Friday, February 15, 2013

Knead Free Bread

                   
                    

 
Stuff you don't really knead.







Jim Lahey's "No Knead Bread" is intriguing for it's simplicity.  Add 3 cups AP flour, tsp salt , 1/4 tsp. yeast and a cup and ½ water.  Stir it up with your hand and let it perk on the counter for 12-hrs or more.  Dump it on floured counter, fold it into itself and let rest for two hours.  Plop it into a covered pot and bake for 30 min, and another 15 minutes with the lid off. 

The video above sorts all this out, including recommending bread flour.   P.S.-- If you're going to do your own in-home instructional video, about anything, this is a good model. 

As stated earlier, in my enthusiasm to create a larder for when we have to go to blankets, I bought 100 pounds of AP flour from Wal-Mart.  100 pounds.  Now that I've got back into bread making again, I know that bread flour, with its increased level of gluten, is what I need.  Giant is currently selling a 3# bag Pillsbury Bread flour (King Arthur sets the standard) for $5.29!  No problem.  I bought Vital Wheat Gluten, (roll-over) which, when added to all purpose flour (1 TBSP per cup), makes bread flour.    TIP-If you add 1 cup to 1 cup of flour,  you can fill dents in your car with it.

I substituted one cup rye in the above recipe and while I haven't cut into it yet (it's for Reuben sandwiches, and now that it's Lent we have to wait until tomorrow) but it has a good knock.


By the by, for those off you who look at me as being infallible in all things not pertaining to who will win elections, this confession.  From the before times I remembered that trick, but added  cornstarch instead of VWG.  That makes cake flour, and a very poor base for bread.  


7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have to admit, I'm a glutton for gluten.
oy vey ole'

Anonymous said...

Even better than King Arthur flour are their recipes for no-knead breads. Go to kingarthur.com and search for "no-knead" They all work. Also, the SAF yeast they sell beats the store bought stuff all to hell.

zeke

Anonymous said...

Correction, kingarthurflour.com

Helly said...

Food blogging!!!

Couple of items for you, Rodge.

1. King Arthur doesn't use their bread flour for their bread because their AP already had a few points more protein than Gold Medal, etc. I know this because I attended their bread school for a week in Norwich. ((BTW, this is a wonderful adventure for epicureans such as yourself. Get a room with a fireplace at the Woodstock Inn for a bonus treat.))

2. No knead = no need. Every time I hear a guy touting no knead bread, I figure he must be Gay. Because kneading dough is the next best thing to having 2 wives, and it's still legal. How did think they get bakers to go to work at 3am everyday?

3. If you aren't Gay, and you have teeth, you want bread with structure. You can't get structure with additives. It has to be built by polymerizing proteins into a matrix of long-chain molecules. This requires time + mechanical action.

4. Baker's math is essential for bread baking. Ingredients must be weighed for good results. All volumetric bread recipes are silly.

5. High hydration dough is for losers. Yes, rye needs more water, but 3 C flour + 1.5 C water = 80% hydration. That's soup not dough. The only call for this is for pouring the soup into high-production pans to get loaves of WonderBread. Of course you would need to rest it forever, just to let some of the slop evaporate. And then at best you'll get a limp-risted crust. Like extending your pinky when you shake hands — just stoppit.

6. Rye is different than wheat flour. It has more fiber and bran, which hold more water and cuts the gluten network, which produces a denser bread. That's fine if you need more calories in your diet. It also has more sugar, which is a risk for over-fermenation and crumb collapse. It also has more amylase, which converts starches to sugar, which leads to less structure and gumminess. Souping the flour makes all this worse.

7. Never ever trust anything you read in the NY Times. Didn't your mother teach you this?!? Get Hamelman's book and use your rye to make overnight pumpernickel. Then you will have something to crow about.

Helly said...

OMG. I just watched the video. A guy in a knit turtleneck with better tits than Bawny Fwank. On fabulous GardenFork TV.

Do I have unreal gaydar or what?

Rodger the Real King of France said...

Helly, I thought it was whole wheat that cut the gluten and thus has to soak for a few days before being introduced? mAYBE i GOT THAT WRONG too.

Anonymous said...

ONE BOOK FOR YOU: "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes".

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