Dough Nuts
Favorite bread cook booksMy favorite and most easy to use bread cookbook is The Panera Bread Cookbook. It is available on Amazon right now for $12.96.
 I love this book. It is an easy to comprehend language of bread baking, along with beautiful pictures and illustrations. They have also included the really cool story on the discovery of yeast and the perfecting of using yeast in making bread, dating all the way back to the ancient Egyptians.
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Embrace the stretchAfter studying the Panera Bread Cookbook, I decided to stretch my knowledge so I bought The Bread Baker's Apprentice.
Peter Reinhart builds on the knowledge that you are familiar with in baking bread and helps you become a better bread baker. I like to take one recipe and method at a time. Then I make this recipe five or six times testing it with my family, because they are so honest.
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Above is a picture I took of my first try with Peter Reinharts Rustic Bread Recipe in his book Artisan breads Every Day. It was sweet and chewy. The texture was crunchy on the outside soft in the center. It was very appealing to the eye.
Rustic Bread
This bread can take up to 4 days to prepare. Actually you prepare it on day one, about 50 minutes, and on day 4 you bake it. This slow development is the same way we make our pizza dough for St Giuseppe's.
For the baking you need parchment, a steam pan filled with water and baking stone. A good tip to create steam in oven is to add stones to steam pan.
4 1/2 cups (20 oz/567 g) unbleached bread flour. I like King Author's bread flour
1 3/4 teaspoons (0.4 oz/11 g) salt
1 1/4 teaspoons (0.14 oz/4 g) instant yeast
2 cups (16 oz/454 g) chilled water
Combine all of the above in mixing bowl and using paddle attachment on mixer, mix on lowest speed for 1 minute. Dough is going to be course and sticky, let it rest for 5 minute. Mix on medium-low speed for 1 minute. The dough will be smother but very soft, sticky, and wet. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest at room temp. for 10 minutes.
Transfer dough to oiled surface and oil your hands. Reach under front of dough, stretch it out, then fold it back on top. Repeat from the back and then on each side. The dough will be firmer but still very soft and fragile. Put dough back into bowl and cover and let sit at room temp for 10 minutes. Repeat this process 4 more times.
After final stretch cover tightly and refrigerate over night or for up to 4 days. The dough will double in size.
On baking day remove from fridge an hour before baking. Preheat oven to 550o. Place steam pan filled with water in bottom of oven. After dough has been at room temp for an hour, dust work surface with flour, and gently fold the dough from bowl on to surface. Line a cookie sheet with parchment and dust with flour. (A wood peal would be ideal) Avoid handling the dough too much, this will degas it and you will loose those nice air pockets that form.
Dust top of dough with flour and smooth over surface. Form into smooth round form. Divide into 4 pieces with a very sharp knife or bowl scraper. Form these into bowls and place carefully onto cookie sheet or wood peal.
Lower oven temp to 475o. Slide onto baking stone. Bake for 12-18 minutes. Cool on wire rack for 15 minutes.
For the baking you need parchment, a steam pan filled with water and baking stone. A good tip to create steam in oven is to add stones to steam pan.
4 1/2 cups (20 oz/567 g) unbleached bread flour. I like King Author's bread flour
1 3/4 teaspoons (0.4 oz/11 g) salt
1 1/4 teaspoons (0.14 oz/4 g) instant yeast
2 cups (16 oz/454 g) chilled water
Combine all of the above in mixing bowl and using paddle attachment on mixer, mix on lowest speed for 1 minute. Dough is going to be course and sticky, let it rest for 5 minute. Mix on medium-low speed for 1 minute. The dough will be smother but very soft, sticky, and wet. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest at room temp. for 10 minutes.
Transfer dough to oiled surface and oil your hands. Reach under front of dough, stretch it out, then fold it back on top. Repeat from the back and then on each side. The dough will be firmer but still very soft and fragile. Put dough back into bowl and cover and let sit at room temp for 10 minutes. Repeat this process 4 more times.
After final stretch cover tightly and refrigerate over night or for up to 4 days. The dough will double in size.
On baking day remove from fridge an hour before baking. Preheat oven to 550o. Place steam pan filled with water in bottom of oven. After dough has been at room temp for an hour, dust work surface with flour, and gently fold the dough from bowl on to surface. Line a cookie sheet with parchment and dust with flour. (A wood peal would be ideal) Avoid handling the dough too much, this will degas it and you will loose those nice air pockets that form.
Dust top of dough with flour and smooth over surface. Form into smooth round form. Divide into 4 pieces with a very sharp knife or bowl scraper. Form these into bowls and place carefully onto cookie sheet or wood peal.
Lower oven temp to 475o. Slide onto baking stone. Bake for 12-18 minutes. Cool on wire rack for 15 minutes.