Congratulations on your new endeavor! Yes, it *is* addicting and lots of fun. My first thought is to increase your cooking time? I can't address the temp of the stone since I haven't used the stone method. But, I can offer an alternative if you're interested.

I heat up a cast iron (le creuset) pot to 450 degrees for at least 20 minutes (30 is better)and dump my rested dough right in, put on the top. Let it bake with the top on for 30 min and then take off the top and let it go another 15 minutes until fairly dark brown. I've had some loaves flatter than others due to them being more moist but it's always cooked through. This method saves having to have a water dish in the bottom of the oven, having a baking stone or having to spray water into the oven. The idea is that the covered pot keeps in the needed moisture and caused "oven spring" (additional rising).

I'm sure someone with more experience that I can shed light on the stone temperature.
Happy baking,
Pam

I began reading "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" today. There was a couple of paragraphs about the cause of the bread being gummy internally when the crust is okay. I'll look it up and get back to you.

First off, which Artisan bread recipe did you use - the Master recipe? Are you sure that you had approximately (or weighed) one pound of dough? Are you sure you let the dough rise for at least 40 minutes uncovered at room temp? Was the baking stone on the middle rack in the middle of the oven and was it preheated at least 20 minutes?

If you followed all the "rules" for this bread, then my guess is that perhaps your fridge was colder than most and the dough did not come up to room temp and rise as it should have. You could also try baking an additional 5 minutes or so and see if that helps the interior to cook more fully.

The best way to prevent this is to get an instant-read thermometer and check the interior temp of the loaf. Most breads made in a loaf pan should get to 190 F to be done in the interior. Hearth breads (like the Artisan Bread in Five Minute recipes) need to get up to 200 F- 205 F for the dough to be totally baked inside. I've been baking bread for over 30 years and I still check most of mine with a thermometer.

Hope this helps.
Teresa

I use my instant read thermometer all the time for both yeast and quick breads, along with almost everything else I do in the oven. I don't play the guessing game any longer.

Nancy

Two suggestions: Did you handle the dough enough to be sure it didn't have ice crystals in it, perhaps too cold. Another idea, could it be that the original mixing was not thorough enough for the moisture to be evenly distributed. My first batch of the 5 min was very uneven in spite of my thinking I had mixed it as in the video. I've made it a couple of times now and I now mix it in a bowl witout sharp corners and things work out better. I don't think size has anything to do with it as I have made loaves or rolls of different sizes. I always check the temp with an instant thermometer to make sure it has cooked thoroughly before removing from the oven. I haven't bought the book, just sticking to the basic recipe and tomorrow I'm going to tweek it some to incorporate sprouted wheat berries I need to use up.

I'm thinking the No knead bread could be doubled and part of it kept longer, perhaps even frozen as you can do the 5 minute Artisan.

Make sure you go to the website for Artisan Bread in 5 minutes to make note of the errors in the book. There may have been an error that affected the recipe you used.

Bonnie

Pam, that is the way I cooked my almost no knead bread. I'll try that method of cooking the bread and see how it turns out.

Mustangs, I've ordered the book but it hasn't arrived yet. I appreciate you taking the time to look.

Teresa, I used the master recipe, I preheated for more than 20 minutes, the bread rested for 40 minutes, the baking stone was in the middle of the oven, but I don't know that I had exactly one pound of dough. I noticed that the bread did not "rise" very much while it was sitting at room temperature but I had read that it wasn't supposed to. Is that correct? I will check the fridge temperature and I have an instant read therm. to check the inner temperature with, so I will do that as well. BTW, thank you for the time you put into doing all the bread making tutorials on this site. They are so informative and helpful.

Terrapots, it is possible that it wasn't evenly mixed, even though I thought it was. Since I'm so new at this, I don't have a good idea of what the dough should look and feel like yet. I remember thinking that it was described as a *wet* dough and I didn't think it was very wet. I'm too new at this to know how wet "wet" is supposed to be :-)

Bonnie, I will check the website. My book should be here in the next couple of days.

Thank you all very much for your help. I will try all of your suggestions and let you know the outcome.

Off to work,
Carol

To those of you seasoned bread bakers - Is there a reason why baking the 5min-AB in a heated lidded cast iron pot, as is done with the NoKnead wouldn't work as well as on a stone?

I find that the 5 Minute Artisian Bread needs much more than 40 minutes to rise. If your kitchen is cooler in the winter this will also determine the much more need time to rise.

Also make sure your oven is preheated for at least 30 minutes. Your oven temp. drops when the door is opened up, so you cant be checking on the bread every few minutes.

I often have to bake mine longer than the recipe suggest.

On the website, when making the dinner rolls it suggest to cover the pan. I may try and cover a boule the next timed with buttered plastic wrap, to see if I can get a faster rise time.

Hope this helps.

I've been making batches of their European Peasant Loaf in the past few weeks. I agree with Trudy that it can take much longer than 40 minutes--or even their revised upper limit of an hour and a half--for it to rise on the peel. I just feel the dough with the palm of my hand, and when it isn't cool to the touch anymore, I assume it's ready to go.

The most recent batch I mixed up, I added another half cup of water, and that lightened the crumb noticeably. I've also been using the dough hook of my KitchenAid to do the initial mix, which incorporates the flour a lot better than I can do by hand.

I also agree with everyone who said to use a thermometer. The old thump test just isn't reliable enough.

Carol, for whatever reason, your bread wasn't risen. I suspect it was too cold, or your kitchen was cold, or just possibly you killed the yeast.
Since I don't know the temp of your kitchen nor just how you made the dough I don't know why that happened.
And if it was gummy on the inside, that means you didn't bake it long enough.
I am suspecting that your dough was cold in the center even when you put it into the oven. Bread dough has to come to room temperature at least before it begins to get a good rise.
You can shape your loaf and put it into the recfigerator and then bake directly from the refrig, but you will have to bake a long time and often the top gets too brown.
I suggest an instant read....both to measure the internal temp of the loaf before you bake it anda fter you think it's done....to see if it really is.
But....remember...if at first......
And you know the rest! LOL!
Linda C

Amck, I'm certainly not a seasoned bread maker but Pam said she does it that way and it works, so I plan on trying it with a loaf.

Trudy, my kitchen is definitely cooler right now. I'll try letting it rise for longer. I would love to know if covering it makes a difference if you try that.

Maureen, testing it with the palm of your hand to check the temperature makes a lot of sense. It never occurred to me :-).

Linda, I even checked the temperature of the water with a thermometer (before I put the yeast in), but it isn't out of the realm of possiblilty that I killed it anyway. I suspect you, and the others, are right and that the room was too cool and so was the dough. I am a wee bit stubborn and don't like to be defeated so I am going to try again tomorrow.

Thank you all for the encouragement and suggestions. I'll let you know if I do any better tomorrow.

Carol

I just looked at my list of corrections.

One is that you do need to let the bread rest for closer to 1 1/2 hours, not 40 minutes. The crumb will be denser with a 40 minute rise.

Bonnie

Carol, My apologies for not getting back to you as promised but it looks like you were in real bakers' hands!

I have been busy making a float for the Garparilla Parade today. It paid off because my grandbabies won "Best of the Wagon" entries.

Anyway, I made my dough yesterday and my first loaf from the Master Recipe today. It was perfect!

To your original question, as our baker friend above said AND page 21 of the book says:

Loaf has a soggy or gummy crumb (interior): Check your oven temperature with a thermometer.
Make sure you are allowing the dough to rest for the full time period we've recommended.
Your dough may benefit from being a litter drier. For the next batch, increase the flour by a quarter cup or decrease the liquids a little and check the results.
If you're baking a large loaf (more than 1 pound), let it rest longer, and let it bake longer by 10 to 15 minutes.

One final word of advice: if you're finding the breads just a little gummy, don't slice or eat your loaves when they're still warm. We know, hot bread has a certain romance, so it's hard to wait for it to cool. But waiting will improve the texture and when cool, the loaves don't compress so easily when cut. A sharp brad knife will go right through cooked crust and crumb with minimal compression.

Again, I know the experts here have given you excellent guidance.

Cathy

My question is about storing the bread after it's baked..The instructions say not to put it in plastic bags, wrap it with plastic or aluminum foil but to store it cut-side down on a plate. Yesterday for instance I made 2 loaves of the boule, thinking I would share one, wasn't comvenient, so now I have the two, but have only cut one. I don't wamt it to ruin and it seems strange not to wrap it in something. Suggestions?

jude

I would freeze the other boule - wrapped well. If your bread is left out at room temp, you could put it in a clean brown paper bag or put it on a plate with a clean linen towel covering it. If you want to store the bread in the fridge, I would put it in large zip bag with one edge of the closure open just an inch or so.

No matter what the authors say, I will not be storing my ABin5 bread cut side down on a plate - unless I am home all day, and then I will cover it with a clean linen towel.

Teresa

I didn't have the book when I first made this bread so I wrapped it in foil. Admittedly, there wasn't much left of the loaf but the portion I wrapped was fine the next day. I agree with Teresa, I would at least cover with a clean towel or wrap and freeze it if I didn't want to use the foil to store at room temperature.

Cathy, thank you for taking the time to look that up :-) The second batch turned out much better.

Thanks, Teresa. The storing is just different from any other bread I've made which is not really that much. I eat it far better than I make it and bread is probably my #1 food choice. Love good bread!

jude

Lately I've been leaving mine out on the counter with a bowl inverted over it. I find that it stays a lot crustier that way than when I put it in a paper bag in the bread drawer, which is what I was doing previously.

I'm glad you had so much better luck with your second attempt, Carol!

I always make 2-3 loaves at a time...I don't like "wasting" the electricity. I let them cool on a rack, wrap in waxed paper (wicks any moister) then in a ziplock bag that I have squeezed all of the air out of. Or I'll insert a straw into the bag and suck the air out that way, fold the zipper edge under and freeze. They thaw beautifully, although you might want to crisp them up in the oven.

I am glad I searched and found this thread. I am making Artisan bread for the first time. It rose great in the refrig over night, I was impressed, but it has been sitting out for an hour now and it hasn't risen much. The kitchen is warm with the oven throwing off heat and it was sunny today so that is not the problem. I am going to let it rise for another half hour and see what happens. I have always had good luck with the No Knead Bread.

Question:
I made the 1lb size and it seems like such a tiny loaf. Is it suppose to be that small?
Clare

Clare, it does make a small loaf. Most of the time the size is just right for us since it is just me and DH, but when I want more bread, I just get a bigger portion of the dough and make it as large as I want. :-)

Carol

Carol - Thanks for letting me know.
Clare