Thanks to the LA's mother, who despite the stereotypes about a man and his mother-in-law I love, I have some baking stones. They're basically unglazed quarry tiles, and they're currently in the oven, baking a small loaf of home-made bread. After the fun of various job-hunt stuff while mildly ill yesterday, bread was a very desireable substance, and it wanted to be fresh. Can't get much fresher than that.
Half a pound of flour (US standard general purpose turned out to be strong enough, although it took longer than I expected for the gluten to develop), a pinch of salt, a little sugar, some active dry yeast (quick yeast; lovely suff) and a sufficient amount of warm water later (the water is one of those things I just don't measure; it's quicker to do it by feel), I had a ball of dough, which I placed in an oiled bowl to rise. It did so, and then I kneaded it again, placed it on the stones and let it rise again. Slashed the top with a wet knife, and now it's baking.
I'll put some photos up when it's done.
And now, the photos are up.
Looks VERY tasty! Yummm...
ReplyDeleteWe have this book: Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. We haven't actually tried to do this yet, as we are still gathering the components (still on our list is a bread spatula - I don't know what it's real name is, and a bucket with a tight-sealing lid that will (a) hold a week's worth of bread dough, (b) fit in our fridge, and (c) is food-safe.
I am probably going to wait until the fall to really try it, too, because the idea of using the oven for anything right now is not an idea I'm happy about (too darn hot here for ovens. I barely want to use the cooktop. We've been cooking outside as often as possible)
link to book: www.amazon.com/Artisan-Bread-Five-Minutes-Revolutionizes/dp/0312362919