletana recipe (weighing flour, taking temperature of water, etc). Everything looked great - it was nice and sticky, I lovingly placed my dough ball in a bowl brushed with olive oil and covered with plastic wrap for a nice overnight fermentation. When I woke up the next day, the dough was the same size. I took it out 2 hrs before baking to prepare it and it stayed the same size. As this is my first try, I wasn't sure if this was to be expected or not because PR doesn't go into great detail about it for THIS recipe. I baked according to instructions and the dough stayed flat and pale and wasn't flavorful at all. It wasn't terribly hard but it wasn't soft or crispy or anything good - not what I expected. What did I do wrong?

BTW, I used instant yeast,and I've read does not need to be dissolved in warm water before using so I mixed it with the dry ingredients before adding liquid.

One other question -- if I use 00flour instead of AP, do I use exactly the same amount, i.e, is it an equal exchange and do I need to make any adjustments to the yeast, water, etc.?

Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated!

Regards,

Linda