Artisan bread follow-up

I posted last week about the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. A couple people asked for me to let them know how it went, so here's an update.

I'm shocked to say that it worked pretty well. I've actually made a second batch of dough this morning, and I think I'll continue to do so. I had to return the book to the library, but the basic recipe is easy enough to memorize, but I think I'll buy the book, too.

To make the bread, there are three pieces of equipment you need: a five-quart loosely-lidded container, a pizza stone, a pizza slide (one of those wooden things you use to put the pizza in the oven), and a pan to put water in. I had the pan and the pizza stone already, but had to buy the container and slide. The slide wasn't mandatory, but it really does make it easier. The container is just a big Rubbermaid one, and I just leave the lid cracked. Both set me back about $25. The other thing you need that not everyone may have in the house is stone-ground cornmeal. That's to cover the slide and keep the bread from sticking. I had some of that.

The recipe is simple. For the dough, I had to add more water - about a quarter cup - than called for in the recipe. I think that's due to the way they have you measure the flour: you scoop it up and level it off, which compacts the flour in the measuring cup. I think if I measured properly, the amount of water called for would be fine. It's no big deal overall.

The amount of dough did, in fact, make four loaves. I was convinced that it would make more, but it really did make four reasonably-sized loaves. I never did get the "audible crackle" when I took it out of the oven like the book said I would, but the crust was crunchy and the bread itself was nice and soft.

With the price of bread rising, it seems to make sense to continue making bread like this. Flour is going up in price, too, but not as fast as the processed bread. I figure that after this batch, I'll make back the cost of the equipment I had to buy. Plus, I do like knowing exactly what is in my food.

All in all, I'd suggest giving the recipe a try, even if you don't normally have much success with baking. It's pretty simple and the results are good.

(Click on any of the photos for a bigger view)