Boule (From Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a Day)

[Zinger]

Thought I give using my whey from making a Gouda today for trying the Boule recipe. The Gouda is in the press and the Boule is doing it's thing waiting for tomorrow's baking. But, the question that came to my mind as I sit in my easy chair surveying my day's culinary work is - how do you pronounce Boule? I suspect it rhymes with school, but am not sure. Enlighten me please.

[DeejayDebi]

It's pronounced bool like pool with a B. It's a french word that means ball.

[padams]

Well, I made my dough yesterday, it was a tad dry.  Let it sit out, it rose beautifuly.  Put it in the fridge overnight, and about 3:00 got out a grapefruit size chunk.  It was still a tad dry on the bottom of the bowl, but nice and bubbly-moist on top.  So I tucked it the ends, set it on the cornmeal and put it to raise.  after 2 hours, it only raised about 1 1/2 times.  I baked it, and it was beautiful, smelled wonderful!  It was dense, but very edible, and I LOVE the crust!!!!  I think I didn't measure my flour as carefully as i thought.  I did get some gluten today, for my other breadmaking (disasters  ).  I will try that next time, and see if I get a lighter loaf.  It made a wonderful addition to dinner!

[DeejayDebi]

I love the crust too - my favorite part. I could just eat these little breads with butter and skip the rest of the meal (and have). Crusty bread is one of my biggest weaknesses. Not chocolate, not cheesecake but bread!

[padams]

I made my second loaf last night and ate just that for dinner......oops!

[teegr]

Hi, just a little hint about the book Artisan Bread in 5 mins a day from a OLD baker...don't expect YOUR hunk of dough to be ready for the oven in the amount of time specified in this book (which I own since I'm a sucker for bread book collecting).  Go by the "wobbly" nature of the dough. (shake the pan or board dough is sitting on is what I read on the website. When first following these recipes I noticed, because of my experience, that my dough needed more time sitting in my sea level, cool humid location.  SOOO I went to the books website and found a link for book revisions/errors  ]http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=1134]

I then made those revisions in MY early version of the book and it did help. IF you have the early version of the book please make those revisions to your book.  Some of those initial errors had to do with time you let dough set and the AMOUNT of yeast as well as heat and placement of racks.  VERY IMPORTANT things to know especially with whole grain breads. 

From experience (I worked as a baker for a large school) in the 70's I have learned the feel of dough...but wasn't too experienced with really WET doughs till the last 10 years and collected books and techniques and am quite partial now to using refrigerated doughs at home. 

I have baked in high desert and sea level marine locations and bread dough at sea level rises slower than high elevations despite the increase wetness of these recipes.  IF really high elevations then too much yeast can be a problem.    Don't give up...trust your experience with dough and never expect your shaped dough to always rise in the same time period unless you have a proofing cabinet. 

For those of you that are in a real hurry...and are making small loaf...you CAN use your microwave as a proofing cabinet.  How you ask?  Boil a 1/2 cup of water in microwave...remove it unless you have a way to fit it into a corner and place your dough which has been placed on a well floured/bran covered tea towel (not terry) that you lined a cheap wicker basket with.  In this small  humid/warm environment you can expect dough to rise in shortest period of time.  Take out...put peel/or floured hand on top, flip over and place in oven.  I flip over with hand and put directly on stone or into cast iron dutch oven,  but a peel (wood or cardboard) is easier if you don't have a light touch. 
Another little trick a person can use that I saw on a artisan bread show was that they actually used ricotta baskets to put their dough (without towel) in overnight to rise cool ...then turned them over onto peel.
I like cheap wicker craft type baskets as they support the very wet dough a little and is easier to just flip onto peel.  Expect flour shower...till ya get the right towel and amount figured out. 

The beauty of having a ripe autolysed  refrigerated dough is that you can get away with the short final rise after shaping without losing taste or getting a grainy texture that comes with a fast or overrisen dough. (alot of rapidly risen doughs don't have the taste OR keeping quality that a well ripened dough does.  A slightly under risen dough is better tasting IMHO than a over risen dough so if you get called away and have over-risen, reshape dough and let it rise again for a shorter period.  Seems working with a refrigerated dough takes care of the over risen or too fastly risen problem.

[padams]

Thank you, teegr.  I'll remember that!

[DeejayDebi]

Great post Teegr thanks! I always take each dough as it comes the weather affects the outcome alot when it come to rising but I ever knew that altitude did as well. That should have been obvious but never dawned on me. Very informative and helpful information! That's worth a cheese!

[teegr]

I am a Homemade Bread Evangelist  

Below is a quote from my favorite bread book of all time :Homemade Bread 1969 by the Food Editors of Farm Journal 

Baking in High Country

Yeast doughs rise faster in high altitudes and many breads are coarse-grained.  To bake fine-textured loaves with "our" recipes, make one of these changes: 

1. Let dough rise a shorter time--just until it is barely doubled.

2. Use less yeast than the recipe specifies.

3. Punch down the dough two times, instead of once so that the dough will rise three times, instead of two

Granted that using wetter doughs were NOT generally used as a "homemade" technique way back when this book was published (1969)...but I do know that it still applies in principle with higher hydration doughs.  Look on any cake box (if you ever use them...and there will be high altitude changes...so the affects are not limited to just yeast leavians.   I was raised at just short of the "high elevation" rules...but believe me...recipes of 40+ years act much differently depending on YOUR elevation.  Use your feel for the dough...not the time a recipe states unless you got that recipe from your neighbor.   

I know back then, at least in the southern area I was raised, one tried NOT to have large holes in their bread or crackly crusts.  The goal was fine grained...light breads...for "company".  The more rustic stuff were for family...LOL.  We used an overnight "sponge" technique (commercially called autolyse) added other ingredients (sugar,fat,flour,salt), knead, rise, rest, shape.  Timing when your busy with chores was always a challenge...and higher amounts of yeast (Active yeast or cake) were used.   

Way back then...the book mentioned above had one section devoted to cool-rise techniques...so you can see that this new refrigerated dough is not a "new" thing.  LOL.  Most of those recipes however put shaped dough in refrigerator over night, then baked about 8 hours later.  I know I have refrigerated doughs for 40+ years.  We frequently refrigerated doughs overnight.  Wet doughs are much easier to shape when cold as your hands/board need less added flour.

I personally use SAS gold yeast http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/saf-gold-instant-yeast-16-oz for everything now because it performs well in higher acid (ie sourdough) and sugar (enriched dough) environments. I *think* there is a less yeasty taste with this type of yeast...but I could just be fooling myself.    Since these ABI5 recipes are NOT true sourdough...the environment, say on day 7 of sitting, is clearly more fermented.  It works well for me in all my recipes.  I keep it in a air tight canister in freezer and I think I read somewhere that it will last at least a year that way.  It's much cheaper than packages. 

For those who bake alot...the amount of yeast in the ABI5 recipes might be a bit high.  http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=85  I also would never recommend using fast rising yeast.  Apparently the technique in ABI5 says the long wet rises "equalize" the differences in yeast.  *I don't buy it...literally*   

I have so much yeast in my kitchen...I adjust the amount of yeast depending on when I plan to bake, temperature of RA initial rise in bucket.

I have ALOT of old and new bread books...so I sure didn't need the ABI5 book...but I' a sucker for recipe books;  I can always pass on the ones that are repetitive in their technique. I  do wish someone had given me a book like this when I was a newlywed.  I plan to give a young couple I know a plastic bread bucket http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/dough-rising-bucket, a hand dough tool http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/dough-whisk, the ABI5 book, and a bag of yeast. Don't ya think that would be a great gift for a newlywed couple?  I sure do!

I noticed that they have a newer book out called "HEALTHY BREAD IN FIVE MINUTES A DAY".  I have not read it...nor plan to buy it cause well...my breads ARE healthy...but I read that there are non-gluten recipes as well as other sorts for those who need it.  The best part of the ABI5 technique is simply making long used bakers techniques more accessible for home bakers because there aren't any pre-ferments (bigga, poolish, sponges)  The original book is good (as long as you check their website for any book errors). 

Good luck all and EAT MORE BREAD!

[teegr]

If I knew how to add pics from my PC I could show you some snapshots I took from a couple of videos I made several years ago for some young folks about this ABI5 book.  Does one have to upload to a website and then add that link or what?  LOL 

[DeejayDebi]

There's a little blue line down below the text box called Additional Options

Click it - then a line that says Attach pop up below that

Click browse - that will let you look around on your hard drive for stuff. When you find what you want click on the file and it will load up as long as it's smaller than what's listed.

[teegr]

I hope this attempt to add pics to the post works...here goes....they should be fairly easy to understand if the upload occurs.  All made with basic boule recipe Artisan Bread in 5.  My no hands rolls are a favorite with my son who tends to call me as they leave a hike or a dive and ask if I want to cook them some dinner on their way back north.  I usually have 30's-1hr notice.  Because time is short usually I just plop the dough as pics describe into that pan you see...preheat oven while making something hearty for the group to eat...and the rolls come out of the oven just before they arrive.  The larger loaves are exactly 1 boule recipe...appx 4 lb loaves.  I simply use large serrated knive to "cut" the dough into quarters...pull up a quarter at a time...shape as per the book, and sit till ready to bake.  Much easier to get "almost" the same size loaves.  This works better for me than grabbing grapefruit or catalope sized hunks of dough out.  IF not baking but 1 loaf I use similar tech...just only making a "wedge cut" then putting rest of dough back into frig.

For those of you that have a somewhat deflated, pushing the storage time limit, I find that last bit of dough has less volume so I sort of pat it flat and fold it like a letter, then round it a bit and let that sit till it warms up.  It will give a little more work to the dough.  Remember that only basic doughs have that 14 day storage...and IF your dough looks dry and rough AFTER the first rise in bucket, then your dough isn't going to make it to the outer limit of storage.  Only WET doughs can be stored so long.  The website does have FAQ and hints on what to do in cases of too dry dough. 

I forgot to add...on those rolls...I don't bother with shaping...I just use that little plastic scraper thingy, plop into the grooves of the pan (lightly sprayed with baking spray).  I don't slash them, it doesn't seem to matter in this case cause they don't sit as long as loaf would thus they are so wet because I didn't hand shape them thus adding flour.  I sometimes use the cornstarch wash when I want to add seeds to them.  IF the rolls are done they will release from pan with a little help from a bamboo spatula after about 5 mins.  Best judge for doneness of the little ones is a wack with a wooden spoon on top since you can't turn them over to check like you would with a loaves.   I have on occasion just "poured" dough into the grooves of that baquette pan to make...eh...baquettes with the no hands no shape approach.  Rustic and quite good even without the shaping.  Use your imagination.  I'd avoid trying this in a traditional bread pan however...you might not get it out. 

[DeejayDebi]

Great looking buns teegr! Are those sesame and onion? I love that recipe. I use it often. As I mentioned in the begining of this thread it works for any flavor bread you like even pumpernickle!

[teegr]

The seed mix is from King Arthur..http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/artisan-bread-topping-8-oz  It's a good bargain because it is unusual taste to most folks and never fails to impress. I'm still amazed that such a small amount of seeds can flavor the bread.

Did you know that most chain grocery stores that have a "bakery"...actually do NOT make their bread doughs?  They get it from 1 of  4 or 5 huge nationwide sort of bakeries FROZEN and they simply thaw and bake?  I was shocked when I heard this from a "baker" at an "unnamed" market.   It is all for quality control.  SOOOOOOO I started asking other "bakers" in other large stores in my area and they all said basically the same thing. 

I'm sure the "bakers" and the "butchers" have my picture on their wall as who to avoid...LOL.  I complained a few times if they didn't know the origin of my flour, meat, etc. 

Not on the subject...(or is it?)..but did you know that alot of the "organic"  packaged beans (pinto, black, navy) you get in markets are from China??  (And my mung bean seeds for sprouting are from US)    I have no idea where the bulk bin beans come from but I am asking those questions.  What's next...milk from 5000 miles away?  Who knows.  I'm not anti import... I'm anti shipping things any further than necessary...I choose to buy certain items if I really really like them but I'm all for putting that info easy to see so I can make that choice.

Back to bread and the internet...did you know that sometimes you can buy flour (and beans) directly from the farmer AND have it shipped in bulk sometimes as cheap as store bought?

Can we say type A personality again? 

[DeejayDebi]

  Yes I did know about the par baked bread and bagles at grocery stores. My son once dated a gal from the local grocery who "baked." She couldn't make a cup of tea but she was a "baker." I think she eneded up getting fired for burning cookies all the time.

It is most unfortunate that it is so hard buy buy American these days. I try to buy local whenever posible. We have quite a few local farmer still in business - struggling but still there. MOst have long since gone but I do what I can to support those that are still around.

I don't use as much flour these days as I used to, Just don't seem to have the time to bake lately te cheese and sausage have taken all my free time and some of my sleep time.

Beans have been a major problem for me lately. Seem like I can soak them for a week and they stay hard. I eat a lot of beans, great northern, pintos, red kidneys and I'm sure I have bought all the old ones buy now. Maybe they are from China? I will have to have a look and see if I can buy dried beans from a farmer online.

I do love king arther flours though. They are very consistant.