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Conversely, just saw this twitter post by @gloomfather: "Oh dude yeah you gotta try baking your own bread in quarantine. It takes 14 hours to do right and it’s

Conversely, just saw this twitter post by @gloomfather: "Oh dude yeah you gotta try baking your own bread in quarantine. It takes 14 hours to do right and it’s boring as shit, but the results are often quite disappointing." :)

jdc 7y ago
A very on-brand comment from that fellow. But if you not doing it to pass the time, I'd suggest using a bread machine!
- wtvanhest 7y ago
  Making bread with extremely limited time commitment involves 6 steps that each are very quick, but have to be spaced out correctly. 1. Use a mixer to mix flour (measured by weight), salt, yeast, water for 10 minutes. 2. Let sit for 4 hours 3. Kneed for 5 minutes 4. Rest for 30 minutes in a cold Dutch oven while you preheat to 425 5. Put it in the oven for 30 minutes 6. Remove lid and Lower temp to 375 and weight about 20 more minutes until bread gets to 200 degrees. You do that. It’s 15 minutes worth of work, but you have to be home which makes it optimal for wfh days. You will get awesome results every time
  - netule 7y ago
    I use a similar technique, but I throw it on a pizza stone for 45 minutes in total with a cup of water evaporating from a heated oven tray underneath the stone to provide steam. Making bread yourself is incredibly delicious, easy to do, and takes no time at all. Edit: I also set my oven to 510 Fahrenheit to get a consistent bake, but that may be a quirk of my particular oven.
    - wtvanhest 7y ago
      By using a Dutch oven you get a more consistent temp since it holds the heat like a stone, and doesn’t let moisture evaporate until you take the lid off. So yeah, the variations make sense
- soperj 7y ago
  If you do it the no-knead way, making bread in the oven is less work than a bread machine and less noisy. Less clean up, and better bread.
  - mrob 7y ago
    No-knead bread needs high-hydration dough, which is fashionable nowadays but not to everybody's preference. If you prefer something like normal sandwich bread then a bread machine will make it for you.
glup 7y ago
I just had a similar experience. But I just had to remember that like ~literally almost everything I have ever attempted~, the important thing was that I reviewed what I did wrong (misread the amount of yeast and let it alone too long for the second rise), correct it, and try again. Now I am making delicious bread!
maire 7y ago
There is very little work just a lot of waiting. I also bake the Ken Forkish recipe. It is a no-kneed bread recipe. The trick I figured out is to invest in a danish dough whisk - then I whisk it in the bowl instead of pinching. I also let the dough rise over night in the same bowl. Also - don't ignore the instructions to heat the dutch oven before baking. This is what prevents the bread from sticking.
vkou 7y ago
I've baked seven loaves of sourdough since quarantine started. I made my starter by mixing flour and water. The first two were utter rubbish, the next two were edible, and the most recent one has been rather good - much better than what my parents' bread machine would put out. I've never baked so much as a cookie, in my life before. Like any skill, baking bread simply requires practice... And a scientific approach, where you vary one parameter at a time, until you figure out something that works. I own exactly two things that have made this process easier. A kitchen scale, for exact weighing (Because all bread recipes measure in grams, not cups...) - and an oven thermometer, because my oven is a lying, slanderous ne'er-do-well, and is never accurate about its temperature. It does not take 14 hours to do. It takes about 30 minutes of up-front work in the morning, and then about 30 minutes of attention interspersed throughout the day. And it's not like I have better things I could be doing.
pmoriarty 7y ago
The bread I make takes about 20 minutes of work total, including measuring out the ingredients and cleaning up afterwards. You do have to wait overnight for the dough to rise, but you don't have to do any kneading. The results taste about 10x better than any other bread I've ever had in my life.
- jklontz 7y ago
  Would you share this no-knead recipe?
  - bglazer 7y ago
    https://www.markbittman.com/recipes-1/no-knead-bread https://www.markbittman.com/recipes-1/no-knead-bread
  - pmoriarty 7y ago
    Here you go, Lean Bread from Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day, a fantastic book I heartily recommend: http://dpaste.com/1JH41V3 http://dpaste.com/1JH41V3 Recipe modifications and tips: - I use a cast iron bread pan -- it really makes a difference - I prefer to use a good quality bread flour, like King Arthur. Haven't had luck with all-purpose flour. - I do everything in a single bowl, up to the point that the dough is transferred to the bread pan - I keep the oven at 450 degrees F throughout, and only start it 15 minutes before baking.. works well enough for me - I use the "3/4 of original" ingredients in the recipe to make one single loaf of bread, which fits perfectly in my bread pan - I tend to apply coconut oil to the top of the bread half-way through baking, rather than before baking. It's a lot easier to apply coconut oil when it's melted, which it'll readily do atop hot bread, so this is the easiest way to do it for me. But I still oil the inside of the bread pan beforehand as usual. - I like to use instant yeast, so I can mix it directly in to the flour without needing the extra step of activation. It's worked great for me. - Before adding the yeast, I mix the salt thoroughly in to the flour. Yeast should not be dumped directly on a pile of salt as that could kill it. Also, don't let the water you add get too hot, as that can also kill the yeast. I make the water luke-warm to slightly warm and that's resulted in a big rise in the dough for me.
nkozyra 7y ago
That really made the rounds but anyone who has done it knows it's nonsense. Fresh bread can take as little as 20 minutes of work and tastes amazing. The only valid complaint is it doesn't last long.

jdc 7y ago

A very on-brand comment from that fellow. But if you not doing it to pass the time, I'd suggest using a bread machine!

wtvanhest 7y ago
Making bread with extremely limited time commitment involves 6 steps that each are very quick, but have to be spaced out correctly. 1. Use a mixer to mix flour (measured by weight), salt, yeast, water for 10 minutes. 2. Let sit for 4 hours 3. Kneed for 5 minutes 4. Rest for 30 minutes in a cold Dutch oven while you preheat to 425 5. Put it in the oven for 30 minutes 6. Remove lid and Lower temp to 375 and weight about 20 more minutes until bread gets to 200 degrees. You do that. It’s 15 minutes worth of work, but you have to be home which makes it optimal for wfh days. You will get awesome results every time
- netule 7y ago
  I use a similar technique, but I throw it on a pizza stone for 45 minutes in total with a cup of water evaporating from a heated oven tray underneath the stone to provide steam. Making bread yourself is incredibly delicious, easy to do, and takes no time at all. Edit: I also set my oven to 510 Fahrenheit to get a consistent bake, but that may be a quirk of my particular oven.
  - wtvanhest 7y ago
    By using a Dutch oven you get a more consistent temp since it holds the heat like a stone, and doesn’t let moisture evaporate until you take the lid off. So yeah, the variations make sense
soperj 7y ago
If you do it the no-knead way, making bread in the oven is less work than a bread machine and less noisy. Less clean up, and better bread.
- mrob 7y ago
  No-knead bread needs high-hydration dough, which is fashionable nowadays but not to everybody's preference. If you prefer something like normal sandwich bread then a bread machine will make it for you.

glup 7y ago

I just had a similar experience. But I just had to remember that like ~literally almost everything I have ever attempted~, the important thing was that I reviewed what I did wrong (misread the amount of yeast and let it alone too long for the second rise), correct it, and try again. Now I am making delicious bread!

maire 7y ago

There is very little work just a lot of waiting. I also bake the Ken Forkish recipe. It is a no-kneed bread recipe. The trick I figured out is to invest in a danish dough whisk - then I whisk it in the bowl instead of pinching. I also let the dough rise over night in the same bowl. Also - don't ignore the instructions to heat the dutch oven before baking. This is what prevents the bread from sticking.

vkou 7y ago

I've baked seven loaves of sourdough since quarantine started. I made my starter by mixing flour and water. The first two were utter rubbish, the next two were edible, and the most recent one has been rather good - much better than what my parents' bread machine would put out. I've never baked so much as a cookie, in my life before. Like any skill, baking bread simply requires practice... And a scientific approach, where you vary one parameter at a time, until you figure out something that works. I own exactly two things that have made this process easier. A kitchen scale, for exact weighing (Because all bread recipes measure in grams, not cups...) - and an oven thermometer, because my oven is a lying, slanderous ne'er-do-well, and is never accurate about its temperature. It does not take 14 hours to do. It takes about 30 minutes of up-front work in the morning, and then about 30 minutes of attention interspersed throughout the day. And it's not like I have better things I could be doing.

pmoriarty 7y ago

The bread I make takes about 20 minutes of work total, including measuring out the ingredients and cleaning up afterwards. You do have to wait overnight for the dough to rise, but you don't have to do any kneading. The results taste about 10x better than any other bread I've ever had in my life.

jklontz 7y ago
Would you share this no-knead recipe?
- bglazer 7y ago
  https://www.markbittman.com/recipes-1/no-knead-bread https://www.markbittman.com/recipes-1/no-knead-bread
- pmoriarty 7y ago
  Here you go, Lean Bread from Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day, a fantastic book I heartily recommend: http://dpaste.com/1JH41V3 http://dpaste.com/1JH41V3 Recipe modifications and tips: - I use a cast iron bread pan -- it really makes a difference - I prefer to use a good quality bread flour, like King Arthur. Haven't had luck with all-purpose flour. - I do everything in a single bowl, up to the point that the dough is transferred to the bread pan - I keep the oven at 450 degrees F throughout, and only start it 15 minutes before baking.. works well enough for me - I use the "3/4 of original" ingredients in the recipe to make one single loaf of bread, which fits perfectly in my bread pan - I tend to apply coconut oil to the top of the bread half-way through baking, rather than before baking. It's a lot easier to apply coconut oil when it's melted, which it'll readily do atop hot bread, so this is the easiest way to do it for me. But I still oil the inside of the bread pan beforehand as usual. - I like to use instant yeast, so I can mix it directly in to the flour without needing the extra step of activation. It's worked great for me. - Before adding the yeast, I mix the salt thoroughly in to the flour. Yeast should not be dumped directly on a pile of salt as that could kill it. Also, don't let the water you add get too hot, as that can also kill the yeast. I make the water luke-warm to slightly warm and that's resulted in a big rise in the dough for me.

nkozyra 7y ago

That really made the rounds but anyone who has done it knows it's nonsense. Fresh bread can take as little as 20 minutes of work and tastes amazing. The only valid complaint is it doesn't last long.