Boule (From Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a Day)

[DeejayDebi]

Stuart -
yes it should work. Go slow! I am not sure why it didn't rise for you. Maybe the water was to hot for the yeast? I have made this with every combination of flours and different brands and it always works.


Christy-
Glad you enjoyed it. It's so easy and nice to be able to make fresh bread after work for dinner. I often make rolls with it for dinner.

[Stuart]

Debi, it rose this time! Now to stick it in the fridge... I am excited to try it tomorrow night! It does look sorta like pancake batter. There are little bubbles all over it.
I should let it get to room temperature before baking, right? Pull off a piece, let it warm up, then bake it?

[DeejayDebi]

Good job Stuart - You must've had bad yeast last time.

Yep - grab a chunk tomorrow about graphfruit sized. Maybe two. I can eat one by myself. Tuck the ends under so it looks smooth and set it on cornmeal to rise. It should about double.

[Stuart]

Geez, I've taken your nice post about an easy boule recipe and turned it into a back and forth troubleshooting session.

I pulled off a hunk of the dough and it was sticky, hard to work with, and most importantly not pliable so that I couldn't make it into a ball. I balled it the best I could and put it on my baking tray. I let it sit for 40 minutes and it just flattened out. I baked it in the oven for 40 minutes at 450F just to see what would happened. I got a flat weird bread that doesn't taste right. It's still dense. After putting the dough in the fridge yesterday it fell a lot, lost probably half its volume.
It's a simple recipe, I feel a fool for having such trouble with it. How exact does the water/flour ratio have to be? I feel I might have used too much water.

[cmharris6002]

The dough should look shaggy, not mixed too well. Overnight the moisture evens out and it looks like regular dough.

Christy

[Stuart]

Maybe I'm not sure what regular dough looks like. I don't have any bread baking experience. It looks wet. I had it in the fridge overnight, 24 hours actually. If I used not enough flour originally, can I just add more at this point?

[cmharris6002]

Yes, you can just knead a little bit in, keep the dough as soft though or your loaves will be dry.

Christy

[DeejayDebi]

I normally just flour my hands so the dough doesn't stick to them, then tuck the ragged edges under so it looks smooth and let it raise again. It is a bit wet not as doughy as regualr dough. You could add a little more flour if you need to. No more than say 1/4 cup.

I never kneed this dough.

[Stuart]

Could not tucking and balling properly been the reason for my bread to flatten out? It still came out pretty dense. The crust quality would have been good if the rest of it had been proper.

[DeejayDebi]

Well you could have deflated the dough by playing with it to much. It should have risen again though. Gosh I've had my dough blow the top off the box I rippen it in.

Flour your hands really weel before grabbing the dough - that might help. It doesn't have to be a perfect ball. Just tunck the rough edges under.

[Stuart]

I'm going to try again, carefully, with floured hands.

Would self-rising flour work better than other flours?

[cmharris6002]

Self rising flour contains baking powder, it is of no use to you for yeasted breads only for biscuits and quick breads.

I hope it works for you this time.

Christy

[Tea]

Debi I noticed that you are cooking on a stone.  Is that necessary or does it cook just as well without.
I had forgotten about this, so going to start one today.

Also when you add your fillings, I assume that you don't play with the dough much. Just flatten gently, top with filling and roll?

Will let you now how it turns out.

[DeejayDebi]

I think the stone makes the crust more crispy and lets you slide the dough on and off easily but you could use any kind of pan that is flat.

[Stuart]

I pulled off another hunk and tried to ball it, and it was a decent looking ball but now it's flattening out. How exact does the water/flour ratio have to be? I think I just didn't use enough flour, and I want to try again from scratch!