Ok so I got my first ever bread in the oven right now

[nadinbrzezinski]

simple yeast no knead recipe...

I hope this is fine... and chiefly tasty.

[eridani]

1. Actually, I screwed that recipe up, believe it or not

Did tweaking over a few months and finally got it to behave, though.

[nadinbrzezinski]

7. I did... you see in my ignorance I didn't realize

baking powder was not yeast. They were still tasty dense biscuits though

Second batch in the fridge as I type... rising.

It was funny. My husband will burn the kitchen if you let him loose in there. but he pointed that out as he came home yesterday.

We, me and the birds, finished those biscuits today for breakfast though. THey did not go to waste.

[cbayer]

9. Oops!

:rofl:

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. How was I to know? I remember mom putting that thing in all kinds of

baked goods... and it says BAKING POWDER on the side.

:-)

[cbayer]

12. I have made similar mistakes, many of which have rendered the food inedible.

I tried to make my own wedding cake and used baking soda instead of powder.

Between that and the home perm I decided to give myself 3 days before the event, well.... enough said.

:rofl:

[hippywife]

18. I can't even believe

you even dared attempt those things so close to your wedding. You crack me up! :rofl:

[cbayer]

23. I was trying to have a do-it-yourself wedding and keep the costs as low as possible.

Some of my ideas did not go that well.

The worst was probably having it in the backyard of a friend with a pool. My betrothed's best friend was a bad drunk, and the real highlight of the "reception" was when he decided to have sex with the hostess in the pool while the minister was still there.

All of these omens should have been a clue that things just weren't going to work out in the end.

:rofl:

[Warpy]

35. My favorite weddings were covered dish affairs

at the local Grange hall. You never knew what people were going to bring and it was always an adventure. The wedding cake was made of whatever people brought, frosted on site by whoever got stuck putting it together and decorated with the bride's flowers.

Since everybody participated and a fussy wedding planner was nowhere in sight trying to choreograph the whole thing, a good time was had by all.

[Tesha]

2. Don't forget to get some pictures!

You know the weird thing?

Sometimes the ugliest bread tastes the best!

[Warpy]

3. Even if your first effort turns out like mine did in 1971

and you have to thin slice it, toast it in the oven and call it Melba toast, you'll get the house perfumed when it's baking and it will taste so much better than store bread that you'll be hooked on baking for life.

That's how it worked for me. Eventually, I figured out how to do it like the book said and now I use the lazy man's recipe from the NYT.

There is nothing in the world as good as how the house smells when bread is in the oven.

[eleny]

4. How did it go?

P.S. I'm glad you made it over here. This C&B group is fun.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. I made biscuits

I thought I got all I needed... alas baking powder is NOT yeast. Got yeast this morning, second batch is in the fridge. Will get baked tomorrow... or tonight.

They were tasty though, if a little dense... hey I got a recipee for... matzah now. (It is unleavened bread)

[eleny]

14. I've got a box of Streit's Matzos on the counter

:D

Good luck with the new batch of bread dough!

[hippywife]

20. Uh-oh!

You know that's temptation just lurking, don't you?

http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/04/chocolate-caramel-crackers/


:rofl:

[eleny]

27. You are evil... EEEEEE-VILLLLL!

[hippywife]

32. Mwahaha!

}(

[cbayer]

5. What recipe did you use?

Interested to know how it came out.

:hi:

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. The one in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a day

and you know what? I was talking to hubby. My dad used to make bread every so often at home. The more I think about it... it was THAT recipe.

Though he was more the... you need to feel the dough and you will know when it is ready. During WW II he spent some months baking bread from morning to night in occupied Poland. He don't speak of that too much.

Second batch, I used part of it with whole wheat flour. The recipe says that let is rise longer for whole wheat.

What I like is, it took literally five minutes to mix the ingredients... and do it without having to pull down the mixer.

[cbayer]

13. I will do a search for the recipe. Don't have a mixer, so will look more closely at this one.

:hi:

[supernova]

15. It's in here somewhere

in the C&B archives. We talked about in the Spring, IIRC.

There was also an original article in Mother Earth News about 10 years ago. I'll see if I can dig it up again.

edit: They've updated and republished this fall. I guess to coincide with release of the book.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/Artisan-Bread-In-Five-Minutes-A-Day.aspx

[nadinbrzezinski]

22. Here is one variation

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/2007-12-01/Easy-No-Knead-Dutch-Oven-Crusty-Bread.aspx

And no I am not using a dutch oven, would not fit in my small oven.

Though this might finally give the excuse to ... finally replace the large oven

[cbayer]

25. This looks like the NYT recipe and the one I am going to try first.

I also have a very, very small oven, but I have a Dutch Oven which will fit in there, so I am going to use that. Looks like my biggest impediment is going to be hitting that temp of 475 and holding it there, but I am going to try.

Good luck on you second attempt!

:hi:

[ginnyinWI]

17. my tweak with that recipe

I learned somewhere that the more you knead your bread, the longer it stays fresh. Also the more times you let it rise. So if you have the time, knead it--even though you don't strictly have to--before setting it on whatever you use for baking and let it rise for an hour or so.

[nadinbrzezinski]

21. Yeah that is what dad used to do... will punch it before I go get lunch

and do some kneading as well.

[hippywife]

6. We're waiting with bated breath

to hear how it turned out. :hi:

[ginnyinWI]

16. thankyou thankyou for spelling "bated" correctly!

That's one of my pet peeves. The use of the wrong word simply because it sounds like the right one!

[hippywife]

19. ...

I read...a lot. I don't think people who do that much reading have much difficulty spelling.

:hi:

[nadinbrzezinski]

26. Oh we do... I eat a book a week

but the ADD and I am sure dyslexia does not help.

THANK THE LORDS for the spell checker.

[hippywife]

30. Sorry, nadin!

I should have qualified that. :hug:

[Tesha]

24. bated...

oh baited...

baited breath! what an image that evokes!

[japple]

28. I thought it was "waiting with bait on our breath." That's what

my cats tell me all the time!

[hippywife]

31. You and beac need to talk.

She has lazy cats and yours are liars. :rofl:

Mine are complete angels, of course. :eyes:

[nadinbrzezinski]

29. In the oven and rising nicely

Will make it in two batches, making small individual pieces more than a full loave

[cbayer]

33. So!?!?!? How did it come out?

:hi:

[nadinbrzezinski]

34. Still having problems with the rising

will have to use far hotter water and proof it.

But it was tasty... it is almost gone.

I know I will probably mix it tonight and leave it out overnight...

[Warpy]

36. You don't have to proof your yeast

but you do have to give it adequate rising time and feed it a little fresh flour before the second rising the next day.

[nadinbrzezinski]

37. I have and it is not working

So I am wondering if the yeast is good.

It said out overnight, barely rose. I fed it fresh powder this morning and let it rise for forty minutes before it went to the oven. The bottle was not cheap...

I am wondering what is going on.

[Warpy]

38. First, do NOT proof your yeast!!!

Just mix it in with the flour and salt. Then add COLD water. Yes, COLD water. Then mix it. Then cover it and walk away. Stay away for at least 18 hours.

Then go back and shape your loaves for that second, TWO HOUR rise.

Just don't proof that damn yeast! More people screw up bread with the wrong temperature water than any other reason.

[nadinbrzezinski]

39. It is also a bread machine yeast, it clearly says

DO NOT mix with salt...

Silly me

[Warpy]

40. It probably also tells you to proof it, right?

The NYT bread recipe is idiot proof as long as we idiots don't overthink it and try to do stuff we don't need to do.

Trust me, I've screwed up more bread than you'll ever attempt.

The salt is mixed with the flour and yeast, not with water to proof the yeast, which is the big nono.

While salt can retard yeast, that only happens in concentrated amounts, like when you dump it into that quarter cup of water you're going to proof the yeast in.

Just follow the NYT instructions, do NOT proof the yeast, mix it in with the other dry ingredients, mix in the cold tap water and walk away.

Bread yeast is bread yeast, and it doesn't matter if it's in big clumps like bulk bakery yeast, in moist cakes, in little foil packages, or in a jar labeled "bread machine yeast."

[nadinbrzezinski]

41. I am following the instructions from Artisan bread

and that one says clearly to put yeast in water with the salt. It also says clearly to use lukewarm water.

[hippywife]

42. In all the times I've made the Artisan bread

I've put the salt in with the flour because I knew it could cause a problem, but there's no way to know that without experience. I know what their instructions say but I definitely have never trusted that little bit of it.

We've all done things that have made our bread less than perfect, but as most everyone here has said, it's still usually edible, which is a plus when you're on a learning curve.

You'll lick this yet! :hug:

[nadinbrzezinski]

43. I'll keep trying this time

I reached for the machine and did the dough that way.

First time I pull that machine off the shelf. Mom bought it over twenty five years ago... I had to ahem, dust it and wash it.

[nadinbrzezinski]

44. I think it was bad yeast... got a fresh jar today

and fresh flour. Lets just say the thing did something it had not done until now, it actually doubled in size, if not more.

Will get backed in an hour or so... that is loaf one

Loaf two will be backed tomorrow night or the day after tomorrow.

Lesson of the story... do not give up

[nadinbrzezinski]

45. IT WORKED... three loaves later... it finally worked

I truly think the second and third were the yeast... which mush have been bad...

Got another bottle of the stuff today, whipped it and it has risen very nicely in my small oven.

I also used my machine (thanks mom. She'll be happy to know it is now getting used)... the blending machine.

I guess next I will tackle croissants. Hubby loves them. I found a recipe that looks fairly easy to do.

[cbayer]

46. Yeah!!!

:woohoo:

[csziggy]

47. Congratulations!

:bounce: :yourock: