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Debi:

  Yes, for what turned out to be a couple hours... We gave up on it and went to bed. 

-Michael

Something was not right for sure. I usually only wait about 20 to 40 minutes and it rises nicely. Yeast?

Debi:

  Brand new yeast -- and it did rise quite well.

  I suspect that 1) falling when putting it into the fridge and 2) sealing it air-tight didn't help it.  Will try again this weekend.

Hmmmm I usually put plastic wrap over the container. In the winter I just leave it in the cold room (about 50 degrees) and it gets a great sour dough flavor by the end of the week.

I was itching to try this recipe and thanks a lot Debie, I make bread using a bread maker because we are busy with everyday chores but taking some time and preparing your recipe gave me a lot of other ideas that can be done with your recipe.

My son likes to play with dough to. He made the little one.

Here are my pictures

So I tried to make it again yesterday....  I got almost the same results, so I'm suspecting that its my expectations that are a problem.

The dough rose wonderfully right after mixing everything.. I allowed it to "top off" and flatten before doing anything else.  Later, I grabbed a ball of dough, gave it the "gluten stretch" they called for and placed it on a peel with cornmeal for 20-30 minutes. 

The bread that came out was tasty and dense, but it was still pretty flat -- I would have expected a bigger, rounder loaf when I was done with the process.  I'll take pics if you like, but is this the result you get?

-Michael

Quote from: sominus on November 21, 2009, 02:29:04 PM
So I tried to make it again yesterday....  I got almost the same results, so I'm suspecting that its my expectations that are a problem.

The dough rose wonderfully right after mixing everything.. I allowed it to "top off" and flatten before doing anything else.  Later, I grabbed a ball of dough, gave it the "gluten stretch" they called for and placed it on a peel with cornmeal for 20-30 minutes. 

The bread that came out was tasty and dense, but it was still pretty flat -- I would have expected a bigger, rounder loaf when I was done with the process.  I'll take pics if you like, but is this the result you get?

-Michael

Michael,

I don't know this recipe well (I tried it once back when the book came out) but generally a good test to see if bread dough is ready to go into the oven is to press lightly with your fingertip.  If the indentation stays it is not ready to bake, if the indentation fills back in it's ready to bake.  It's hard to judge when ready to bake based on time because there are lots of variables, the biggest one being room temperature.  Most recipes that I use are minimum 45 minute rise but this one might be different.

Deb

Gee Mike when I make it I can almost blow the bread off the counter. I can definately do it with the rolls very light and fluffy.

hi there,
I have been making this recipe for about 6 months.  I have never seen the book but I 'pinched' snippets here and off the internet and made up my own recipe..

Heres a couple of things that I ALWAYS do to ensure risen bread success.

When stirring the mix together- always use a wooden spoon.
Vitally important to have the lid on, with one side askew
After mix has been made it must be set aside for 45 mins - I find 30 mins not long enough
ceramic tile must be in oven while preheating to temperature.  After 45 mins you can either bake some straight away, or put it in the fridge and we always bake at least one loaf straight away.

my recipe is 6.5 cups of flour
yeast,salt and lukewarm water
and I always only ever get 3 loaves.
Of course, they are baked generally that day or the next.  2 loaves will feed my family of 5.

If I try and condense and make a bigger loaf, the bread is always dense and flat.  So I always work on 3 loaves

Thanks Cath. I usualy only have two so I make rolls alot but they always so light and fuffy I can eat 6 of them by myself (without dinner). I've also use every combinaion of flours I can think of, wheat, rye, white, corn and it works.

I love it too... it is soo yummy and my kids love it too - they ask for it in their school lunches!!!
I am going to try stuffing them with fillings like you have done, sound delicious!!!

I think I came across the source of my problems with this recipe...

I think that the gluten production with the flour(s) I am using is possibly too low.  If I don't wait at least overnight, it simply won't rise.  I made (yet another) batch and allowed it to rest overnight and had excellent results.  If I'm going to need to make some more quickly, I'll just work it a little more to get the gluten to produce a little better...

-Michael

Interesting. I just use Gold medal or King Arther and have no problem. I wonder if flour is different in different parts of the country? I know humidit is a big factor but I always thought flour was flour everywhere.

Hi DeejayDebi,

Flour is a big difference from country to country. My Artisan Bread maker friend in Turkey tells me that flour in Turkey is always uses less water than it is stated in the recipe and the protein levels are different (%12.5 here in Australia for bread making and there is a different quality scheme in Turkey). When I am doing Turkish recipes here in Australia I always add 50ml more water and the activation of the yeast and raising times are all different. Altitude is also another variable together with the strength of yeast (commercial or home made yeast).

I haven't got much luck with the home made yeast but commercial yeast has very high density and it works all the time.

GurkanYeniceri

I forgot to mention earily you dd a great job on those breads. That's what mine look like. I find this a great recipe to experiment with. I knew altitude made a difference but I guess I though wheat was wheat. I have only baked flours in a few different areas of the US and they always seemed to work the same for me.

Maybe the gluten is the issue. I have added gluten to pizza dough before to make it more stretchy.