I just finished eating but would love a piece of that bread slathered in butter! Thanks for always having such tempting pics..they inspire me to bake!

Di

I'm going to try forgetting the salt. Maybe then I'll get bread that looks as beautiful as yours.

If I forget the yeast and flour as well, maybe mine will look even better!

A couple of years ago, I was baking rolls for a fund raiser. I was mixing the dough and a friend was helping to shape the rolls....we had a certain rhythm going! LOL!
Well one batch plainly wasn't rising....and I looked and there was the measured yeast...on a little glass bowl....NOT in the dough!
So I spread that yeast-less dough onto a board....sprinkled it with yeast, folded it up and put it back into the bowl and 0proceeded with another batch of dough.
About an hour later, the fo0rmerly yeast-less dough was beginning to expamd....and I knocked it down, shaped and baked it....and it was as good as that which had the yeast added at the usual time.
And then there['s the time when my son mis-read my mother's recipe and added 1 1/2 cups of sugar to the sweet roll dough which used 2 cups of milk....instead of 1/2 cup!!
Strange dough!! Too sweet, texture like a cake from a mix....but amazingly...people ate it!
It's really REALLY hard to mess up yeast bread!
Linda C

I've got a grin from ear to ear. I've been telling people for years that there is no need to put salt into home-made bread - or anything else either (with a very few exceptions).

Thank you for proving my point (albeit unknowingly)! Your bread looks fabulous.

Thanks Di and Maureen.

Daisy, yes you are right you can make a perfect, beautifully risen loaf of bread without salt, the only problem is it is lacking that wonderful flavour that most people enjoy in their breads. It is definitely not something I would do on purpose.

Ann

More than once....more than twice....more than....
Well you get the idea! I have forgotten the salt in a batch of bread....
I find that adding extra butter when you eat the bread solves the problem very well!!!...provided the butter isn't sweet butter.

Thanks for sharing your experience, Ann. I remember back when my husband was first diagnosed with CHF and I started experimenting with lower sodium breads. I tried the Julia Child French bread recipe a couple of times but it always tasted horribly bland without the full complement of salt. I realized that plain, lean breads didn't taste very good without the full salt quantity. However, recipes with a bit of sweetening, dairy, or fat usually came out OK, especially if I flavored them with herbs.

Eventually, thanks to you and others on this forum, I got brave enough to try making breads with a poolish. That overnight starter really improved the taste tremendously, even with reduced salt content. And, finally, several months ago, I finally gave sourdough starters a try. That's made an even bigger difference.

I never make completely salt-free bread, though. Usually, I'll just halve the salt quantity. I appreciate everyone sharing their experiences. It's heartening to know that we all get a bit befuddled in the kitchen from time to time.

LOL, Ann, I've been saying the same thing for a couple of years now.

I've forgotten the yeast, forgotten the salt, put in too much liquid or too little, too much flour or too little. On nearly every occasion I've managed to "correct" my mistake and the bread turns out fine.

Those baguettes look perfect, BTW.

Annie

Ann, your breads look gorgeous, as usual.

Just for the record....I can screw up yeast breads! LOL

Linda

When I arrived in Mallorca, I was surprised to learn that the bread made in the Balearic Islands didn't contain salt. At first I thought it was tasteless. It's a heavy country bread, dense and fine with no holes and usually cut into thick, firm slices from a round, heavy loaf. After a while though I got to love it, prepared the way they do there, with drizzles of olive oil, garlic, tomato and/or the typical soft pate-type sausage called sobrasada.

That together with a dish of the tiny bitter Mallorquin olives and a small glass of local red wine became a delicious starter to a country meal.
So one can become accustomed to saltfree bread but it takes a while.

Your loaves look lovely Ann.

SharonCb

Ann, Beautiful bread! I use a no salt bread for a BBQ shrimp recipe that needs bread to sop up juices. The juices have enough salt to counteract the no salt bread. Yum!

Perfect, Ann!

Linda, trust me - I've tried very hard to prove that you can jack up homemade bread. About the only thing I've ever done to make that happen is add liquid that's too hot to the dough - that will kill the yeast. Barring that, there's really not much you can do to screw it up. Just mix up some dough, knead it a few times, and throw it in the fridge for a few days. I'll bet you'll come up with a great loaf of bread. :D

Lori

I made bread last night without looking at any recipe. I just started out with some of my sour dough starter that I had just refreshed. I had already added about a cup of rolled oats and a cup of whole wheat, kept it in the fridge over night and then took it out and let it finish doubling. So last night I added some honey, dry milk, salt, cinnamon and flax seed along with enough flour (some whole wheat and some bread) to get it to form a ball. After it had risen some more, I made it into a rectangle, spread some melted butter, cinnamon sugar, plumped raisins and walnuts on it and rolled it into a loaf. This morning I baked it.

A year ago, I would only have made bread from a recipe.

Cloud, Isn't it great to be able to just wing a loaf of bread? Congratulations.

Ann

have a question have made bread for years off and on...went to a class the other day on bread making and she said to let the yeast work in the water for 20 mins. I always dissolve my yeast but I have never let it sit that long intentionally and wondered why. Should have asked but didn't any ideas why?
interesting comments totally enjoyed them

I use to make "fat crackers" as my DH called them 32 years ago so you can really mess up in making bread. I don't know what I did wrong but they never seemed to rise much. They were cooked on the inside but heavy. Maybe because I used really heavy-duty all whole wheat flour.

Now I do a 50/50 and I make great bread including sour dough and a favorite buttermilk sun-dried tomato & olive bread. Even DS raves about that one. It just took over 30 years to get it right. Moral of the story - never give up!
Clare

snowball, I have no idea why you would need to let that yeast work for 20 minutes. The old fashioned yeasts were "proofed" to make sure they were still active, the yeast went into warm water with (usually) a bit of sugar and left for a few minutes until it became clear that the yeast was working.

I never proof my yeast at all, I buy yeast in bulk and store it in the freezer until I need it and never have a problem so I've decided to omit that step.

Annie

Lindaac, your post made me want to scream! I have tried making bread so many times and it NEVER RISES. The yeast is fresh, I proof it, I find a warm spot, it JUST SITS THERE. What is wrong with me?? Any tips?

PS those baguettes are perfect. Would you post the recipe? Along with any instructions you have for the yeast-incompetent? Where do you put it to rise? Which kind of yeast do you use? Do you refrigerate or freeze?

Help!!
Jess

Jess, this is probably the easiest recipe to follow and it produces a great tasting loaf of bread. I usually make an 8 cup batch, bake three baguettes with half the dough and refrigerate the other half for another 24 to 48 hours. Dough that is given an additional cold rise produces superior flavour, texture and crust.

I made a double batch yesterday and baked three, and today I baked three loaves with the other half.

Picture of today's loaves. One is an "EPI" Cut to look like a blade of wheat.

Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table

French Baguette
===============
Julia Child

1 package dry active yeast (2 1/2 teaspoons)
3 1/2 cups unbleached flour (bread flour) (NOTE: I use 4 cups)
2 1/4 tsp salt
1 1/3 cups cold water plus 1/3 or so additional water

Place the flour, yeast and salt in the bowl of the food process. Pulse to mix. Add 1 1/3 cups of water and process until the dough comes together. If the dough doesn't form a ball, add a little of the extra water. Process for about 60 seconds, turn off machine and let dough rest for 5 minutes.

Turn on the machine again and rotate the dough about 30 times under the cover, and then remove it to a lightly floured work surface. it should be fairly smooth and quite firm.

Let the dough rest for 2 minutes and then knead roughly and vigourously. The final dough should not stick to your hands as you knead (although it will stick if you pinch and hold a piece); it should be smooth and elastic and, when you hold it up between your hands and stretch it down, it should hold together smoothly.

Preliminary rise - 40 to 60 minutes at around 75F. Place the dough into a clean dry bowl, (do not grease the bowl), cover with plastic wrap, and set in a warm place free from drafts. (note the French do not grease the bowl because they believe the dough needs a seat to push up from). This first rise is sufficient when the dough has definitely started to rise and is about 1 1/2 times its original volume.

Deflating:

Turn the dough onto your lightly floured work surface roughly and firmly pat and push it out into a 14 inch rectangle. Fold one of the long sides over toward the middle, and the other long side over to cover it, making a 3 layer cushion. Repeat the operation. This important step redistributes the yeast throughout the dough, for a strong second rise. Return the dough smooth side up the bowl; cover with plastic wrap and again set to rise.

Final rise in the bowl - about 1 to 1 1/2 hours or longer. The bread should be 2 1/2 to 3 times its original bulk. It is the amount of rise that is important here, not the timing.

To Shape,

Cut the dough in half. Set one piece aside and cover with a towel.

On a lightly floured work surface pat the dough into a 14 inch rectangle, squaring it up as evenly as you can.

Fold the rectangle of dough in half lengthwise and using the heel of your hand, firmly press the edges together whether they meet. Seat well. Pound the dough flat. Now repeat - patting the dough out again and folding it over and sealing the edges. Pinch the edges well and Rotate the dough so that the sealed edge in on the bottom.

Repeat with second piece of dough.

Cover with plastic wrap or loosely with a towel and let rise to more than double again at about 75°f.

Place stone in oven and Preheat oven to 450°F. Slash three long cuts into the loaves and place on the hot stone. Immediately toss a number of ice cubes on to the bottom on the oven to create steam. Bake until bread is golden and has an interior temp of 200°F. Takes about 30 minutes.

Making Dough in a Mixer or by Hand

When you are making dough in an electric mixer with a dough hook, proceed in the same general way with the rests indicated, and finish by hand. or mix the dough by hand in a bowl, turn out on a work surface, and start the kneading by lifing it up with a sraper and slapping it down roughly for several minutes until it has body. Let it rest several minutes and then proceed to knead.
. This is the recipe I use as a basic outline. I use it more as a
guideline.

I have a Magic Mill that I use to do most of the kneading. I still
like to finish kneading by hand.

Today's bread was a sour dough based. I fed my sour dough starter
before going to bed on Sunday night. I had four ounces of starter
leftover so I it was used to make a biga and then left it to develop
overnight.

The biga was added to about four cups of flour along with about 3/4
teaspoon of yeast. (I measure yeast in the palm of my hand) and
enough water added to make the dough. Once the water was added I left
the mixture to rest for about 20 minutes. This allows the flour to
absorb the water and makes kneading easier. This step is more
important when working with a wet dough. Like a Ciabatta. At the end
of 20 minutes I added the salt. Again measured in the palm of my hand.

Jessica, do you knead your bread long enough? Grandma always told me you couldn't knead bread too much, no matter how you handled it, but you have to knead it long enough.

I just let mine sit on the counter in the kitchen to rise, except in the winter when my kitchen is about 50F, LOL, then I turn on the oven, set the loaves on top of the stove and let the oven heat help them rise.

I've often put my dough into my unheated garage overnight when I don't have time to deal with it for whatever reason, and I have a couple recipes that call for refrigerating the dough overnight and then baking the next day.

The biggest problem I ever have is forgetting the dough and letting it "over proof", then when I put it in the oven it falls flat. You'd think I'd know better, but I still do it once in a while....

Annie

Thank you so much!!

I have a couple of questions. When it says "rotate the dough about 30 times under the cover" what does that mean? also, what is "Seat well"?

I appreciate the specific instructions-- that will be really helpful!

I'm not sure, Annie. I don't have a real mixer with a dough hook, so maybe I am not kneading it enough.

Incidentally, my food processor is little-- do you think I'd be better off doing everything by hand or halving or quartering the recipe to make it fit?

Thanks everyone :-)

to know about the "rotate the dough...." and the "seat well.."w e would need to know more of the recipe....is this a food processor recipe?
When you say you have a littlke food processor....how little?
Linda C

I suspect that "seat well" is just a typo for "seal well."

Jessica, I've never made bread in a food processor, or even with a stand mixer. I do it by hand or in the bread machine on the dough setting.

I'd think, though, that if you have a small processor, you're going to have to make a smaller batch of bread, machines are limited as to their ability to process amounts beyond their capacity.

Annie

"Seat Well" should read "Seal Well". Typo as Maureen pointed out. The first set of instructions are for making the dough in a food processor. "Rotate" just means to pulse or let the dough turn about 30 times.

Jess, I'm not sure why your dough never rises. The only think I can think of is that you are killing the yeast with water that is too hot. I never use hot or even warm water. And I don't set the dough in a warm spot. It just sits covered on the counter. More often than not I let it rise overnight in the fridge.

Don't give up. There is nothing more satisfying than baking bread.

Ann

Linda, the recipe is above. Just measured-- the food processor holds 2 cups.

That's good to know! I have been using warm/hot water. I will try cool water. Ah, seal well! I would have been slamming the dough down, trying to 'seat it well', like the newbie I am :-P

Well, I succeeded in making a couple of hockey pucks. . . but thanks for trying, everyone :-/

Jess, I'm sorry you are still having problems. I think it is probably next to impossible to knead dough in a FP that only holds two cups of flour. Do you have a big mixer? Or a bread machine? The bread machine will do all the work of kneading the dough for you and you can then shape and bake it in the oven.

Ann

Yeah, I tried a small batch but the food processor was really struggling and smelled like the motor was burning. I don't have either-- I do have a hand mixer . . . Maybe I could try that?

Jess, I wouldn't. You are liable to burn out the hand mixer too. Unless you have a machine that will hold up to kneading dough , you are going to have to knead by hand.

Ann

I agree, I think you are going to have to revert to the "old fashioned" method of kneading by hand. it only takes 7 or 8 minutes of hard kneading for me to knead a nice loaf or two, so it's really not that hard or that time consuming.

The only real reason I use a bread machine is my carpal tunnel, which makes it hurt to knead bread. And although I know that King Arthur Flour and a couple of posters here assert that you cannot knead your dough by hand if you use bread flour, I can tell you that is absolutely not true.

I kneaded bread by hand made with bread flour, all purpose flour, whole wheat, rye, whatever I made and it always came out fine.

I've not done bread in a food processor but I have tried pie dough a couple of times and have been a complete failure, LOL.

Annie

Well, once in my cooking history I killed the yeast because the liquid was too hot. I bought a new thermometer today. And--last evening I made a batch of blueberry muffins (I had taken a short ride to a neighbor's stand and spent $3 on fresh berries so I really wanted the muffins to come out well). Immediately after placing the muffins into the oven I started to clean up from the mixing. I was floored when I found the measured oil had not been included. I was certain I had just wasted my time and money but I decided to try to add some oil right then. I grabbed the muffins out of the oven and then drizzled a little bit of oil onto each muffin, which had already begun to solidify from the short burst of heat. I used the handle of a spoon and mixed the oil into the stiff batter as best I could, without mashing the blueberries. Then I returned the muffins to the oven. I didn't know how to adjust the cooking time because of the time out of the oven, so I sat on a kitchen step stool and watched the muffins cook until I decided to test one. Sent them back for 6 more minutes and then sampled one as soon as it was cool enough not to burn my mouth. I wouldn't offer tham to company, but they really are acceotable. I had used double the amount of berries and the extra moisture might have helped.

Thanks, everyone for your advice.

Is there a secret to kneading?? It seemed that the dough was so viscous I could barely move it. It didn't seem like I was accomplishing anything by pushing and pulling it.

I half-successfully made bread last night! I say half successfully because I tried to make half the dough into bagels, which came out extremely weird/horrible, puffy in some spots and gooey and raw in others. The big loaf and the rolls though, came out like legitimate bread. The texture wasn't perfectly fluffy like French bread, but it was like a decent dinner roll texture. Which is significantly better than like a hockey puck!!

Jessica, if you made "legitimate" bread, then it's better than a half-success, it's a success!

Some people spend a lot of time and money getting bread crust and texture a certain way and never do get it the way they want it or worse, they get it that way once and then never can again.

So you used regular bread dough to make bagels? Um....no, you need to make BAGEL dough to make bagels. Of course, you know that, LOL.

Congratulations on that loaf, though, we all knew you could do it.

Annie

Thanks for the support :-)

I read through a few bagel recipes, and it seemed like some had baking powder but some just had yeast-- so I thought, maybe. . . . but no, definitely not. I will re-read your bagel instructions if I ever delve into bagels again :-D

Jessy, a real bagel will always have yeast. And they are always boiled before baking. If you want to attempt bagels please try a real bagel recipe otherwise you are going to be very disappointed.

Ann

I did boil them! Is the base dough different?