A change of pace from my usual reading. . . <\/p>\n
A couple years ago, I tried some recipes from\u00a0the original \u201c5 minute\u201d book, and wasn\u2019t too thrilled, but I\u2019ve gone back and given this one a try.<\/p>\n
The background:\u00a0 Hertzberg is a scientist and amateur baker who collaborated with Francois on a simplified \u201cartisan\u201d bread-baking method.\u00a0 The basic concept:\u00a0 a very wet dough, with a batter-like consistency, doesn\u2019t need kneading, and can be mixed in bulk and baked in batches.\u00a0 So their \u201cfive minutes a day\u201d is based on average active work time if you mix up a large batch of dough\/batter, store it in the fridge, and take out portions each day, shape, and bake \u2014 for instance, during the course of getting ready in the morning.\u00a0 The typically \u201cartisan\u201d bread crust is obtained with steam in the oven, with various techniques.<\/p>\n
Nothing here is novel \u2014 my second cookbook, dating from 1991, includes a no-knead recipe.\u00a0 The concept of steam is also not new.\u00a0 The idea of storing dough is not extraordinary.\u00a0 But they put it all together well.<\/p>\n
They\u2019ve also improved on the first book \u2014 added weights to the volume (cup) measures, and cut down on the salt.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
At this point I\u2019ve only made the basic white bread recipe and the challah recipe, both in the form of rolls, and was pretty pleased with them, and, as long as you\u2019re hanging out around the house, the wait times for rising and resting and baking aren\u2019t an issue.\u00a0 Of course, for the \u201cartisanal\u201d effect of the crispy crust, you have to eat it right away rather than storing it, though the challah is a soft-crust bread so it doesn\u2019t matter.\u00a0 (Challah is more or less equivalent to zopf, a German braided bread.)<\/p>\n
Looking at the Amazon reviews, there are a lot of favorable ones and a mix of \u201cso-and-so\u2019s book is better\u201d (plus a few of \u201cit just didn\u2019t work for me).\u00a0 Would I use their recipes completely as replacements for my usual breads (e.g, bread dough in the breadmaker)?\u00a0 Probably not.\u00a0 But it\u2019s a rare instance when I\u2019m considering buying it rather than just photocopying the key pages and adding them to my recipe binder.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A change of pace from my usual reading. . . A couple years ago, I tried some recipes from\u00a0the original \u201c5 minute\u201d book, and wasn\u2019t too thrilled, but I\u2019ve gone back and given this one a try. The background:\u00a0 Hertzberg is a scientist and amateur baker who collaborated with Francois on a simplified \u201cartisan\u201d bread-baking […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[68],"class_list":["post-643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-cookingbaking"],"yoast_head":"\n