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The yeast isn't out of date. I'm not sure what the problem is really.

If it's coming out too dense, could I just knead it at some point to make it fluffier?

Don't kneed it!  Once you make it just grab hunks when you need it.

But wouldn't kneading it put air into it, which would make it fluffier??

You would probably deflate the dough buy squishing out all the air that's already developed. If you let it rise for another hour or two it might work. You should let it sit for at least 30 minutes before bakig anyway.

Well, I mixed up my dough today. It was not wet & sloppy as advertised, but fairly dry and stiff. I keep my flour in the freezer...perhaps that has something to do with it. It isn't unlike other bread doughs I have made so I'm expecting a positive outcome tomorrow when I grab a hunk, mold it ever so gently, and make bread. I just happened to have a pizza stone so I should be in good shape.

One question: Why does this recipe call for a rest in the fridge overnight? Before I put mine in the fridge, it had risen to fill the Rubbermaid container. I'm hoping it doesn't spill out and engulf everything in the fridge like "The Blob". 

-Boofer-

To begin with...thank you, Debi.

What a neat bread!  I got my peel out and dusted it with flour. Then I pulled the boule box from the fridge and used a plastic mixing spoon to section out what appeared to be a softball-sized hunk of dough. I put on latex gloves and grabbed the sectioned dough, forming it into a ball, and dusted it with flour from the peel as I went. The latex gloves seem to keep the dough from sticking all over my hands. I didn't spend a lot of time or effort forming the soon-to-be-boule and then rested it on the floured peel. I inverted a bowl over it to rest for the stated 40 minutes.

After 40 minutes I checked the dough ball and it was still pretty cold from the fridge. I thought I should at least allow it to come more to room temperature before baking it, and also allow it to rise a little on the peel. After perhaps another hour, I turned on the oven with the stone and the baking sheet in place. When the oven read 450 degrees, I looked around for corn meal. Ah, I already knew I didn't have any so what was I to do? Well, I knew I did have some brown rice farina, which has the consistency of corn meal, and that's all I was looking for. Just some dry "lubrication" so that the boule goes on and comes off the stone with ease.

The bread was done just under 30 minutes (a larger loaf would no doubt take a little longer) and did come out just fine. The farina didn't burn. The boule had an excellent shape and nice browning. After letting it cool, I was going to leave it until tomorrow before I sliced it, but that wouldn't be fair for this entry now would it? The crust was nice and crunchy and the innards were superb. I think the bread could adapt well to all manner of amendments. I'm looking forward to checking this batch throughout the week to see any changes to the character. After that, I'd like to doctor the recipe a bit, adding ground flax seed and other additions that would give a whole different bread.

I must be honest: I added a tablespoon of raw blackberry honey to the water, yeast, and salt at the beginning. Somehow I felt it needed a little rounding.

Anyway, here are the results of my first boule. Boula boula...boula boula! 

-Boofer-

I made my second one yesterday, and ate it today for breakfast.
It was really good, but I still get a kind of glossy, not dry but really moist texture inside the bread. It's light as a feather and it looks exactly like artisan bread, but there's this weird rubbery quality (not that disturbing, but still) that comes with the moisture. The inside surfaces of the bubbles are shiny/glossy. Anyone else had this issue?

Should I bake it longer?

Zoey - mine is moist & fresh too. I don't think it's a problem at all. No doubt if you leave it out for a day or two, it will lose some of that "new bread" moisture. As I said before, my dough wasn't really wet & sloppy. That may make some difference in the final product.

-Boofer-

Boofer -

I goes in the fridge to keep from souring. In the winter I leave it in a spare room that's unheated. I got to warm one spring and smelled like a bad Saturday night! As far as additions the the basic recipe - I have tried all kinds of things, all kinds of flours and it always works. I was hooked on honey and finely chopped apricots for awhile.
Zoey -
Sounds like it needs a few more minutes to bake. Compared to a standard kneaded dough it's wet but man is it good. A bit of finely chopped bacon and cheese is good also.

Thanks for the tip... I think I'll try to bake it longer.

Yesterday I added some malt into it, and it came out really good. Just a heeping spoonful for the whole set that had two portions left, baked one of them, and it came out dark and tasty.

The malt version didn't have huge airholes, but came out pretty much like normal bread. Does the same happen if I add anything other than white flour? If so, I think that's good, easy to alter both taste and texture.

Debi, did you mean to eat the bread with cheese and bacon, or add them into the dough?

Zoey -

I have used all kinds of flours, wheat, rye, pumpernicle just adjust the flours so that you have slightly more than half white and it will still puff up.

I put the bacon and cheese IN the dough. I run it through one of those little mini electric chopper thingys and sprinkle a few tablespoons in the bowl of dough.

I have been using this for about a year. You can use it right after the rising stage but it is harder to handle also let it rest for 30-40 min after it is shaped. you can store in the fridg but need to let rise for 1 hr. al really wet dough makes a Chebata bread that will spread out. You can take a hunk of dough about the size of a golf ball, shape into disc, press both sides into cornmeal and let rise, throw onto a hot griddle and cook like a pancake and you have English muffins. It works great splits with afork.

Mike

I think this has got to be the most flexible recipe I have ever found.

I just got both of the books and started the boule this past weekend.  Everything went well -- I mixed it w/ my mixer ('cuz I spent money on it years ago and I'm gonna USE it!  ), let it rise for a couple hours, put it in a 5 quart covered bucket and put it in the fridge.  It fell while putting it in thr fridge, but I would assume that's OK.

Here's where I messed up:  I sealed the lid.  Oops.

Next day we take out some dough that seems overly wet, allow it to rest and rise a little prior to baking... and.....

...nothing...  I have a lump of dough the same size as the one I put on the peel.

I'm assuming I killed it by sealing it....  *sigh*

Did you let the dough warm up first?