PrintArtisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day?
I'm a pretty comfortable cook, but yeast makes me nervous. I've started making my own pizza dough lately, and it's going ok. I have been dreaming about the no knead bread since I first read Bittman's column, and now, this 5 minutes a day book seems to be getting press all over the place. I'd love to hear comments on the book. Is it a worth while purchase? Should I just try the no-knead recipe first and see how I do? Or should I just give up and hope the bakery still has something semi-fresh when I get a craving?
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12 Comments:
Ooooh man, I've read it once before, and being blessed/cursed with a huge bookshelf I'm still 12th or so in line for the library's copy.
And for good reason - the book basically gives you the recipe for a huge starter dough that you can pinch pieces off of when the urge strikes. Plus, the longer you leave it in the fridge the better the bread tastes... :]
Jaden at Steamy Kitchen posted two recipes and a whole list of others that sound delicious...look here if you want to try it first:
http://steamykitchen.com/blog/2008/01/12/caramelroll/
(yes, that's no knead bread. though mine doesn't look half as pretty..)
jazzinx at 4:09PM on 02/20/08
@jlbrach- There was a thread that was started back on Feb. 5 "Almost Immediate Gratification Artisan Bread". There were a lot of great posts, including one from Dominic (Zen Kitchen) that linked to a conversation with Jeff Hertzberg. I was fascinated. You might want to go back and check that also. I spent the last two Friday evenings reading the book at my local bookstore and determined it is a process definitely worth trying. I have the book on order with Jessica's Biscuit and can't wait to try it.
I live in Ann Arbor, MI and am taking a brioche baking class tomorrow night at Zingerman's Bakehouse. Those folks are the Bread Gods. I've been making brioche for several years, many different recipes and processes. There are also many sweet bread recipes in the Artisan book by Zoe Francois, including brioche. I'm totally enraptured with being able to use the 5 minute process for sweet breads also. I think this will be a very interesting experimentation project.
frederika at 6:42PM on 02/20/08
i made a recipe from the book i found on the new york times website. it tasted very flat. it was suggested to age the dough in order to improve the flavor, so i left the rest of the dough from the first recipe in the fridge for about a week, which improved it somewhat. i was definitely not impressed and have gone back to kneading my bread, which i enjoy doing anyway.
cybercita at 8:34PM on 02/20/08
I've been making the master dough (or variation on it) for a few weeks and am really enjoying it. I keep forgetting particular steps and am discovering what each step is for and why it's important. I haven't bought the book, but heard the recipe on Splendid Table. Turns out the authors have a blog http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com
where you can see questions people have asked and the authors have answered, and ask your own for clarification of recipes. It's such a great service and I highly recommend this method. I never had bread turn out right, and this does.
-Bri
figswithbri.com
FigswithBri at 9:07PM on 02/20/08
This book does sound great. Definitely give the Bittman/Sullivan St Bakery recipe a shot though. It's super easy, works very well, tastes great, and will give you a great start working with yeast. What's the worst that can happen? You'd be out a few cups of flour? Come on, give it a shot!
seyo at 9:47PM on 02/20/08
I finally got brave enough to try out yeast about 3 weeks ago - and have been making the no-knead bread ever since. It's fabulous! Bittman had an article this summer on quick suppers, filled with great ideas. Perhaps try a few of them out first; the article should still be on the times website.
mmclau28 at 11:58AM on 02/21/08
just in case, here is the original NYTimes recipe:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/081mrex.html
and the video:
http://video.on.nytimes.com/index.jsp?fr_story=35eac03d90314ffed6a0c0ae143ab87b1474fb89
seyo at 10:15AM on 02/22/08
I noticed in the 5 min bread book that they mention using the same container- scraping down the sides- and using the remaining dough as kind of a starter/sourdough as a flavor helper. Has anyone done this with sucess? Did it add to the flavor? Being new to baking I wasn't sure how that worked- but was interested as I thought the no-knead needed "something" in the way of flavor.
(I've made the no-knead sullivan street bread and have recently gotten the 5-min. artisan bread book-but I haven't had the oppotunity to try their recipes yet.)
bisbee at 11:10AM on 02/22/08
I hadn't heard of this until yesterday and it made my week! I'm not a baker, but I when I got through reading Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, I was really jealous of the idea of her husband making fresh bread every day. That idea seems completely unrealistic in a normal household. I spend way too much on artisan bread, but I think I could save a lot of money if this is as easy as it sounds! I order the book from half.com last night, and am really looking forward to it. I guess I have to buy a baking stone, though...
Tactful_Cactus at 12:41PM on 02/22/08
I'm confused....What is the name of the book, and who is the author? Sounds interesting!!
elaine nan at 9:02PM on 02/22/08
@elaine nan - I believe the title you're referring to is "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day - The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking" by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. It was just published in Nov., 2007.
frederika at 1:07PM on 02/23/08
Thank you @frederika.
elaine nan at 8:05PM on 02/24/08