Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day
February 4, 2009 by Marye Audet
Filed under Breads
I got a gift certificate to Barnes and Noble for Christmas and decided to buy this book that I had been hearing so much about, Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day.
As busy as I have been I had been reduced to buying (gasp) store bread a couple of times a week and …ewww. I hate that. I hate giving the family stuff that I know there is no nutrition to, but you have to fill them up somehow, right?
I thought that the idea of making ANY kind of bread in five minutes a day was amazing and worth a try…
I got the book and skimmed through it. I hardly ever actually read cookbooks, usually I just look at the ingredients and get started.
Well this book sat around for a month because I am just that overwhelmed.
I decided to try the basic bread first. The instructions warn about compressing the flour and I will give a warning to the warning…I use a canister that holds 50lbs of flour, o.k.? The scoop and scrape method allowed the flour to be too compressed the first time. I noticed that the dough seemed quite thick and almost dry. This is how that loaf came out:
It was good flavor-wise but as you can see it was really too dense. So, yesterday I spooned the flour into the measuring cup lightly, and then scraped the top level. I added a touch extra water for good measure. The dough looked like this:
It was a much wetter, looser dough. I left it at room temperature for the two hours and then refrigerated it over night. This morning I shaped it into a round as directed. I don’t have a peel or a baking stone (I KNOW…I KNOW) so I just made it on a perforated pizza pan. I was concerned that the dough seemed to want to spread a bit more than I wanted it to but left it to rise for 40 minutes.
I put water in a pan on the bottom rack of the oven as directed but also tossed 2 cups of warm water on the oven floor when I put the bread in.
This is how it looked when it came out.
I had forgotten to slash the top so it sort of exploded in the oven, but looked good. I let it cool a bit before cutting to see if it had the lovely texture I was looking for…
And here….take a closer look:
I will definitely be making this daily.
The flavor is slightly sour, with a nice chewy texture and crisp crust. The book has numerous variations including pumpernickel and brioche. I keep the dough in a large covered stockpot in the fridge. The books suggests not washing the dough container very often because the dough that sticks to the sides will sour and give a nice sourdough flavor.
Should you get this book?
Uh…YEAH! Five minutes. Anyone can do that. The batch recipe makes 3 one lb loaves but there is no reason you could not make more and bake it fresh every night while you are fixing supper. In fact if you had another container for the brioche dough you could make it fresh for breakfast every morning as well. I am putting the book in the Baking Delights Store…it is the link in the sidebar that says “Baking Supplies You Just Gotta Have.” If you are going to buy this book, and it really is awesome, you can just click on the link to go to the page on amazon. Then I get a little money to be able to afford to buy MORE cool books. 
Image (top) : Amazon
Images (bread): Marye Audet (c)2009
I love this book and have made all three basics, the boule, the challah and the brioche and all have been great. The brioche is swoon-worthy! If you haven’t already, take a look at their website as they have errata listed that you might want to mark in your book.
Welcome to the club, Marye!
I love, love, love this book!
Let me go on record as recommending you to try the Challah Dough recipe ASAP!!!
I am the hero in my house!
Oh thanks Rebecca..I didn’t know that they had a website.
J..thanks! I really love this book. I will try the challah tomorrow.
I have this book to Marye and made my first batch of dough lastnight!! I can’t wait to make a loaf!
Bunny, please let me know how it comes out!
I will have to try this again sometime Marye. Perhaps we could add chipotle peppers:D
This morning I went to check the food blogs I read (yours being one of them) and yours and one called A Good Appitite both talk about this book. I got soo excited! I had put this book in my Amazon wish list. I watched a bunch of videos on this method by the authors. Thank you Rebecca for mentioning they had a website. I checked it out, it’s great! Now that book’s website is one of the feeds I read now. I finally have the ingredients for the basic bread so I will make that soon. I’m thinking for Valentine’s day.
Thank you so much for mentioning this book.
Jennifer
Valli- I was thinking a nice chipotle and bacon bread….
Jennifer..come back and let me know how it comes out!
Well, I made my first loaf. I decided to do the no steam method that they just put up on their website. People posted and said that their glass oven door cracked and that pizza stones cracked with the sudden addition of the steam. It scared me. Have any of you had problems with the steam method??
The bread was fantastic!! It made a small loaf-enough for 5 slices! My husband loved it soo much he had me made another loaf and he made one to! The two loaves are doing the 40 minute rest now. He loves this technique and the bread. I may have to fight him just to make it again alone!
Jennifer
Jennifer, I have beein using the steam method LONG before I got this book and never had a problem.
Oh..and by the way..YAY! on the bread..LOL!
I love the artisan bread and have ordered the book, but one problem I am having is that when the bread comes out of the oven the crust is nice and hard, but after about l0 minutes in the air it is soft …anyway I can keep it crunchy…..
Cedar, are you misting the oven when you put the dough in to bake? If not try tossing a cup or so of water on the hot oven floor before you close the door to bake the bread. You can also try cooking a little longer.