The New York Times - A New way to make bread?

[Patricia Thornton]

I'm a great newspaper reader and one of the papers I get delivered to my in-box each day is the New York Times.

Today there is an article (with video) in the Dine & Wine Section with the byline The Minimalist: The Secret of Great Bread that I found very, very interesting and will certainly want to try.

If it works as well as is said, what a great idea(!) discovery(?) Will somebody else please take a look see and let me know what they think?

[saucisson]

Will do, I love homemade bread, where do I find the article?

Dave

[Patricia Thornton]

Hi Dave, Just search for the New York Times, it's today's edition. I just don't know how to 'transfer' it here, being somewhat (I mean complete) of a technophobe!

[saucisson]

Thanks, I'll have a look!

Dave

Edit:

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/081mrex.html

Off to the kitchen to try it out, I guess I'll let you know tomorrow night how it turned out

Dave

[Oddley]

I have just written the recipe down so for anybody that can't be bothered to go to the New York Times here it is.

Better Bread

3 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon of yeast (quick yeast).
1 1/4 teaspoons of salt
1 1/2 cups of water.

Method:
Add the dry ingredients to a bowl. Mix briefly with your hands, then add the water. Bring together as a dough. Leave for at least 12 hours to rise. Now turn the dough out is onto a floured board and fold all four sides into the centre. Turnover and put seam side down onto a tea cloth sprinkled with wheat bran. leave about an hour to rise, then turn out onto the hand seam side up, put into a piping hot cast-iron or Pyrex dish seam side still up. Put the lid on the pot and then into the oven preheated to 500�F leave to cook for 30 minutes with the lid on. Then another 15 to 20 minutes, with the lid off. This creates about 70% humility in the first part of the cooking. Check after the required amount of time to make sure that the crust is of the correct colour. Cool on a wire rack for at least 45 minutes.

I don't really know how new this method is we had a similar bread recipe posted by one of our members. But I think I will give it a try. Thanks Patricia for the heads up.

[saucisson]

Oddley, the recipe you have written down is very slightly different to the one I linked to, where did you you find it? Just curious
e.g. 450 degree oven for 30 mins covered 15-30 uncovered compared with a 500 degree oven for 15 +15 mins

Anyway my sludge is incubating overnight now.

Dave

[dougal]

Ummm, yes...

Using only a little yeast and allowing a *long* time to rise very definitely gives more flavoursome bread. The NYT is looking for at least 12, preferably 18 hours. At about 70F. Which is a long rising time.
Volume measures for flour are wretched, because different flours have packing densities different enough to matter. These days when following a new recipe, I even weigh the water for much more accuracy than the typical measuring jug gives.
Lots and lots of humidity (not necessarily visible steam) at the start of oven baking (and hitting it with a reserve of heat - like a baking stone, or here a pre-heated casserole) helps the loaf to rise (or specifically "spring") better.
I use boiling water into a pre-heated pan in the bottom of the oven, for the humidity elevation. And then remove the pan after about 15 minutes (ie after the 'spring' has topped out) for a crunchier crust. The extra humidity produces a slightly darker crust (as does the long bulk fermentation).
For the second rise, or proof, using rye flour on the cloth is more usual, palatable and, I believe, a more effective non-stick than wheat bran. (The NYT says "flour, wheat bran or cornmeal", but rye flour is good.) And a linen cloth is better than a cotton tea towel.

Stretching and folding, rather than 'kneading', is advocated by those (like Dan Lepard) who are trying to emphasise (while controlling) an irregular, open texture to the crumb.
BTW Lepard's "The Handmade Loaf" is very much "his" book (whereas "Baking with Passion" seemingly isn't... ) and its good.

[Oddley]

Hi saucisson, I wrote it on the fly while looking at the video. 500�F is 260�C or gas mark 9, Anyway that was how the guy did it on the video. If you have it written down please post so we can see the differences.

Hi dougal, I know all about the tight as% way of doing things because I am one... All flours are different so measuring out to the last gram of water does not always work, so as irritating as it is, we must use non scientific methods to get the right consistency.

[saucisson]

Ah, I clicked on the link on the page: related: recipe: No-knead Bread Nov 8 2006

Which gave me this:

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
� teaspoon instant yeast
1� teaspoons salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

Yield: One 1�-pound loaf.


Edit: I just watched the video and I thought he said lid on for 30 mins/ 2 thirds of the time?.

Dave

[Robert H]

Sounds a bit like the Dan Lepard method:

http://www.danlepard.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=721

I have made this bread and it is excellent.

[Oddley]

Hi saucissonn, Yep you are right. 30 min's with cover on. my mistake...

Robert H, I think the main departure is cooking in a closed container, whether this works or not I'll know tomorrow.

[Robert H]

Cooking in a closed container would be similar to steaming, also both recipes have no or very little kneading.

[Oddley]

Yes I think you are right, I believe that the commercial way of getting a good crust, is to more or less steam the bread for the first 10-15 mins. Then roast it to dry it out. As special ovens are required to do this, it is beyond the amateur.

As I said I'll see if it works tomorrow.

[saucisson]

As will I And this isn't a race

Oddley, what oven do you use? it will be interesting to see if we produce the same thing.

Dave

[Oddley]

Hi Dave, I use a domestic gas oven.