Five Minute Bread: British version of our 1st book on sale today in the U.K.; one of the top 50 ways to feel good this year…
Twenty-seven years ago, I rode a bicycle through southern England, and it was a delight. If I was on the road in the late afternoon, someone would materialize and invite me in for tea (I fear that I might have looked lost). It was an unforgettable first time in Europe.
I hope I was well-behaved, and that anyone who invited me in for tea will remember and give our little book a try. Five Minute Bread has been released in London by Random House/Ebury and is available at Amazon UK, and at booksellers all over England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Britain’s largest daily newspaper, the Telegraph, says we’re number 20 on its top-50 list of ways to feel good this year. If you’re new to our method, this book is based on our best-selling U.S. bread cookbook, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Our bread cookbooks are different because we make a large batch and store it in the refrigerator, where it’s ready when you are for quick daily baking (click here for more on our method and a sample recipe– 2 pounds equals 910 grams, by the way).
American readers should note that this book isn’t available for sale in the U.S., because U.S. rights to our book belong to Macmillan/Th Dunne Bks (the books aren’t allowed to compete with each other). So, what’s new in our British edition? Well, our Americanisms are pulled out, so now corn=maize, and cornmeal is polenta. And if an ingredient wasn’t likely to be found in the UK, that recipe went away. But most important is the units– we used weights, not U.S. volumes. European home bakers bake by weight, not volume, so the flour, cheese, and vegetable measurements in Five Minute Bread are given in grams and pounds, not cups. Water is given in milliliters and pints. The one thing that won’t change is that we’ll continue to support our readers anywhere in the world, right here (fiveminutebread.com re-directs to this website).
Many thanks to our friends at Ebury in London for “translating” our work. Cheers!
That’s just absolutely fabulous! Congratulations! Say, do you have any recipes that rely solely on coconut flour? I have some friends with dietary restrictions and coconut flour is all they can use. Just curious. Keep up the great work!
-Bethany
Dayton OH
(Been baking with HBin5 since the first week it came out and LOVE it!)
Bethany: Thanks for the kind words!
Have not used coconut flour, but fear it would not work for bread— I suppose you could try it in gluten free recipes, using xanthan gum to give structure as we talk about in Healthy Bread in Five https://bit.ly/3wYSSN I assume your friends are gluten free so you can’t use vital wheat gluten to lighten it.
But coconut meat is so dense– can’t imagine it will perform the way sorghum, tapioca, and corn flours do. If you try this, please let us know if it worked as a substitute for any of the ingredients in our gluten-free recipes and we’ll spread the word. Jeff
Got my copy in France via Amazon UK a few days ago.
I cannot begin to tell you how much I am looking forward to finally trying all the recipes without having to taking a wild guess at converting volumes into ounces into grams…
Many thanks for this.
Claudine in France
Claudine: Thanks for letting us know that it was reasonably easy to ship to FR from Amazon UK. If you’re willing to say, can you tell us what the charge for shipping was, in Euros?
Jeff
First book. First loaf was perfect. Second two “leaked” out the bottom, broke near the bottom and leaked raw dough, which then baked. Awfully misshapen loaf. Any idea why?
Susan: First possibility– you need to slash deeper– straight down, not angled, with a serrated knife. Otherwise it breaks unpredictably. If that’s not it, check your oven temp– concerned that the raw dough is from under-temp oven.
Then, if those aren’t it, try a longer rest after shaping: 60, or even 90 minutes; let us know how it works out after that. Which recipe are we talking about here (page #?), and do you mean the UK book? Or the US?
Jeff,
I ordered the book from Amazon UK via the “Books in English” section on Amazon FR, as I do frequently when ordering books or DVDs in English, and there was no delivery charge.
I paid €17 (about $22) and would have paid €18 /£14.50 /$22.50, including delivery costs of €6.30 /£5.25 /$8, if I had ordered from Amazon UK.
No difference to speak of, but as I was ordering other items from Amazon FR at the same time, so it was easier to do it all from the same shop.
Hope this answers your question 🙂
Best wishes for 2011!
Claudine in France
Thanks Claudine!
Here is a crazy question: What would happen to the bread (let’s say, the HBin5 master recipe) if I substituted an egg white for some of the liquid? I have ducks and have a lot of eggs. Duck egg whites are high in protein and supposedly give baked goods greater lift. Would this work with bread also?
Bill: I think it would work nicely, go ahead and try it– no more than, let’s say, 1/4 of the liquid for starters? And don’t keep egg-enriched dough longer than 5 days– that can spoil. Jeff
Is there any chance a Spanish version of Artisan Bread in 5 will be coming out? A friend is visiting from Mexico and, although I’ve demonstrated the basic dough for her, she would love a copy of the book in Spanish.
Hi Lois,
No plans for the Spanish version yet, but we would love it. Just need an interested publisher!
Thanks, Zoë
I asked for your Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes for Christmas and (yea for husband!) got it! I never had your first book but had heard great things about it. Just wanted you to know that I’m loving the process of cooking my way through your book. I’m making notes at the beginning of each recipe, marking the dates I tried the dough. So far I’ve done the basic dough, pain provencal, and apple/honey challah. Yum!
Hi JenninAustin,
Enjoy all the breads!
Thanks for the note, Zoë
Hi Jeff and Zoe: Just wanted to let you know about our now-favorite sandwich rolls. I’ve taken the light whole wheat recipe from your first book and added 1/4 cup honey (I use KA flour, so it needed an additional 1/4 C liquid anyway…otherwise would just substitute the honey for 1/4 C water). I’ve shaped the dough into small slightly elongated rolls (dough about the size of a large peach), put them on the peel with whole wheat flour, rest, slash and bake. They are INCREDIBLE with any kind of cheese and/or an array of meats. To keep them fresh, I let them completely cool to room temp, freeze the ones I won’t use in a day. To defrost, wrap in paper towel and microwave (!) at .5 power for 1 minute. The crust stays firm and they’re nearly as fresh as if they’d just been baked! My son devours them.
Hi Amy,
The buns sound great! Thanks for the sharing your recipe.
Enjoy, Zoë
Thankyou for this! I’ve actually just stumbled across your book on The Book People website, and headed over here to find out what I’d missed 🙂 I have and love HBin5, but trying to bake in volume measurements drives me to exasperated distraction.
Hi Jeff and Zoe –
I was very excited to buy your Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes! I have your first book also, and my main qualm with it was that there were too many recipes relying on white flour for my taste, so I am very happy to have your second book now as well. My family loves the bread.
I was wondering if you have suggestions for baking bread on days when you can’t be home 2 1/2+ hours before dinner time (resting time + baking time + cooling time). I imagine this is an issue for a lot of people due to work schedules. What would happen if you let the dough rest, after shaping, all day either in the fridge or on the counter?
All the best, and thanks for the great cookbooks!
Maeve
Hi Maeve,
We talk about that very technique in the book. Just let the dough sit on parchment, loosely covered with plastic wrap, in the fridge for 8 to 14 hours and then preheat the oven and bake it.
Thanks, Zoë
Thanks Zoe – I’ll have to look in the book and find where I missed that!
Maeve
hi and congrats!
do you have an spanish version of the books? gracias!!
Hi Rosamaria,
We don’t have plans for a Spanish version, yet! We would love to someday, just need a publisher to do it! 😉
Thanks, Zoë
I received my copy two days ago, made my first dough yesterday (half recipe), baked today a small loaf – 275gr. The taste was not similar to “artisan-like” bread available in bread shops, but it was ok. Family enjoyed, and I already have plans to start mixing flours, having started with plain wheat. That is probably the issue, as the semi-industrial bread is generally a mixture of flours; and, of course, I’m willing to try the broa, (portuguese corn bread) which we all enjoy very much.
Must say I was half enthousiast half sceptic (mostly about my capacity) but it really is as easy as we are told.
My husband wanted to buy a bread machine a few months ago, but I didn’t want to have another equipment in my kirchen, I didn’t aprreciate the idea of having to buy special flour mixes with additives; and also the obligation of making the bread to make profit of the investment.
This book gives me the freedom of baking when and if I want, and make my personal flour mixings.
Thank you, Jeff and Zoë! 🙂
Hi Guida Q,
Thank you for trying the bread. You may want to let the dough sit for a couple of days so it develops a bit more flavor. You may also prefer the peasant loaves that have a bit of whole wheat flours.
Thanks, Zoë
Apologies if this has been asked before but I’m getting frustrated trying to find unbleached plain flour in the UK. Just rang Waitrose customer services who can’t tell me which of the brands they sell are unbleached! Can anyone suggest a brand that works well with the basic recipe? Many thanks
Di: When I was in the UK in ’07 I baked with a terrific flour from Shipton Mill (https://www.shipton-mill.com). It’s organic, so this is a boutique product, but I also had decent results with supermarket products. If you absolutely can’t find unbleached, go with bleached, but decrease the water slightly (let’s say, 30 to 60 ml).
Hi. I just read on another site – which appeared reliable – that it is illegal to use bleaching agents in the UK, so all flour is unbleached. Apparently Sainsbury’s have gotten tired of all the questions and have started labelling theirs “unbleached” but really all of them are.
Zoe: Assuming you’re baking in the UK, I’m assuming you’re problem has nothing to do with altitude, but if you happen to be in the Alps, see our altitude FAQ (click above then go through the questions).
I’m almost certain that your problem is too-wet dough, figuring out why is going to be challenging– probably the flour isn’t absorbing enough water. Our British editors assured us that the Master worked as written, with volumes for water, but I’m going to suggest that you weigh the water. Try this instead– weigh the water rather than measuring its ml or pint-volume.
750 grams water with 1000 grams “Plain” flour (that’s known as 75% hydration (750/1000) to professional bakers); everything else stays the same. If that’s too wet– then your flour isn’t absorbing as much water as ours. Can decrease the water at that point (or increase the flour). With the Sainsbury Plain you may need to decrease the hydration to 70%, or even 65%. You’re going for a wet dough, but not so wet it won’t hold a shape. See our videos (tab above) for what it should look like. Let me know if you can’t find a video that addresses this.
Some whole grain might help here… wouldn’t need to decrease the hydration so much.
I’m posting this in two places on our website but you don’t have to, we’ll see your response from anywhere you post. Jeff
Thanks Jeff – I know exactly where to get that 🙂 Di
Just read Maeve’s comment about not being home 2 1/2 hours before dinner to allow for shaping, rising, baking and cooling. For some reason, I only need one hour. I shape the loaf and let it rise for 20 minutes, start the oven, pop it in after 20 minutes more. If I make smaller roll sized or mini boules, it only takes about 20-25 minutes. I do this in the morning for my family before going to work.
What is cooling time? I have not been able to master that trick ; )
Thank you Jeff and Zoe. I have both of your books and have made maybe 100 variations, some of them are yours, some are my own.
Flatbread : We made three of them using your 100% WW recipe. The best one was the caramelized onion and blood orange confit topped with thick mozzarella slices and thyme. Can’t wait for the new book!
Thank you Emma,
So glad you are enjoying all the bread you’re baking.
Cheers, Zoë
Hello from India! I just wanted to let you know that I managed to get hold of your ABin5 book by having it IMPORTED here! Tried my first batch today – yum. Thank you for baking!
Suman: Let us know how your results turn out…
How annoying! I have just bought the US version of the book from Amazon.co.uk as I didn’t realise there was a UK version available. Any chance of listing the weight equivalents of your basic recipe?
Hi Steve,
It is the case with the US Amazon that you can return the book and get the one you prefer, I would think the UK Amazon would have the same policy?
The flour weight for the master recipe is 2 pounds of plain flour.
Hope that helps? Thanks, Zoë
Hi guys – I just ordered your UK book. I’m trying to figure out in advance of it arriving (:-) patience was never my strong point – what is the difference between STRONG WHITE FLOUR and PLAIN FLOUR? When I bake bread curretnly, I always use SWF because of the higher gluten content. Would this be the right flour to use for your recipes? Thanks – and I’ll let you know how I get on!! David – UK
Hi David,
Our recipes are based on Plain Flour, which is the equivalent of American All-purpose. If you use a strong flour you may need to add more water to the mix. But, for the first batch, I recommend trying the Plain Flour.
Thanks and enjoy all the bread! Zoë
My mum has been moaning for years that bread from the shop is disgusting. That it’s too sweet and tastes terrible with cheese and cold cuts. I bought this book, and took her some of the bread from the master recipe. Her face lit up, and she said, “now THIS is what bread should taste like”. My sister tasted the bread, and insisted on me getting her a copy of the book. She never buys bread now. The pizza recipe is sheer genius. Especially now that ‘good’ supermarket pizzas cost about £5 each!!! For just £5 now, I can feel 8 people, and that’s including the cheese! It’s a FANTASTIC book.
Hi Gizzie,
We are so thrilled you are baking from the book and have baked for your mum and sister. How wonderful! Enjoy all the bread!
Cheers! Zoë
Although I speak French (I live in Belgium), I just purchased Five Minute Bread from Amazon UK. I was wondering if the text was identical (except units) to the US version ? In other words, did you made a 2.0 version of the 2007 original book after 3 years of reviews ?
I am looking forward to try your method.
Alain: The text isn’t exactly the same, because this book was adopted for the British and European markets. So ingredients differ a little, etc. Also, we put some material about increasing the rest time depending on your taste (page 39). And a few other enhancements like that.
Check back anytime you have questions about your results as you go through the book. Jeff
I guess that interested readers from the States (and pretty much all over the world for that matter) might be able to purchase the book in the UK and have it shipped to the States. (possibly for free)
https://goo.gl/pkZQm
By the way, the same goes for the US book. (https://goo.gl/6iguK – guess how I got mine in the Netherlands 😉 )
Terrific info, Jaap. Thank you for sharing it, check back anytime you have questions. Jeff
You’re welcome Jeff.
I’m a bit in doubt to be honest. I only found out about the “SI edition” through this website, which in turn I found from the “US edition” I’ve just bought. But I tend to just stick to the “US edition” and do the math myself. (as a true European, trained as an engineer on top of that, I use a kitchen scale, not a volume measure 😉 – even for water, as for water 1 US cup = 236 ml = 236g)
As for the polenta in your book description: my local super (in Leiden – NL) sells Maizgritz, Maiz flour (both mentioned as “farina por polenta” on the Italian part of the package label) and Polenta, in which the stuff sold as “Polenta” is *pre-cooked* corn flour or grits.
Is that what you meant to put into your recipes? (I have a Dutch book that calls for 1 part of polenta on 3 parts of cornmeal and 7 parts of wheat flour in a recipe for corn bread, so you just might)
Jaap: sounds like you could do the conversion in your head!
I too weigh my water now– it’s just faster. The corn product you referenced will probably work in the recipe– shouldn’t make a difference. Jeff
Well Jeff, just about. How far am I off when I take 4 cups of all purpose flour to equal 500g?
(there are dozens of conversion tables to be found on the internet and in print and they all differ – I would appreciate it enormously if you could some day post “your conversion table” on this site)
Aaarch! Me and my big mouth. I just googled on “site:artisanbreadinfive.com weight-equivalent” and got all the answers I needed.
Thanx.
Jaap: assume this is where the google search led you: https://artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=392
?
Just to let you know that I baked my first load this morning… Have to admit I was pretty sceptical about the whole thing and the dough in the fridge looked rather unpromising. Guess what? A delicious, CRUSTY load emerged from my oven after 30 minutes! Thanks – I look forward to trying more of your recipes: this was a great start. So amazing that bread can be produced with so little effort…. 🙂
terrific David, check back anytime you have questions. Jeff
That’s right Jeff. And here too:
https://artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=140
I’m an American living in The Netherlands and I am soooo excited to get the book. They sell it on a Dutch book website that has a section for english books. I look forward to making the bread : )
Hi Sonya,
That is wonderful, enjoy all the bread.
Thanks, Zoë
Hi,
I like to do all my measuring on the scale, but found a confusing point with your water weight.
In your HB in 5 book, you list the weight of water as 225 g/cup. The actual weight of water is 240 g/cup, which means for a full recipe (of AB in 5), you can be almost a 1/2 cup off with water. I’ve found this makes a difference in how wet my dough is (and I’m using unbleached all purpose flour).
What amount by weight of water do you recommend using?
Thanks!
– Jamie
Jamie: When we tested actual measuring cups found in stores in the US, we found that they consistently give the skimpier weight of water. Use the numbers as we provided in the book, or as you say, your recipes will be too wet.
Curious: what’s your reference point for 240 grams? Jeff
Hi Jeff,
Thanks for the clarification! I’m an engineer and like to be precise with my baking. =)
I did round up a bit with the 240 g. One volumetric cup of water is 237 mL, as indicated by Cook’s Illustrated, Joy of Cooking and other conversion charts. The density of water is 1 g/mL of course, so that would be 237 g/cup.
I’ve read that some people convert the 8 fluid ounces (incorrectly using the dry 1 oz = 28 g) to get 225 g/cup. But a fluid oz is (annoyingly) close but not equivalent to a dry ounce (know as voirdupois ounce). This is why I stick to metric!
Do you have your master recipe in metric on the website? I know it is in your new book, but I have already bought HB in 5 and live in the US. I’m curious if my conversions are the same as your UK book.
Thanks again for the reply!
– Jamie
Jamie: I’m away from my references right now, will get back to you here when I’m back in my office.
Jamie: We don’t have the metric conversions on the website– our conversion tables are in the 2nd book only, and they’ll also be in the third. Publisher will kill us if we put them on the site.
All I can tell you is that when we weighed 8 ounces in actual Pyrex-brand measuring cups purchased in the US, it was about 225 grams.
Another way to think of this is that the ratio of water to flour in our white-flour master recipe (all unbleached all-purpose) is 0.75 (a “75% hydration”). So on your scale, you can use 2 pounds of flour and 1.5 pounds of water (or 750 grams water per kilo of flour). Salt and yeast are about the same in both.
Jeff: Thanks for the hydration tip, definitely easier to remember than the conversions. I didn’t know m.cups in the US are marked lower, good to know and glad you tested this!
Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. Happy Spring Baking! – Jamie
Yeah, and it can be idiosyncratic too– some brands of cups have more variability– hopefully we captured the range where the dough is wet, but not too wet– within tolerances. Jeff
What is the ISBN number of this book? I am looking for it and can’t find it. 🙁
Five Minute Bread’s only for sale in Britain, for example on Amazon UK at https://www.amazon.co.uk/Five-Minute-Bread-revolutionary-kneading/dp/0091938945 . The ISBN is 978-0091938949
The US version of the book is on Amazon US at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312362919?ie=UTF8&tag=arbrinfimiada-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0312362919
Let us know if this doesn’t answer your question. Jeff
Hi, I bought the US book and should have the UK (I’m in Australia). Can you put the basic weights for the volumes in the recipes?
Thanks, Vicki
Vicki: To our surprise, our British editors told us that UK bakers don’t weigh the water (just everything else). So the British book uses volumes (metric ones). To convert to metric volumes, just look on the side of the measuring cup– the conversion is there in the form of multiple scales. You may have to seek out that kind of cup. Jeff
Hi. I’m really keen to try it but, your ‘basic’ recipe says
‘Makes four one pound loaves…
750ml / 1 1/4 pints water…
900g / 2lb flour’
The problem is, first, these weights do not add up to 4lb. Second, 750ml is not 1 1/4 pints.
Can you tell me the corect weights?
Thanks
Close, with rounding errors. You get four loaves of about 0.9 pounds each…
Hi,
Was introduced to your book by a fruend in America and have been baking the master recipe from the US book with US measuring cups. I find my dough rises beautifully and keeps its volume nicely in the fridge until I take out the amount for the first loaf. At this point the remaining dough seems to instantly shrink to its pre-risen volume and does not rise again in the fridge. Am I doing something wrong?
Nope, that’s exactly how it behaves!
Thank you for the reassurance. Haven’t yet had the confidence to go beyond the master recipe yet but am about to start my fourth batch. Think it is amazing that you give this support as well. Will definitely look at your other books once I am confident.
Thanks
Judith
Thanks Judith!
Hi..I understand from another website that there are no photographs included in the UK version of the book. Are there any plans to include pictures in future editions? as I might just hold out for one of those.
Or maybe you have them listed on the site if I trawl for them?
Many thanks.
Hi BlueNile,
Yes, it is true, they chose not to do photos in that version of the book. I hope someday we can redo the book with photos, but there are no plans as of now! Maybe something you can request of the publisher! 😉
Cheers, Zoë
I just sent you a question on another subject, and then read all about the new UK edition. I visit my daughter in London and have actually made the bread there from the first book, but was always uncertain about the flour. Is their “plain flour” the equivalent of our all-purpose, and “strong flour” the same as our bread flour? (and while you’re at it, if I need a lower fluten flour for pastry what would it be in the UK?)
And one more (sorry): Is our King Arthur AP flour different from the other brands, and if so, does it need more or less water?
Phew — demanding too much of your time, so thanks in advance.
Roz: Plain=AP, and Strong=bread flour. Don’t know what pastry flour’s called in UK.
Re KAF, see our FAQs tab above and click on “Flour varieties…”
Sourdough bread in 5 minutes?
Hello, I live in Holland and baked lots of bread the old fashion way (kneading, kneading and kneading). I recently found your book on amazon.co.uk and I love it.
I bought your both books on bread and it saves me so much time, incredible. And my children love it too, so that helps too. The only problem is that I cannot find unbleached flour or vital wheat gluten here, but I’m slightly adjusting the amount of flour and adding whole wheat flower/rye flour and spelt flour and I’m almost getting there.
I just wanted to let you know that I used my sourdough starter together with some yeast and the rest of your recipe and it works like a charm. You get the sourdough taste, with less work. I just wonder if I can keep it in the fridge for a week (or longer) just like your normal dough or might it die on me? Do you have experience with this?
I couldn’t find it in your book and I wondered if there was a reason for it.
Hi Sabine,
So glad you are enjoying the recipes. Here is information about using sourdough starter with our method: https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2009/11/30/sourdough-starter-in-our-recipes
Do you have “plain” flour, which is what they call it in the UK?
The vital wheat gluten is also sold as gluten flour, gluten powder or sometimes can be found as seitan powder. Here is a place in the UK that sells it: https://www.lowcarbmegastore.com/ingredients/wheat-gluten-powder-1kg
Thanks, Zoë
I bought your book ABi5 (US version), over a year ago, from Amazon.fr not knowing that there was a UK version! I am used to metric measurements so I’ve had to convert the cups to grams on my own and yes, the first few batches of dough were very wet. Thank goodness your site offers some answers although it is not easy to find it at times. Afew questions still remain though for me –
1)I have no idea if the french flours are bleached or unbleached ? Would you know?
2) Also the plain flours here are categorised as T45, T55, T65, T110, T150 etc. Which would be the best to use?
Thanks!
Nina: pretty sure that European standards prohibit bleaching (good choice, I think). That certainly is true in the UK. The reason your doughs may be coming out too wet may that the flour you chose is too low in protein; North American flours are typically higher in protein than European counterparts. See our FAQ on this (click on “Flour varieties…”), but I don’t think this will help you much.
About the T45 to T150 flours, seems clear to me that this refers to the protein and ash content, and that is going to be crucial. Check out the Fresh Loaf for a discussion: https://www.thefreshloaf.com/blog/janedo or https://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/10581/french-and-american-flours. I’m guessing that you want T65 or T110, may need to adjust water. Much more variety in your flours than in ours!
Hi Jeff,
Thanks for the reply. I’ve been using Flour T55 most of the time. So I will try T65 in my next attempt to see the difference. So if I use Flour T65 does it mean I need more or less water?
Today I tried the Brioche Swirl Buns with Ganache filling (also T55 using the brioche recipe in ABi5). I was expecting a light fluffy brioche, like what we get here in France , but that was not the case.I did find rolling up, after filling with ganache difficult as it was very sticky!
Thanks again!
Not familiar enough with the French products to answer confidently. If it’s higher protein, then yes, more water.
OK ! merci pour l’info je vais essayer de me procurer le livre mais ou s’achete ‘il ???
sur Amazon ??? bonne soirée vos pain son trop bon !
ou peut on se le procurer sur Amazon c’est tout en anglais aussi et faire la traduction c’est pas facile afin de passer commande , vous en vendez vous de vos livreS ??
Hi,
I came across your website though a link from a different website that my friend gave me. I like your idea of simple and quick home-made bread.
In response to your article about British version of your book – you post a link to your “sample” recipe, sadly that’s a US version. Is there UK version of your basic recipe somewhere on the website? I would like to “try before buy”.
Sorry if that’s already been asked and answered in any of the 82 previous comments here.
Thank you
Hi Petra,
Are you just looking for the weight equivalents for the ingredients? The Master recipe is identical, but the British version is done in grams.
750 ml lukewarm water
1 1/2 tbsp granulated yeast
1 1/2 tbsp coarse grain salt
900 g plain white flour
Hope that helps? Thanks, Zoë
Hi
As a person who uses recipes from anywhere I can find them Im happier to measure in cups than in grams. We are easily able to buy measuring cups in the UK, what I did struggle with was finding a jug with fluid oz on. Im sure they are available but the standard pyrex jugs here dont have it on (Pyrex’s fault lol) It is easier to measure in cups, I take it we cant measure the water in cups?
Hi Aisha,
Yes, you sure can measure the water in cups.
Thanks, Zoë
I just bought your healthy bread book(us) after hearing fantastic reviews from FB groups. I am living in irelan and cannot find vital wheat gluten and Internet prices make it prohibitive. What should I use as an alternative? Strong white and whole grain flours? Or is there an alternative I can use?
Hi A Glavin,
This product is often sold as seitan powder in other countries, usually in health food or asian stores. It can also be called gluten flour.
If none of these is available, you will need to increase the amount of flour in the recipe, strong flour is a good one to use and you will probably not be able to store the dough for the full 2 weeks. The vital wheat gluten provides the strength and structure to the stored whole grain breads.
Thanks, Zoë
Hi, I have the US book even though Im in the UK. I made half the master recipe and let it rise for a number of hours. OMG its SO runny, I know Im not going to be able to do anything with it. So into my 3 1/4 cups of flour dough Ive now added nearly another cup of flour and put it in the fridge. Is UK plain flour different to US plain flour? I actually expected to use Strong White Flour. Did I do something wrong? Thanks
Hi Aisha,
Do you measure your flour by scooping the flour into the cup, or do you spoon the flour into the cup? We use scoop and sweep to measure, which results in much more flour than spoon and sweep. Are the liquid measuring cups you use the same as the US? I know there has been some confusion with the difference in US pints, compared to UK pints.
The plain flour should behave about the same.
You can add more flour until you get a dough that looks just like the dough in our videos.
Thanks, Zoë
I did the scoop and sweep too. I used the same cups to measure the water as for the flour. Isnt that what Im meant to do? Feeling like maybe ive made some strange assumption lol.
I wish you guys wld make a UK video or a trouble shoot video. I guess as you guys know exactly how to do it right it probably seems impossible to do it wrong (unlike me lol)
Im going by US measurements
Thanks
Hi Aisha,
There are dry measuring cups, that have a flat top, which make it easy to sweep the top of the flour off. Liquid measuring cups tend to be made of glass or plastic and have a spout, which makes it easier to pour from. The odd thing is that usually using dry measuring cups to measure the wet will result in a dry dough, not wet.
It may just be a difference in flour. Have you watched any of the videos we’ve made, even though we are using US measurements?
Thanks, Zoë
Hi,
I am working from the UK edition. For the master recipe the Imperial and Metric hydrations are different. What hydration do you recommend please?
Best regards,Mike
I think I found the answer to the my hydration question from an earlier post – 75%.
Thanks,
yes, for the basic loaf based on white flour about equivalent to US 10% protein (measured differently in Europe, so this can get tricky). But 75% hydration is a good starting point, weighing the water and the flour and expressing hydration as the ratio of water to flour weight: water/flour*100.