Bread – I love it.
Any diet that says “Sorry – no bread, no way, no how!” isn’t going to have me following it.
After the fan turns a variety shades of brown I suspect it might be a tad bit difficult to go to the local market and pick up a loaf. However, it is not difficult to store the raw ingredients to make bread – from “scratch”.
Here is the recipe I follow:
3 cups All-Purpose/Bread Flour
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
I have made this bread a couple of times and need more practice – but it works. I want to try adding a variety of different ingredients to add flavor.
So – how do I make this bread?
Basically – add all ingredients into a bowl along with 1 5/8 cups of water. I actually added a little extra water as there just wasn’t enough to get to all the flour.
Once mixed as seen above – I cover with a towel or wax paper and let it rise overnight. It is recommended to let sit for 12 to 18 hours. I will try to set it somewhere where the temperature is above 70 degrees.
Once time has passed – I fold the dough over onto itself a couple of times and then let it sit for another couple hours.
At this point the dough is ready to be baked. I place it covered in an oven at 450 degrees and bake for 30 minutes or so then uncover for another 20-30 minutes until the outside is brown.
Hot bread and butter……awesome.
Oh yeah……this bread is super cheap to make.
Rourke
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Rourke, If you don’t have it already, pick up the book Artisan Bread In Five or the companion, Healthy Artisan Bread in Five. The basic recipe is that you put the dough ingredients in a bucket, let them rise, then put the whole thing in the refer for up to 2 weeks. When you want to bake bread, take out a grapefruit sized ball, shape and bake. It is very similar to your recipe but you can put a batch up that will carry you two weeks or so.
I think these breads work out to 50 cents a loaf. The problem is they are too good and the waistline starts to expand LOL.
Gaye
Gaye –
Waistline expanding = food storage 🙂
Rourke
Another great bread recipe that we use all the time is:
3 cups warm water
1 1/2 Tbsp yeast
1 1/2 Tbsp kosher or sea salt
6 cups flour (I grind my own but use what ever you have)
Mix the water yeast and salt and let sit while you measure out the flour (about 5 minutes). Mix in the flour, just until combined. The dough will be wet. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and let sit in a warm place (I put mine next to my stove) for two hours. When you are ready take off a hunk of dough (at this time you can take the rest of the dough and put it in a loosely covered container and put it in the refrigerator) shape it, let it rise about 20 minutes and it is ready to bake. If your dough is coming out of the refrigerator take it out flour your hands, shape the dough and bake it. (I bake mine at 450 degrees for about 15-20 minutes) We use this dough to make rolls, pizza, bread sticks, baguettes and regular loaf bread. The dough is good in the refrigerator for up to two weeks, but it never lasts that long at our house. It develops a sourdough taste the longer it sits. You can add anykind of toppings that you like to the bread (jalapeno and cheddar, garlic and rosemary, sun dried tomatoes). Enjoy Amy
Good post – do you know if it will work in a cast iron dutch oven?
We have had a block of Herman Sourdough going for about 5 years. It is a bit more complicated than the recipe you provided, but it makes a really good loaf of bread. We use it for bread bowls (soup and chili), sandwiches, french toast, etc. We have given away 5 or 6 batches to friends so they can get a batch started without the initial 2 week wait.
If I had to bug out, I would probably leave behind a pound of ammo if it meant I could take the starter with me.
I did make one in a dutch oven on my gas grill – wanted to try it. Turned out decent – middle was a little dough-ee. I took the cover off too soon and browned the outside while the middle wasn’t done.
Practice makes perfect.
Thanks – Rourke
I wonder how easy that would be to make in a dutch oven or solar oven?
I’m gonna try this!!! I wonder if you can throw in some slices jalapenos and (while we still have a fridge) some cheese? Make up some cheesy jalapeno bread?
Since I don’t do much cooking around here and my wife is out shopping here’s my question. What vessel are you using to bake the bread in? A pyrex bowl that is also used to prepare the bread. Obviously not a metal bread pan based upon the shape. Also what do you use to cover the bread with when baking? Foil
You can also add cinnamon, raisins and make breakfast rolls in the am.
We make homemade bread a couple times per week at home because it’s cheap, easy, and you can change it every time. The fun part about bread like this is you can add anything you want. If we want a sweet bread I’ll add egg yolks and honey. If it’s going with Italian food I’ll add garlic and Italian seasoning. For a crispy crust we brush it with oil. This bread doesn’t really need any kneading but the more you knead it the lighter it is.
Thanks, everyone – all great suggestions. I have been wanting to try bread baking again. (My previous attempts were many years ago, and, let us say, I never was wanting for door-stops during those attempts 🙂 )
I love bread! But I wonder about a time when things like yeast might not be readily available–it doesn’t stay viable for long-term storage (will last a bit longer in the freezer!). So I have three short-term goals:
1. Learn how to bake with sourdough starter (and keep the starter alive!)
2. Learn how to make yeast (I’ve heard you can do this with potato water; I’d love to learn a safe technique).
3. Learn how to make some ethnic unleavened/flat breads-my Turkish friends make a wonderful flat bread.
Nice site–I hope to come back and read more.
Nice article. This is on my to-do list for sure. Hopefully I will get around to learning all this and soon! I would be happy to never buy the store-bought loaves again. Thanks also to @SurvivalWoman for mentioning Artisan Bread In Five. I was hoping I could remember where I saw that so long ago. No need to kneed. That’s the best part about it.