Ask a Question

Questions? Start with the Search Bar: I’ve been posting recipes and answering questions on this site since 2007, so if you have a question, there’s probably a post that addresses it somewhere on this website. So, the first thing to do is to use the Search Bar on the Home Page. In narrower laptop or desktop displays, it sometimes appears right underneath the orange BreadIn5 logo, and on phones it’s right above where it says “How to make bread in five minutes a day?” Just type in the bread style, ingredient, or technique that you’re interested in, and the search-engine will show you posts on the topic, with recipes and answers to many questions.

Another place to look: the FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) page (there’s also have a Gluten-Free FAQs page). If you don’t find your answer in the FAQs, you can post baking questions and comments, but please be brief, so I can get to all the questions.  

If neither of those get you to the answer you need, click on any “Comments/Reply” field at the top of any post (it doesn’t have to be here on “Ask a Question”) and scroll down to the bottom; then enter your question or comment. Don’t look for the response in your personal email… Come back here to the site on the page where you posted, to look for the answer.

Questions are answered here on the website within 24 hours, often with a reference to a page number in our books where possible.  Please remember that the blog is moderated, so your post may not appear until I’ve read and approved it; this can take 24 hours.

6,634 thoughts to “Ask a Question”

  1. I am baking gluten free bread from your book,, not because of celiac, but because I am massively allergic to wheat (to the point that I thought for Halloween I would just eat a slice of bread, wait for the hives, then go out with a bell and moan”Unclean””). Since I can tolerate gluten, any recommendations for flours I can substitute for wheat in your original 5 minutes a day bread?

    1. To be sure I’m understanding the question, you’re looking for a non-wheat flour that can be substituted for wheat flour in our first book (or I assume the second, which was mostly whole-wheat flour). I’ve posted on this, see https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2014/10/16/gluten-what-is-it-and-what-grains-contain-gluten/

      Those grains are flours related to wheat, but they’re not exactly wheat. They contain gluten, which you say you can tolerate, but my guess is that you’ll be allergic to all or some of those, so I wouldn’t eat them if I were you. Also, they are low in gluten, and won’t work well as a 1:1 substitute for wheat flour in our recipes.

  2. It’s all your fault!!!!!!!!!!! I’m hopelessly addicted to baking with yeast, but never have enough time and I’m retired!
    Somewhere I saw your new Holiday & Celebration Bread in 5 book, and ordered it. Amazon diligently obliged and I’ve been drooling over it most of last evening and then again this morning. Yep, read the beginning chapters, with emphasis on ingredients and tips. But it was the book’s cover image that really captivated me. I ordered those tulip papers back in the summer, with the idea of doing just over-size blueberry muffins. (My husband’s favorite). I’ve read the recipe and directions for the Panettone (Page 224) at least 3 times, and am seriously considering doing these as Christmas gifts for the tennis team. You further indicate (Page 13), “use whatever yeast is readily available”……….. and indicate there isn’t much difference between “granulated”, “active dry,” “instant,” “quick-rise,” or “bread machine.” I have been lucky enough to score 15 packages (they don’t sell it anywhere locally – we live in rural Virginia) of Red Star’s Platinum Superior baking yeast. Where does this fit into the picture with regard to final result?????? Can’t wait to get started……..my eggs are warming up and butter is softening. My plan is to use King Arthur’s Fiori di Sicilia instead of lemon extract, and of course their flour. It’s the ONLY kind I’ve ever used in the last 10+ years.
    Sorry for the lengthy question, and thanks for your response and the AMAZING new cookbook!!!!!

    1. So glad you’re having fun with this, Peggy, that was the idea. OK, about Platinum.

      This is Red Star’s premium product, and it contains some wheat-derived dough conditioners that increase the final rise in non-stored dough. What I can tell you is that Platinum works great in all our recipes, but you don’t absolutely need it. As we say, any granulated yeast works well in our testing. See what you think…

  3. Hi. I’m working with “The New Artisan Bread…”. I haven’t even started and I’m still studying, but here is my challenge. It’s just the two of us. We live in a condo with a painfully small kitchen, and a really small fridge. I could not fit a bucket in my fridge to begin with. Since it is just the two of us, there’s not a lot of bread consumption. (When we buy a loaf, we often freeze half of it.) I really want to do this, though—maybe just do half (or a third) the basic recipe and take it from there. I’m looking for some guidance on that, especially since I also live at 6,500 feet in elevation. (So much math, so little time.) Making one loaf at a time while the other loaf is in dough form in the refrigerator would be perfect. Can you offer some guidance? Could I just keep a glass bowl with plastic wrap loosely draped? Thanks.

    1. Glass bowl with plastic will be fine, and you can halve, quarter or mix up a one-third batch. We’ve baked at Denver elevation without adjustment, but if you’re having trouble, see the “high-altitude” entry in Tips and Techniques. In general, the word is that this only is a problem about 8,000 to 10,000 feed.

  4. SO excited to make my first Brioche dough, and try all the things with it! First up though will probably be the Coffee Cake from the new book. I’m thinking of doing an orange/cranberry filling for it.. I don’t know I can make that as a quick jam as it isn’t berries, so thinking of ‘doctoring up’ some orange marmalade perhaps? Do you have any other suggestions for a pre-holiday coffee cake? Thanks so much!

    1. I think your orange-cranberry will work just fine, and it’s great for Thanksgiving. Just put some fresh cranberries (cook them first) into your marmalade. You can sweeten the cranberries if you want, but I don’t think you’ll need it, given it’ll be mixed with the marmalade. Watch the liquid level–if it’s looking too watery, cook the mixture down a bit or you can end up with a soggy result.

  5. I have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and rather than use medication to bring my blood sugars down, I am attempting to do so with a cleanse, diet, and exercise. One of my laments is that I had to remove bread from my diet (and coffee… ugh). I know there are some breads I CAN eat, but they are difficult to find and afford. My question is… how is your basic artisan recipe on blood sugar levels? Is there a low-glucose version that I can use as my basic recipe? Using almond or rye flour? I love your basic recipe, I hope I do not need to change it up too much. 🙁 Thanks in advance!!

    1. Our stuff is regular bread, which is high in carbohydrate, and you can’t just swap in nut flour, it won’t work. You need recipes that were specifically developed and tested with these flours. I’d recommend our colleague Peter Reinhart’s book, which is on Amazon at https://amzn.to/2DBlwaO

      He made everything in that book with nut flours and other ingredients that aren’t grain/carbohydrate…

  6. Just made my first Boule from New AB in 5 (arrived last night- thank you amazon!) and the kids devoured it after school! Going to bake another loaf for dinner but wanted to know when to add a little bit of salt on the top? Don’t see that anywhere in the book or in forum.

  7. Hi. I just received a copy of your first cookbook ” Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day” and I want to make every recipe in it!! Today I started out with your master recipe on page 26. I have a 6 quart plastic food tub with a lid that I will use to store the dough. My question is, should I put the lid on tight or just kind of rest it top? You mention in the instructions not to have the container “air tight” but I worry that if I just rest the lid on top, the dough might pick up odors or flavors that may be in the refrigerator, especially if I keep the dough going for the two full weeks.

    Thank you,
    Michele

  8. What amount of sugar can I use to replace the 1/2 cup of honey in your brioche recipe on page 300 in The New Artisan Bread…?

    1. A little less than 1/2 cup, maybe 15% less by volume. To be strict, you could consider adding a little more water, but prob not important.

  9. In your original books you recommended the Bosch Universal Plus Stand Mixer. In your most recent, Holiday book, you show a Kitchenaid mixer. I need a mixer, both are very expensive and I want to get the best one. Given your experience, which is the better brand?

    1. Rebecca, I’m not remembering any reference to the Bosch in our books. Can you point me to where you saw that? I’m happy with my KitchenAid, and haven’t tried the Bosch.

  10. Hi! Loving your gf bread recipes. Quick question: if I wanted to make/bake multiple peasant loaves at the same time, how should I adjust the water and bake time, etc. (Pg 69 on 2014 book… using baking stone) thx!

    1. So long as the oven’s up to temp, shouldn’t require an adjustment. The stone helps here (it’s a large “thermal mass”).

  11. My wife wants a bread machine.
    I have all your books and I think a bread machine would be a waste of money.
    Please help me convince her.
    Thanks.

    1. Hah! My main objection with the bread machine is that you really don’t get a great crust on it, and you don’t have a lot of versatility. All you can make is the standard perfectly square loaf. Not a lot of personality! And you certainly can’t make pizza in it. Then there’s my own personal thing, which is that I’d like to bring fewer metal and plastic appliances into the world. I already have an oven? why do I need more clutter? I know that’s not going to convince a lot of folks so maybe stick with the first part of my answer. 🙂

      1. A dough whisk makes mixing very easy specially with your recipes. I never though I needed a machine after making your doughs.

      2. I tried the “reduce clutter” point , but I doubt I will get any traction with either point.
        I wanted an expert opinion to compare to mine.
        Many thanks to both of you for the books.

      3. You should definitely be able to use the baguette pan. Baking time will be less than for a thick loaf. Thanks for the kind words!

  12. I have all your books except gluten free, old and revised versions. I’m looking for a recipe for square or rectangular La Brea Bakery Torta buns such as those that Costco sells (or used to sell). Please, can you suggest a recipe and method for making these?

      1. Rita, is it the shape you’re trying to replicate, or is it something about the character of the crumb or crust itself? I’m not sure what this tastes like or whether it’s enriched, lean, Etc.

      2. Jeff, the crumb is a bit on the coarse side and has a golden hue. The buns (when they were getting them from La Brea, had a lot of flavor – not like white bread. I think they also might call it ciabatta bread but the holes are not as large. I thought the ingredient list in my link might give you a clue, but of course the bakers’ percentages are not available.

        The square or rectangular pillow shape was nice and the crust is pretty thin and tender. It does not crisp up much in a medium toaster oven.

      3. In case you missed the ingredient list, here it is. I see that there is some cornmeal in it but I didn’t notice any gritty texture.

        unbleached enriched flour (wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), water, sugar, wheat flour, salt, yeast, canola oil, cultured wheat flour, degerminated white corn meal, enzymes, soybean oil, ascorbic acid.

      4. Ah, thank you. So it’s sweetened, cornmealed, enriched dough with no eggs. No idea of the proportions, as you say. If it were me, I’d use the basic Chapter 5 Master in NewArtisan, swapping out:

        — an eighth of a cup of melted butter or oil for water
        — a quarter cup of cornmeal for flour
        — add 2T sugar to the water

        … you can ramp those up if you’re not getting the character you’re looking for, but you may have to adjust the water upwards if you push the corn. Shape as flattened buns and it’ll bake in about 20 min. If you want square, roll out to 3/4-inch thick and cut them into squares.

      5. Jeff, considering how busy you must be, yours is an amazing and beautifully detailed reply to my question! I will use your suggestions and will also go with yellow cornmeal instead of the white in the ingredient list purely for the color of the finished product.

        Thank you so much for taking the time to give me an answer.

        Later, and Gratefully,
        Rita

  13. Is the master recipe different between the first book “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day” and the “New” book? If it is different, do you suggest modifications for a better bread?

    1. We decreased the yeast to 1T, and gave a range for salt (1 to 1 1/2T). Matter of taste; some folks preferred the flavors.

  14. Hi Zoe & Jeff!

    I was so excited to pre-order your new book: Holiday & Celebration Bread in Five Minutes a Day! I received it a couple of weeks ago and was anxious to try your Finnish Pulla – as I grew up with my Swedish Grandmother making a delicious Cardamom bread!
    I gathered all the ingredients on the counter and as I carefully followed the step-by-step directions, I got the dough prepared and am now waiting for it to rise – but suddenly realized that the cardamom and vanilla were never added! I’ve read & re-read the instructions multiple times to make sure I didn’t miss something – but alas, there are no notes instructing us when or where to add the vanilla or cardamom! Please let me know if this is just a typo in my book or if I missed something that I was supposed to read somewhere else and ultimately, is there a way I can salvage this batch of dough? Thanks for your help and Happy Thanksgiving!

    1. So sorry, Kristin, you’re right, it’s an error in the book. The vanilla and cardamom should have been mixed in with the milk. Well, “salvage” is a big word. Without those two flavorings, it’ll still be delicious. You could add a little cardamom and vanilla (maybe a quarter-teaspoon each)–to the icing, and then you’ll still get those flavors in every bite. Maybe experiment with less first, taste it, and go again–before you ice your Pulla. Sorry about that–we’ll put a correction up here on the website.

  15. I’m using the new artisan bread book. What I use to create steam if I don’t have a broiler pan? I tried my half sheet tray, but it warped and changed color. Sometimes I use a Dutch Oven to create steam, but I need something for other times.

  16. I made my first batch of your master recipe from the new healthy bread recipe. I was weighing ingredients and added 50 grams too much water. I thought it would be fine, but I cooked a loaf in a loaf pan, and the middle was still gummy/undercooked. I took it out before 45 minutes, because it seemed done. Do you think the culprit is the shortened baking time or the wet dough? What can I do with the too wet dough still in the fridge?

    1. Seems that both errors were factors here, and it’s difficult to figure out which was more important. You can work in more flour to dry it out a bit, allowing it to sit on the counter for an hour to re-start fermentation with the new addition.

  17. Making the buttermilk bread and plan on using some immediately then storing the rest in the fridge. The recipe refers to “On Baking Day” where you have to let the cold dough rest for 90 minutes. Should I shorten this time if I’m using the dough immediately after mixing the indredients?

  18. In “The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day”, revised and updated, page 90, there is a sidebar with a variation for making broetchen. My question is: when using the egg whites as part of the liquid, what about warming the liquid?

    1. The cold egg white will slightly cool the warm-ish water, but that shouldn’t make a major difference–it might take a little longer to get a full rise than two hours. Strictly speaking, eggs shouldn’t be out of the fridge for longer than 2 hours, according to USDa (see the bottom of page 16 of your book). That means if you want to get further rise, for food safety reasons, you should finish in the fridge, and it can be slow.

      But I doubt you’ll need it–the lukewarm water should put you in good shape. Don’t try to compensate with overly warm water, which could kill the yeast, or cook the eggs.

  19. Hi,
    Your Artesian Bread in 5 book is a pure joy to read. I want to try the rye bread but would like to incorporate cracked rye, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds to make my husband happy (and who doesn’t like caraway, even though he is a Dane). Thanks.
    Mary Beth

    1. Well, a little bit is relatively easy–a tablespoon of each of those won’t change the recipe much–maybe a little extra water. You could try gradually increasing from there, tablespoon each at a time.

  20. In your new holiday book, for the panettone, what size pan do you use for 1 1/2 lbs, of dough? Also, for your kugelhopf, the recipe has quantities for a loaf pan. How much dough is required for a kugelhopf pan like in the photo?

  21. After the dough rises the initial 2 hours at room temperature can it be divided into 2 smaller containers for refrigerating.

  22. I’ve been thinking about how to make a “latke bread” and I was considering using the Roasted Garlic and Potato bread as a starting point, maybe using the garlic or reducing the amount, and adding onion and perhaps chopped scallion. I’m thinking about topping the loaf with shredded potato tossed in ghee (not brushing the loaf with ghee as I don’t want to soften the crust).
    Any thoughts on whether this will work or on how to make a bread more latke-like?
    Thanks for the input.

    1. well, potatoes are parts of certain kinds of traditional breads, and they do appear in our books. But what you’re proposing is pushing that and I’m not sure that’s going to work so well. It’s likely to make the bread very dense. But if you keep it minimalist, as I think you’re suggesting, I think you can get away with it. try what you’re proposing, and see if it works… It’s going to be an experiment.

    1. All depends on the size of your kugelhopf pan–that one was about 1.5 pounds, as in the recipe. Basically, it should fill to about 2/3 to 3/4 full when you first place the dough into the pan.

  23. Your books showed me The Secret of Pumpernickel (caramel color powder or liquid caramelized sugar). Can you help me to my next culinary milestone: Pumpernickel Hoagie Rolls ?
    I think I want to use a baguette pan to get the proper shape. Can I just put the Bavarian-Style Wlole Grain Pumpernickel Bread recipe into such pans ?

  24. I have your “New Healthy Bread” book. I love crusty outsides and hearty insides, and for health reasons require all or mostly whole-grain flours, and low-fat recipes. I have a bread machine, but I’m persuaded that to get the bread-eating experience I want I’ll need to use your oven-baking techniques. I’m a single-person household and skeptical about being able to use a large quantity of dough in 1-2 weeks. If I want to make just one loaf for today, or maybe for tomorrow, can I use my bread machine to help?

    P.S. Totally unrelated… I have the Kindle version of the book. It would be nice if there was a link from a recipe to the picture of its result.

    1. Yeah, the world of eCookbooks is still developing. I agree with you, but getting the publisher to make it happen is a different story.

      About bread machine–neither of us have one, because we’re committed to the better crust you get in the oven. But you certainly can use the machines to mix the dough. My only reservation is that with our doughs being wetter (that’s why they’re store-able), it may be hard to dissipate the moisture in the closed system of the bread machine. Result could be soggy bread, but our readers haven’t given us a clear answer on that here on the website.

      One thing about single-person household– you can certainly halve, or quarter our recipes, and you can make small loaves. Or buns. Zoe’s mother does that…

      1. Thanks!

        About using the bread machine for mixing — the machine’s nomenclature for the mixing stage is “knead,” which the book tells us is not necessary (“Don’t knead! It isn’t necessary.”) Do I infer that the machine’s 20+ minutes of mixing might be of unnecessary duration, but would do no harm?

        On the closed system and moisture dissipation — maybe I’ll use the machine just for mixing, and not have it do the rise steps. (The machine I have is user-programmable.)

      2. Hi Steve,

        You are correct, it will do no harm to use the machine to do the mixing. Our batches of dough are quite large, so just be sure it will fit your bread machine.

        Thanks, Zoë

  25. I am a huge fan of Bread in 5 and have been baking from your books since 2009. My daughter has a gluten free diet and just had brioche at a GF bakery in NY. Always up for a challenge, I thought I’d try to make some for her. However, the recipes for GF brioche are quite different between GF Artisan Bread in 5 and the New Artisan Bread in 5. (1) Which one yields a more brioche-like product and/or which would you try as a first attempt? (2) which GF flours do you use with consistent results? Bob’s Red Mill? For Tapioca and fine white rice flour, I have used Thai flours from the Asian market, but these are not guaranteed GF (they are much less gritty, however, and my daughter has never had a reaction). Can those be used by weight? Thank you so much for making bread baking so accessible and such a joy!

    1. Let me check in with Zoe–she’s our gluten-free expert.

      One thing I can tell you is that the Asian market’s gluten-free flours were very inconsistent, and we gave up on them, standardizing on Bob’s Red Mill–which gave us the best results. No idea how they’d weight out relative to volume. But if you find a flour you like, and you can experiment with it in our recipes by weight, that’s great (unfortunately will take some trial and error). We just couldn’t write a book around any one particular Asian market flour.

      Thanks for the kind words, btw!

      1. Zoe suggested that you go with the brioche from Gluten-Free Bread in 5 Minutes a Day… And should have clarified, we always prefer the results with Bob’s red Mill gluten free flours. Mainly because they were the only ones we tested with because they were available nationally, otherwise regional differences were really a problem.

    1. neither of us have a bread machine, so we haven’t tried this. My fear is that are wet dough won’t dissipate its moisture well in the closed environment of the bread machine. But you certainly can use the machine to mix the dough. If it’s large enough, or if you fractionate our recipes.

  26. I am working from gluten free artesian bread in five minutes a day in the first recipe of gluten free flour mix pg60 I want to know if I can substitute Guar gum in place of xantham gum thank you Shelly

    1. well unfortunately we were not happy with the results when we use guar gum so I don’t know how to tell you to substitute. Have you considered the powdered psyllium husk?

      1. I have psyllium husk powder I will use that I understand xanthan gum is possibly GMO do you have an organic source for xanthan gum thank you for getting back to me Shelly

  27. I am getting my ingredients together to make the Panettone bread in your new Holiday and Celebration book. I am having trouble finding dried pineapple and dried cherries and wondered where you get your dried fruit. I have gotten dried apricots and raisins from Trader Joes but the pineapple seemed hard so I was hesitant to buy it.
    I do love your new book and all the pictures!! I made the Apple Cranberry Coffee Cake and my family loved it!
    Thank You!

    1. okay, the truth is you can use just about any dried fruit you like if you can give an equivalent amounts. Just use whatever is available, and suits your taste!

  28. I’m about to make my first oven-baked loaf — my first “The New Healthy Bread…” Chapter 5 loaf!

    Small question… Step 8, Paint and slash, has a link to your “Slashing Dough” youtube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UXrBL2UZVM). That video shows the baker putting a pretty liberal coating of flour on the top of the dough before slashing. This isn’t mentioned in the text. Is the flour for esthetic purposes only or does it have some functional benefit?

    [Thanks, Jeff, for your November 26, 2018 at 7:23 pm reply to my first question! This, my second, is on an unrelated issue so I thought it’d be best to post separately.]

    1. We decided to make the standard Chapter 5 recipe more of a “health” recipe, hence the seeds. You stick them on with water. And in that case, you don’t need flour to help the slashing knife pass without excess pulling and distortion of the top crust. You can also do this loaf as a “peasant” style bread, where dusted flour is what prevents the distortion. Just a style difference really, to your taste, either works great…

    1. Hi Penny,

      All of our books are geared for all levels of experience with baking, so you can just pick according to the style bread you’d like.

      Thanks, Zoë

    1. Hi Anne,

      Flour contains starch, which turns to sugar and the yeast feeds quite well on that, so there is no reason to use extra sugar, unless you want it to be there for flavor.

      Thanks, Zoë

    1. Hi Drew,

      Knish dough is not yeasted, so none of our doughs would really be right for a traditional knish recipe.

      Thanks, Zoë

  29. Using a Benetton with wet dough. Just use a lot of flour to prevent sticking? Does the proofing time change?

  30. I’m using and loving THE NEW ARTISAN BREAD IN 5 MINS/DAY. (I keep it at my bedside, seriously). A silly question: While you are flexible about most equipment, you only instruct us to use a broiler pan for steam. Surely, another metal pan will do the trick.
    P.S. Your challah has made me famous among my friends! Thanks.

    1. Hi Elinor,

      You can use any metal pan you like to create the steam.

      I am so thrilled you are enjoying all the bread!

      Cheers, Zoë

  31. Hi from à French baker in the United Kingdom. Just received your book about celebrations and I realise you use dried yeast which I never do. I use fresh frozen yeast. I’ve got a ton in the freezer so I’m I’m panic!
    I see you usually have 10 grams of granulated yeast, so how much fresh frozen one? Shall I dissolve it with the water of the recipe or shall I dissolve it apart with some other water? Help me please because I want to do ALL your recipes! Thank you!

    1. Hi Delphine,

      I am so thrilled you will be baking from the new book. 1 tablespoon granulated yeast = 37g fresh cake yeast. You can dissolve it in the water of the recipe.

      Enjoy, Zoë

  32. I just mixed the dough for the brioche bread. It has 1 1/2 sticks of butter for 3 1/2 cups of flour. I halved the recipe. It is extremely oily . Is this correct? Thank you so much for advising ! I am excited about learning this process! Thanks!

    1. Hi Kathy,

      Yes, that is the correct amount if you are using the recipe from the New Artisan Bread book. The dough seemed oily when first mixed or after it rested? How did you mix the dough? With a spoon or mixer?

      Thanks, Zoe

      1. Thanks! I used a spoon, and it was TEALLY oily when I mixed it. Was afraid I had done something wrong! Less oily now, and I will make cinnamon rolls soon. Thank you so much for being available to answer our questions! It’s like having my own bread baking teachers!

  33. Your latest edition states in the gluten free recipe that I should use potato flour and not starch but I cannot find that and in the website you seem to use potato starch. Can you confirm that that is a typo and I can use potato starch?

  34. I too am making brioche and it seems very wet. I made the full quantity. Should it rise during the resting period? Also, your new book suggests kneading the dough…at which stage should this happen? Thank you!!

    1. Hi Orit,

      Which Brioche recipe are you making? There are brioche recipes in each of our books and they are all a bit different. They all use melted butter, which is why they seem very wet when mixing, but will firm up when it is chilled. This is why you can’t use it until the dough is thoroughly chilled. After it is chilled, you will be able to knead it for a few minutes to build up a little more structure in the dough, if you want.

      Thanks, Zoë

      1. I used the recipe from “The New Artisan …”. However, I have all your books. Which brioche recipe works best for soft cinnamon rolls? Thank so much!!

      2. Hi Orit,

        Do you weigh or measure your flour with cups? If the dough was too wet even after refrigerating it, it may just need a bit more flour and then you’ll be able to use it more easily. If it is just slightly too sticky, I may suggest just using a lot of flour to shape. The newest book Holiday and Celebration Breads has a brioche that is less wet, since there are more intricately shaped breads, so you may enjoy working with that dough.

        Thanks, Zoe

  35. hello, how do you think it would work if I used cake / cakelette pans for baking bread? If so, should I butter or spray the pans first?

    This is using your soft american-style white bread from your New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day cookbook. If it helps, I am considering two cake pans from King Arthur Flour, links below.

    https://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/snowflake-cakelette-pan
    https://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/bundt-quartet-pan

    thank you,
    Kristin

    1. Hi Kristin,

      It works just great! There are several breads in our newest book, Holiday and Celebration breadsin5, that use cake pans for baking.

      Thanks, Zoë

  36. Hi :
    I am gluten intolerent but i am able to eat Sourdough Bread. Would a bread made with a Biga
    be considered to be like sourdough ?

    1. Marie: If your problem is commercial yeast, then biga may not help. Biga is made with commercial yeast that is fermented for up to three days. This develops flavor. No one really understands the health issues behind gluten intolerance (as opposed to celiac disease, what should sounds like you’re saying you do not have). If the “sourdough” bread youre eating is made with a mixture of commercial yeast and biga, then this could be a potential approach for you. Which of our recipes are you thinking of using?

      1. I have a couple of your books but have not decided what to make.
        The internet said that the yeast breaks down the gluten in the flour.
        I didn’t think it was the type of yeast but the fact that the
        fermentation breaks down the yeast. ???

      2. Fermentation (the metabolic process of commercial or wild yeast) slightly breaks down carbohydrate and proteins like gluten. It actually digests them very slightly, and in that sense, “breaks them down.” It’s not the yeast that are broken down.

        But this is sometimes what you hear as the explanation for why long-fermented doughs are better-tolerated by people with gluten sensitivity (not celiac folks–who should not eat wheat bread at all). In theory, there is less gluten in dough that is long-fermented.

        But this is poorly tested and documented, and I don’t want to make any health claims about our long fermentation process, whether you use commercial yeast, or wild (as in our natural levain recipe in The New Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day.

  37. I have the Revised and Updated with new recipes ‘The New Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day’ book. We are in a snowstorm and I have only unbleached all purpose flour in the house. Can I make the Master recipe or any of the recipes in here using only All purpose flour – no whole wheat flour? Do I have to change the amount of All purpose? Water? I have only made bread with this cookbook so I’m not sure about making bread without whole wheat flour.

  38. Thank you SO much, Zoe, for your quick and helpful response!! I just baked brioche cinnamon rolls and they are divine!!!

  39. I’m using the GF artisan bread and making Brioche. I’m confused on the chilling part. It says let rest at room temp 2 hours, then next step says can be used once thoroughly chilled. Does that mean I need to refrigerate it after the 2 hours at room temp? Or it’s ready after the 2 hours at room temp?

    1. Hi Karei,

      You let it rest for 2 hours on the counter to let the yeast activate, then chill it. The dough is easiest to use once it has been chilled, so the butter has time to set up. Having said this, you can also bake your first loaf directly after mixing the dough, just pull out the amount for the loaf, let it rise in the pan and bake it after the initial 2 hour rest. Refrigerate the remaining dough to use another time.

      Thanks, Zoë

    1. Hi Sandy,

      It typically takes a few hours, but depends on the temperature of the dough going into the refrigerator.

      Thanks, Zoë

  40. I know they are not the same, but I mistakenly used Potato Flour instead of Potato starch in the Mixture #1 flour, I have not yet added wet ingredients. Can the flour mixture be saved, or must I start over?

    1. Hi Gail,

      I would suggest you make a small batch of dough and see what you think of the results. Perhaps it is going to be fine as is, but let me know what you think and we can try to salvage the rest based on what you find.

      Thanks, Zoë

  41. If u go from one pound to roughly two or more what modifications do i have to make. Proofing time. Baking time. Other. I assume 450 degrees stays the same. Do u do anything different if u use a cloche?

  42. If using a brick/wood burning oven, how do you advise using the water during bake time? (There is no bottom rack and we typically place the dough directly on the stone).

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