Baking bread

Parents Forum Parent Cafe
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This bread is very easy and delicious. Several friends have made it. The folks I know have assembled the ingredients before they go to bed…and bake in the morning.

6 cups flour
3 cups water
2 Teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon yeast (1 packet)

Mix all together in big bowl. Let rest all day or over night. Needs at least 10 hours.

Heat cast iron Le crueset type pan w lid in oven 450 degrees. Grease w butter. Pour dough into pan cover bake 30 minutes. Take lid off and finish off 20 min more

Anyone know what size Le Creuset this on uses? Or the half recipe size pan?

1 Like
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If you love the deep, yeasty taste of well proofed bread, this waffle recipe will be a new favorite. We have (unfortunately for my waistline) been making it more and more as the quarantine wears on. If I have to get fat during these times, so should you! Enjoy.

https://barefootcontessa.com/recipes/overnight-belgian-waffles

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That recipe listed above would make two nice boule of bread. Picture a nice roundish ball of sourdough. Times 2. I make half of that for one boule that can probably be sliced in 10-12 not too thick slices.

I bake it in a dutch oven. I think mine is 6 quart. Could definitely use a smaller like 4 quart one. But to make the whole recipe at once I think you would want a 6 quart. That would be a quite large boule of bread though.

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I used this recipe
https://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2017/02/21/bread-baking-dutch-oven
In my big le creuset Dutch oven, the 5qt one
Didn’t grease it but lowered the dough into the hot Dutch oven on parchment paper.

Fantastic bread. Have fin!

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^^^ I use parchment as well.

I will also say my recipe that calls for 3 cups of flour only calls for 1/4 tsp yeast.

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Some tips–

Don’t let your bread in the above recipe rise on the counter overnight. It may over-rise and collapse.

Better to let it rise slowly in the fridge for 12-24 hours so the dough can ferment which gives the finished bread a richer, more interesting flavor. You can keep the dough in the fridge for up to 3 days before baking.

I’d divide the recipe into smaller portions after mixing unless you have a big family .I divide the dough into 3 softball sized balls. I place 2 in quart freezer bags with ab it of olive oil to prevent the dough from sticking. I let them ferment overnight then put the bags in the freezer to bake later. The 3rd ball I will let rise overnight in the fridge, the rise some more on the counter before I bake it.

One softball-size ball of dough will yield a 1 lb loaf of bread.

You can keep the dough in the fridge for up to 3 days before baking.

This is terrific resource for anyone interested in low stress artisan bread baking

https://artisanbreadinfive.com

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This is the recipe people in Madison, WI are going crazy for:

https://www.browneyedbaker.com/spicy-cheese-bread/

Flour and yeast are hard to find on grocery store shelves.

A bakery at our Capitol Square Farmer’s Market would sell hundreds of loaves of $12 warm spicey cheese bread every Saturday.

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@thumper1 One packet of yeast contains 2 1/4 teaspoons.

I’ve made that bread as well, but also place the dough on parchment paper. I use my Le Creuset dutch oven.

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Oh, I’m totally trying that spicy cheese bread!

I’m just a little nervous about using up my yeast. I CANNOT find more anywhere!

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Here’s my favorite baguette recipe: https://steamykitchen.com/75-baking-the-perfect-loaf-of-french-bread.html

I use a french loaf pan and because I have a convection oven, only cook it for 18 minutes but otherwise I follow the directions to the letter. Comes out perfect every single time.

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@MaryBarbara58

If I could find yeast at a store…I would measure the amount I use.

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Please try sourdough! That’s pretty much all I use, and I have been baking all of my family’s bread, plus bagels and the occasional pizza or pitas, for well over a decade. If you get some starter going, you’ll never worry about running short of yeast. (I do keep some yeast around, since sourdough methods don’t work when you decide at noon that you want fresh bread for dinner. But I struggle to use it before its use-by date, and mostly don’t. Lucky for me, it works pretty well even long past that.)

Generally, I start my baking process 20-22 hours before I want to have the bread ready to eat. I mix starter, water, and half the flour, and often herbs, too, and let them sit in a bowl, covered, in the kitchen for about 8 hours or until they get all bubbly. Then I add the rest of the flour and salt, go through a kneading or stretching process, and put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl in the refrigerator until a few hours before I am ready to bake (i.e., overnight often). When I take it out, I let it warm up for a couple of hours, then I start doing whatever I do for whatever type of bread I am making.

Commercial artisan bakeries around here have been giving away sourdough starter to anyone who asks (in compliance with local order-in-advance strictures, of course). But most places that aren’t completely paved over have plenty of wild yeast floating around in the air. There are plenty of instructions online about how to get your sourdough starter started.

Once it gets going, it’s not difficult at all to maintain. I have two starters going. One I got from my nephew in 2007, the other I cloned eight years ago from expensive commercial French bread sourdough starter made by a company in Quebec. I rarely replenish them other than when I use them, which is often only once a week. (They would work a little better if I fed them twice a week, but I tend to forget. And they work fine anyway.) They have survived many multiple-week absences during vacation trips.

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In my area you can’t find yeast in the stores but several restaurants and coffee shops are selling yeast, flour and even sourdough starter. I want to go buy some but I’m feeling that I don’t need it yet so I should stay home. I have a couple of unopened packets.
I made my first loaf of no knead bread last week. My Dutch oven didn’t have a metal knob but my H took a metal cabinet door knob and used a bunch of washers and changed out my knob. It worked great.
I also baked cinnamon rolls for the first time.
I like to make pizza from Whole Foods dough and I have a couple in the freezer. I think next I will try to make my own. Any favorite dough recipes? Also tips on freezing the dough. Thanks

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Pizza dough

My favorite is from Serious Eats
https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/07/basic-new-york-style-pizza-dough.html

4 1/2 cups bread flour
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp kosher salt
2 tsp yeast
3 tbsp olive oil
1 3/4 cups warm water

Combine flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in bowl of food processor. Pulse 3 to 4 times until incorporated. Add olive oil and water. Run food processor until mixture forms ball that rides around the bowl above the blade, about 15 seconds. Continue processing 15 seconds longer.

Transfer dough ball to lightly floured surface and knead once or twice by hand until smooth ball is formed. It should pass the windowpane test. Divide dough into three even parts and place each in a covered quart-sized deli container or in a zipper-lock freezer bag. Place in refrigerator and allow to rise at least 1 day, and up to 5. Remove from refrigerator, shape into balls, and allow to rest at room temperature for at least 2 hours before baking.

Makes 3 12-inch pizzas


If you want to freeze the dough, pour a bit oil into a quart size freezer bag  add the dough ball and turn the dough around so it's oiled on all sides and won't stick the plastic when defrosting/rising. Freeze. When you want to use, remove from freezer and let thaw overnight in the fridge or simply place frozen dough (in the bag) on the counter for a couple hours. Once it's defrosted, allow to rise in bowl covered with plastic wrap at room temperature for about 2 hours.

Cast Iron Skillet Pizza

If you want a really crunch crust, try baking your pizza in 12 inch cast iron skillet.

Put a cast iron skillet into a cold oven and preheat oven to 450 degrees. Meanwhile stretch & pat dough into roughly a 12 inch circle. Gather sauce, shredded cheeses, toppings and about 2 TBSP of olive oil. Have pastry or silicone bristle brush handy.

Once the oven and the pan have reached 450 degrees, remove skillet from oven.

Working quickly so the pan doesn’t cool too much spread about half the olive oil on the bottom of the skillet. Place dough circle into skillet and brush remaining oil around the perimeter of the pizza and about 1 inch wide ring on the edge of the crust.

Spread sauce on the pizza, add cheese and toppings and put the skillet back into the oven.

Bake about 13-18 minutes or until the edge of the crust has browned nicely and cheese is melted & bubbly.

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Just had this in my King Arthur feed…LOL they know we are talking bread!

“Easiest Bread You’ll Ever Bake”
https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/the-easiest-loaf-of-bread-youll-ever-bake-recipe

A kneaded bread. :slight_smile:

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HINT–if you’re looking for yeast, you can order yeast in 1 lb packages from King Arthur Flour

https://www.kingarthurflour.com/search?algolia-index=Product&query=yeast

They offer 2 types of yeast SAF red for most breads
and SAF yellow for sweet doughs

Yeast will store for for a year or longer when frozen. You don’t need to defrost yeast before using it. If you keep your yeast in a tightly sealed jar in the refrigerator, it will last keep for months, possibly even a year.

1 Like
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P.S that cheese bread looks yummy. Instead of provolone and jack, I’m going to try to make it with Beehive Cheese Red Butte cheese-- which is a mild farmhouse cheddar with Hatch green chiles on the inside of the cheese and crushed red chile rubbed on the outside.

https://beehivecheese.com/collections/cheese/products/red-butte-hatch-chile

Beehive cheese is shipping without any delays right now if you need cheese.

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I swear on was on King Arthur this morning and saw no yeast. Don’t most recipes call for “active” not “instant” yeast???

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[QUOTE=""]
HINT>>>

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KAF is always out of stock when I check, and has been for since I started checking. Did you not see that in the link you used?

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When I clicked @WayOutWestMom 's link it showed some in stock. But I swear I just checked this morning with no luck.