May 26, 2012 - 4:35am
Artisan Bread in five minutes - no oven spring - help
Hi all,
I finally decided to try out recipes from ArtisanBread in 5 Minutes and have been tremendously disappointed. (I routinely make 2-4 loaves/wk from either Hamelman's Techniques or Reinhart's BBA.) Although I follow the directions, I must be doing something wrong because I get no oven spring. How long is everyone else letting loaves rise before baking? Your thoughts would be appreciated.
Sylvia
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I posted my request for help for that purpose, and that alone. Although I've been baking bread for over 30 years, and artisan bread for nearly 7, I'm always looking for ways to achieve a great crust and crumb.I enjoy the challenges of sourdoughs, milder levains, whole grain soakers, and more. I've had the pleasure of personal conversation with Reinhart (tho I've not yet met him face-to-face), and I do love my breads that take 2 days or more to prepare. One of the things I've come to realize is that the world of bread includes many varieties for many reasons: culture, religion, geography, climate, financial conditions, and more. For example, I have a long work-day, so one of my objectives is to explore different ways to bake good bread during my busy work week. And so my trials with Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes. Zoe, thank you for taking the time to respond to my question, and I will visit your site to learn more.
Sylvia,
I would also suggest you buy Peter Reinhart's "Artisan Breads Every Day". I find this to be one of my favorite books and his technique for giving the dough a long 1-3 day or longer retardation in the refrigerator speaks to your main goal. He gives you the option of using yeast or levain only in many recipes depending on your time frame.
I have used his basic formulas to create many of my own and not that I'm ready to quit my day job and open a bakery, I think most of my results have been pretty good.
Feel free to check out some of my posts here on TFL or visit my blog at www.mookielovesbread.wordpress.com to read about some of my adaptations using his simple techniques. I started out using the yeast with the levain, but I have found that the omission of the yeast more to my liking although it does add a few hours to the overall bake.
Good luck.
Ian
Isand66,
Thanks very much for the suggestion. Much appreciated. Will take a look at your blog posts and at the book itself. Wishing you successful baking.
Sylvia
You are most welcome.
Let me know how you make out.
Regards,
Ian
I've been following both the ABi5 / HBi5 and TFL websites for several years now, but haven't posted before. I must say that the support offered on both of these websites is really phenomenal. I don't have a lot of time to bake and hardly any to post, but I haven't bought bread in a store for at least 3 years, and I've spent many a late night at the computer following these threads.
I started with the Artisan Bread & Healthy Bread books and had some success with both including their gluten free breads that my neighbor can eat. Not every loaf was successful, but I've just completed my second really good week of baking the Soft Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread, and it's super good - handles well, rises well, and bakes beautifully. I've found this enriched dough fits my lifestyle really well, even if it isn't strictly speaking an "artisan" bread. I make half recipes - 1 loaf plus 2 english muffins worth.
I recently started experimenting with Reinhart's Whole Grain Bread, which I also love. For me, there are some similarities between the HBi5 and Reinhart's methods, but I know I never would have discovered Reinhart if I hadn't started with the Artisan Bread in 5 books. I completely agree with the thought that any path that leads people to try baking their own bread is worthwhile - the harsh critique seems a bit much in a forum that is usually so open and supportive.
So - from Los Angeles, thanks very much to all of you who take the time to share and support all the varieties of bakers and procedures that get discussed here!
Kay
You write just like Zoe.
You're intimately familiar with all of her books and marketing verbiage re: ABi5 / HBi5 (Aluminum Bismuth? Hydrogen Bismuth? I'm guessing these are marketing acronyms?)
You only come to TFL to defend her books, as she does.
You even end your post with an exclamation point (!), just like Zoe.
I'm curious:
Are you Zoe?
No, I'm not Zoe - have never met either of the authors, but do enjoy their books and their responsiveness on their website. I'm a 66 year old long-time resident of the Highland Park neighborhood in newly trendy NE Los Angeles. I've always enjoyed cooking and baking at what I think is a home cook "competent" level.
I've baked bread on & off for a long time. Then, about 10 years ago, after an "off" time, a friend gave me the Zojirushi machine she didn't like which started my current interest. After getting tired of the "funny" loaves from the bread machine, I found ABI5 soon after it was published and tried the recipes with only medium success. (The thing that I found the most frustrating was the lack of ingredient weights, which I think the authors have addressed much better recently.) I then started exploring other recipes/methods here. Based on someone's link, I recently watched Peter Reinhart's TED talk and was totally intrigued by his story & journey with bread. That got me to read Peter's book (WGB) and to try his basic recipe, which I made for several weekends running, getting better each time. At that point, we got really busy and I went back to HBI5 and lucked out with the sandwich bread. I've just gotten "Artisan Bread Every Day" so will be moving on to some of those formulas soon. I've also delighted in "52 Loaves" - especially for the writing (haven't tried his recipe) and in the posts from many, many of you here on TFL.
Perhaps I shouldn't have made my first post entering into a controversy, but I do feel like I know many of you from your wonderful posts & photos even though, obviously, you don't know me. Nonetheless, I'm greatful to you all for these lively discussions and to Floyd for keeping it all afloat. Here are photos of a recent ABI5 loaf and the English Muffins made with the part of the dough that doesn't fit in the bread pan.
I seem to have no problem with oven spring using this recipe, but I've had much trouble with the leaner ones, too, Sylvia. Looking forward to more participation on TFL.
Kay