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Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking: member book reviews

(4 reviews)

I followed the steps, just as it is on their blog, exactly as written. I have the plastic buckets, drilled a hole on top, and this dough really comes together in minutes! It rose beautifully (I use SAF Instead Yeast). I invested in a baking stone, which makes all the difference in the world. I was so excited when my first loaf turned out perfectly. I look forward to make all kinds of breads. Super easy to do.

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I've only made the master recipe and the American white bread recipe. Both turned out well. But I've used the master recipe for boule, baguette, pizza crust and rolls. I love how versatile it is. As a mom of three, it's great to have fresh bread without excessive work. I use this book every week.

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I read the intro and skimmed through the recipes, then made the Master Recipe - we'll see how it comes out tomorrow. Though it was still rising 3 hours after I mixed it - and was more than 3/4 of the way up the sides of my 6-qt container! We'll see what it does in the fridge. The concept is interesting, though (as he says) they didn't really come up with much that was new. Wet dough is quite old, they're specifically reproducing standard types of bread, the baking techniques are standard - the only new idea is making the dough and chilling it long-term. And the very easy mixup, maybe - though I haven't tried any of the 'no-knead' breads, which are similar. Chilling overnight is old, using it in bits for 2 weeks is a new idea (as far as I know, anyway). The recipe was extremely easy to mix up; I used some very old yeast, but I'd stored it in the freezer where it keeps pretty much forever (in a jar, so no problem with the packet getting wet). I did it by weight, and since I was using Trader Joe's AP flour, which is specifically mentioned as being higher in protein than normal AP flour (in the bread flour range), I did the scanting of flour that they suggest. 31.5 oz of white flour, 3 c water at just over 100 degrees (according to my thermometer, 102.6), the yeast and some sea salt (because that's what I had that wasn't iodized). Ve shall see how it comes out. And while I'll start by making a loaf, after that I want to try some of the more interesting stuff described later on - they have a dozen or more 'basic' recipes for dough, then multiple recipes to use the dough. The Master Recipe or Boule can be used to make a loaf (free-form or in a pan), pita, cinnamon rolls, I think the wheat-sheaf one...like that. I also want to try the brioche dough.

I'll add more when I have some actual results to report.

The master recipe worked fine - made nice loaves and good rolls. Unfortunately I dislike white bread, especially lean (no additions) white bread - it tastes boring. So the texture was fine (and the singing of the crust was amusing!) but the results were unsatisfactory. I prefer making pita out of it, or using one of the whole wheat recipes. I also made Parmesan-Garlic Knots, which were very good warm and still somewhat boring cold. I haven't tried any of the enriched doughs yet - brioche, challah, etc. That's where I should go next.

(edited 29th September 2010) report

Being a bread lover, I was intrigued with their claim that you could produce a delicious loaf of bread in just a few minutes each day - the kicker, of course, is that you mix up 4 loaves at a time, put them in the frig and then just pull them out and let them raise (5 minutes a day is a bit deceptive and it only refers to the actual working time - not raising or baking). But even so - this is a great way to have fresh bread every day (I put the book away because it is too easy a way to have fresh bread every day). I did find however, that while the basic recipes worked really well, some of the speciality breads were a bit disappointing.

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