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. Hello,
    We received your book The New Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day as a gift..
    We love the book and the bread we have easily been making.
    Where can we find nutritional information on the bread we are making?

    Thank you

  2. I am looking for a recipe for sourdough siebenfelder (7 grain?) bread and cannot seem to find one anywhere. I can find bakeries that sell this bread but no recipes….can you help? Thanks, Bob Souza

    1. Hi Bob,

      We have multigrain breads in our Healthy Bread Book, along with a sourdough starter, but not that recipe in particular.

      Good luck, Zoë

  3. Hi Zoe and Jeff! I have 2 (2-pound) King Arthur Hearth bread pans (with a wide U-shaped cross-section) that I haven’t used in several years. They have a very firm stickiness near their top edges. I suspect it is from Pam spray that I might have used. It is difficult to remove, but I did get it off from one of the pans pretty well with a scrub-sponge and some elbow grease.

    Do you line your pans with parchment or silicone? Or use vegetable oil? Might you have any advice to avoid bread sticking to the pans?

    1. I typically succeed with vegetable oil, liberally used (actually, I use extra-virgin olive oil). Typically I need to let the loaves sit in their pan undisturbed for 10 minutes after baking, then they “steam” themselves out when you loosen with a knife and turn them over. If you’re really worried, use parchment too. I haven’t needed that in a long time.

  4. Thank you Jeff. That’s a neat trick and very helpful. I love reading your and Zoe’s answers to questions.

  5. Is there any word when Red Star will be offering their Platinum special yeast in jars? I’d buy it in a minute but I am just not into individual packets. That goes for the sourdough version as well. Color me fussy. 😉

  6. Today I made the master recipe for gluten free boule from your Gluten-Free bread cookbook. I had made it once before And loved it, but couldn’t get over how foreign some of the ingredient amounts were to me. After making the dough, I checked my original book from you (non gluten free) and there was the recipe I had made. I loved that recipe. Why is there such a big difference in the ingredients? I hope I’m not disappointed with this version (no eggs, way more rice flour, no butter).
    Thanks for your input.
    Sandy b

    1. We’ve created a variety of different approaches to stored gluten-free dough, and you’re right, The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day includes a very different type. At the time we committed to a fully GF book, the trend was to move away from a variety of food ingredients that can be associated with sensitivity–eggs being one, dairy being another. Note that the new book has a variation with egg or egg white and you could consider that if you tolerate eggs well.

  7. I love the Holiday Celebration Baking Book, but….
    is there any way to get a master list of which doughs can make which breads?

    Several times now, I have half a container of dough and I have to flip through the entire book to see which breads I can make with the dough that I already have.

    Is there an index of some kind that will tell me which breads I can make with which doughs without flipping through the whole book?

    I know that you’ve redone the healthy bread book and the original book, I would definitely add a searchable index by dough to any redone holiday bread book. Is there a way to get this list now before the reprinting?

    Thanks

    1. It’s looking like “Celebration” is going to a niche book in the market, and it won’t end up having a second edition–we don’t have what you’re looking for. That said, most of our doughs can be used to make pretty much anything. Feel free to experiment…

  8. Hi Zöe I don’t know if you can help me. I was making soda bread the recipe asks for ap flour my son measured bread flour by mistake. will do yo think I will need more liquid. i used 41/4 cups of flour 1 egg and 13/4 buttermilk. I will understand if you cannot help me. I am not using your recipe for this bread

    1. Bread flour takes more liquid, so you just need to add more, but this is a guess–hopefully you have a good sense of what the finished dough looks like and how it handles, because you just have to work in more buttermilk until it looks that way. I’d start with a couple of tablespoons and see what it looks like. Though it may not be terribly easy to work in the liquid…

  9. We are using your book called GF Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day and want to know if whole millet is actually seeds of millet when using mixture 2 to make 100% whole grain bread. Thank you in anticipation

    1. I’m confused, because Mixture #2 doesn’t have millet, and neither does Seeded 100% Whole Grain Bread on page 106.

    1. We’ve never pushed that, but if the container is truly airtight, I’d say 3 months. If it’s not airtight it’s going to pick up freezer odors much sooner than that.

  10. After about five or six days my levain is not terribly puffy and has a clearish liquid on top. The smell seems good (sort of like stinky cheese.) Is this something I should try to use or start over. I followed the recipe in my “Healthy Bread in 5…” book. Maybe my flour was too old? (It had been sitting in an airtight container at room temp for about 6 months)

    1. No, that’s the right smell… you’re just not getting enough rise to make bread with it yet. Feed it a couple more times, with expansion. “Barnyardy,” in a good way–that’s what the smell is described as.

  11. Sorry my fault, I was referring to the recipe on Page 103 but the question of what whole millet is, still remains. Thank you and apologies again

    1. That recipe calls for some ground Millet, which is a flour, and also some unground millet seeds. Hopefully that makes sense?

  12. I have been fooling around with the baking method for the dough from your fabulous European Peasant Bread, New Artisan, page 94, and have been hearing here and there about Cold-Start and Hot-Start Dutch oven methods. Could Your Awesomeness have a preference of one over the other?

    And could you please suggest where I can find the latest information about both of the processes (using a 2-pound loaf)?

    I’m still working on the hearth pan 3-pound loaf. Almost there. Details later.

    1. To clarify, I meant a preheated DUTCH oven or one that has not been preheated. The big oven would be preheated as usual.

  13. Book: The New Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

    Question: I’m intending to make a white sandwich loaf using a Pullman loaf pan with a cover, 9” x 4”. How much dough would I use since the pan will be covered? I don’t want the dough to push out of the edges of the pan and lid. Also, what would be the baking time? Thank you.

  14. I made the 100% whole wheat sandwich bread dough from p. 76 of the original ABin5 book. I got a tremendous rise from the initial resting, then put it in the fridge overnight. When I tried to shape it the next day, the dough just broke, like a stiff cookie dough would. I shaped it as well as I could, rested, and baked. No rise at all on this resting. No rise at all in the oven! I followed the recipe exactly including sweep and scoop measuring for the flour etc. Would more work shaping help. My life accidentally got snapped on air tight in the fridge – could this have affected it?

      1. I don’t think the lid is the problem. More likely a problem with hydration–sounds like your dough’s too dry. Did you measure the flour our way (scoop and sweep)? And did you use coop bulk flour, or other non-supermarket flour? Our recipes were tested with standard commercial flour (like Gold Medal whole wheat), and rougher-ground flours will absorb water very differently.

  15. Thanks for the speedy response Jeff. I did scoop and sweep, with supermarket flour. I also made a batch of the master recipe the same day and that has since baked up perfectly (gloriously!) Can I amend the whole wheat dough now with more milk or water? If so, do I rest it again before refrigerating or just before baking? Or just give up and pitch it. We’re diabetics and shouldn’t be eating very much white bread, so I really need to get better at this whole wheat business

    1. You can try working in more liquid, but regardless it will work as flatbread so try that as well. And most importantly what brand of flour are you using?

  16. Hi! I’m working from GF Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. I have made the Master Recipe on page 64 a few times. The bread is SOOOOO good, but it doesn’t look like the pictures. It’s quite ugly and bumpy and just isn’t smooth at all no matter what. Help!? Thank you!

  17. Hello,
    I am interested in making the Soft Pretzels, but can I use Active Dry Yeast instead of Platinum??? And will sugar work just as well as the Non-diastatic malt powder??

  18. We have been loving your books! Thank you so much for making them! This year we decided to tap our maple trees for syrup which has been a fun adventure. The kids now want a recipe for ‘maple bread’. I searched but didn’t find one. Can you recommend one?

    Thanks,

    Michelle

  19. I am looking through the book, and maybe I am missing it, but is there a list of variations (recipes) for the master recipe? Such as jalapeno/cheese, herbs/cheese etc? I really want to stick with the basic recipe and vary flavors with that. Following up to that thought, once the master recipe is made as is, can these ingredients be added or worked in once when we go to bake? Thanks!

    1. Chapter five of The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day (https://amzn.to/17Rw23Y) has lots of variations. Also in that book, see the “roll-in” technique that we use for the caraway rye on page 116–you can do that with fruit, grated cheese, chopped veg, etc.

  20. New Artisan, Master Recipe, page 53:
    Is there a best time to use the Old Dough that I set aside after every bake?…. on Day 3, 5…or whatever?

    And what would be the optimum point at which to freeze it if I won’t be baking for a while? Right after having rested it or wait X number of days? I was thinking of thawing it in the refrigerator the day before I planned to use it, bring it to room temp, and then, as per instructions here, use my immersion blender to incorporate it into the water for the new recipe. Or is the freezing or the method not a good idea?

    1. Freezing always works anytime during the storage life of a batch, but the general answer to your questions is that it’s a matter of taste, depending on how “sour” you like your bread’s flavor. Personally I like the dough best at about 7 days, and I still like it at 14 (talking white dough now, like on p.53), though at that point it’s lost a little rising power and some folks will prefer it for flatbread (not me, at least, not necessarily).

      And you can incorporate a defrosted frozen lump of dough into a new batch, exactly as you suggest.

      1. Thanks for the details Jeff. I do love the sourness and had not taken that into account. Very helpful indeed!

  21. Mixed double batch of dough from Master Recipe, 2 hour rise then refrigerated. Sandwich loaf about 1.5lb loaf. Let proof 90 minutes, slashed top, it burst open. Any ideas of the cause? Picture linked. Thanks

    1. Which “Master”?, Fromwhich of our books, and what page number, and what recipe name. We have many different “Master” recipes for many different books.

      1. Ah, the Onion Rye variation, with the onions sauteed and rolled into the mixed and risen dough. Sounds like you have a bunch of onions in one spot, and your slash caught it. Could try mixing the sauteed onions in with the water at the beginning of the dough-mix process. Or extra attention to keeping the onions evenly distributed over the dough before rolling it all up. Or less onions?

    1. It might work, but brewers yeast is bred to maximize alcohol production rather than gas, and you may not love the rise you get. Worth a try with a small batch?

  22. Hi I am using the 2013 “New Artisan bread in 5 minutes a day” and making the soft American style white bread.
    I am using a large metal stock pot…much bigger than a 6 quart bucket, for my dough to rise and be stored in.
    Here is my question: If I were to double the recipe, how big a bucket (how many quarts would it hold) would I need for it to rise in and store in the frig…since I am not now using a 6 quart bucket, I don’t have an idea on how big a double recipe will be. I was hoping the dough rising bucket wouldn’t have to be actually *double* the size (like 12 quarts)…but what do I know?!! Thanks

    1. You’re right, I don’t think you need a 12-quart bucket. I’ve done this in a 9.5 quart Tupperware, and it worked pretty well. Sometimes it overflowed (depends on how much whole grain’s in there, which rises less), but I just put the excess in something else while waiting for the initial rise to collapse. I could always add it back in at that point.

  23. Good Afternoon,

    I love your ‘The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes’ a Day. In these times of Mad Max style shopping, I was really happy to read using yeast marked ‘bread maker’ doesn’t matter. What I have a question on is flour. I’ve used King Arthur All Purpose flour and found my bread is too dense but great for Pizza lol. During a recent shopping trip, hubby managed to snag me King Arthur’s Self Rising Flour. The protein content is stated as < 8.7%. With it being lower than what I usually use, can I use the flour as is for say the master recipe or your Soft American Style Bread recipe. I did find your wheat bread recipe on pg 137 using wheat but it also calls for rye which I don't have. Really I'm wondering about the 'self-rising' part and how it affects the recipes so I can adjust. Thank you so much for your help 🙂

    1. Well, I’m skeptical. This is a low-protein flour with baking soda/baking powder, and as such, it’s really intended for biscuits, and I think maybe cookies? I’m guessing that it won’t make a great bread. But just adjust the water as we recommend in the book for using KAF– on page 10 of the book you referenced…

  24. Today I bought the kindle version of “The New Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day” and have just discovered that you and your publisher did not request that Amazon show page numbers in the Kindle version. Yet you refer to looking at a particular page in several pages. Please help!
    Ken

    1. Kindle isn’t oriented to page numbers. The way to use the book in its Kindle version is to search on the key word you need. So if we refer to a particular recipe on a particular page, just search on the title of the recipe.

  25. Hi,

    Is it ok to add the water when preheating the oven instead of when the bread goes in? My new oven has a “Steam Bake” setting and the instructions say to add the water when starting the oven. This could just be so people don’t spill onto the hot door or something though.

    Thank you

    1. Neither of us have a steam oven, but I have to assume that you should just follow the manufacturer’s instructions as you suggest here.

  26. I wonder if you would be interested in making a video of your Master Recipe and posting it for free during this time of Coronavirus epidemic?

    This bread is cheap and easy to make, and could feed many families.

  27. Hello! I own your book and have had three loaves all turn out the same. I’m using step by step master recipe with suggested ingredients. Loaves are turning out really hard on the outside and raw in the middle. I saw a video on You tube there Zoë is using a boule recipe with oil. Where can I find this recipe? Thanks!

  28. Watched the Instagram on rasp braid with almond filling, what is recipe for cream cheese filling. Thanks

  29. Jeff and Zoe,

    Thanks for the wonderful bread recipes! We received a couple of your books and the baking equipment for our wedding and now almost seven years on, the pizza and bread we make are staples in our kitchen. Last night we had pizza with the broa dough.

    Thanks again!
    Drew

  30. Hi, do you have a recipe for a whole wheat oatmeal type sandwich bread? I have your The New Artisan Bread in 5 Mins a Day but don’t see a recipe along those lines in there. Maybe I’m missing it? Thanks very much!

    1. The recipe on p. 162 of that book has some WW, but also mostly AP. Reason–oatmeal tends to make for a heavy loaf, which is accentuated by WW. We were skeptical about a 100% whole grain loaf with oats, so we didn’t test that for that book. We were feeling more adventurous for The New Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, so we did a 100% whole grain loaf (100% Whole Grain Maple Oatmeal Bread). That book’s on Amazon at https://amzn.to/2fxaPa5 –the recipe’s not on our site–our publisher gets upset if we put all our content up here on the site.

  31. Good Morning! Book: the new artisan bread in five minutes a day. Page: 324. I make bread out of this book at least twice a week, thank you this wonderful book! Question: first time making the soft white bread, will this work for Judys board of directors cinnamon-raises bread, and chapter 5 styles of bread as well?
    Thank you!

    1. I’m afraid I don’t understand your question. Sounds like you want to take a technique or ingredient from the Soft Am-Style and apply it to to those other loaves. What exactly are you trying to apply?

  32. Can I modify the master recipie from The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a day to incorporate whey protein to increase the protein content of the bread? I accidentally ordered way too much whey protein powder and have been trying to find things to sneak it in. I have found some bread recipies on the internet but they are all for gluten free breads.

    1. I’m sure this’ll work, but I’m at a loss to figure out how advise on how much you can add before the flavor or texture starts to get weird. Maybe start with a quarter cup for a full batch? I did a post on this 11 years ago (!), on Cornell Bread, here on the site at https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2009/12/29/announcing-our-3rd-book-pizza-and-flatbread-in-five-minutes-a-day/

      You’ll read the story I told there, but Cornell tried to boost protein in bread (during WWII), with skim milk powder, and I found a quarter cup worked well. Might be similar with whey powder?

  33. I have been baking with you since the very first book. I have them all. And have introduced many friends to them as well. You were my gateway to yeast baking, which I wouldn’t even consider before. I have had years of success baking all of your “lean” breads and have no fear of sticky, wettish dough. And haven’t had to write in years, although i do read your website all the time, including the FAQ’s, But yesterday and today, i’m trying your whole wheat brioche. When I finished mixing everything, the result was terrifyingly wet. But your book said it would be “very wet”, that the dough must not be used before refrigerating, so…after 24 hours in the fridge, it was still more batter than dough. Nevertheless, made fearless by you, I separated a hunk (no way could I cut it), used lots of flour under it and on it, patted it out to size (rolling NOT possible). Spread filling, used a spatula to form a logg-ish object, and am now hoping for the best. It will be edible for sure, but not the tea-ringish thing I was aiming for. I weigh my dry ingredients, am super careful with recipes. Can you suggest how this went wrong? Signing off with more gratitude.

    1. Assume you mean the WW brioche in The New Healthy Bread? I know that recipe works well. Any chance you measured wrong? What brands of flour? Did you use vital wheat gluten (without that, it’s much too loose). Extra-large eggs?

      Finally, the recipe calls for butter or oil, but if you use oil, it’s looser. The butter, when it chills, firms up the whole dough, while oil stays liquid even when chilled.

  34. Hi,
    I have a question about the pan size for your Chocolate bread recipe posted on January 20, 2020. It calls for the small pullman pan 9x4x4. My question is about the amount of flour in a recipe that the manufacturer says the pan is designed for. They say 5-6 cups for their larger pan (13x4x4) and 3-4 for the smaller pan which is used for this recipe. I just want to confirm that the size is correct ( fir the recipe) before I order a pan to use when I make this chocolate bread. Thank you very much.

    1. Use the smaller pan, it’s easier to get it to bake through consistently, then fill it to the level we call for. You may have leftover dough.

  35. I have a Wolf steam convection oven: perfect for steam baking breads. Do you have any suggestions as to the mode to use (convection steam or auto steam bake), temperatures and/or times for your Master Recipe Bread?

    Thanks so much!

    1. Unfortunately neither of us have one of these, so I’d say just follow Wolf’s instructions in their manual. I’m guessing it doesn’t change temperature or baking time. You just use steam at the beginning of the baking cycle.

      1. The Wolf instructions are vague, so I used your recommendations to use the same temperature and cook time as the Master Recipe instructions. Since the max temperature using the auto steam bake is 420°, I used that and 35 minutes. The loaf was perfectly crusted and wonderfully tasty. Thanks so much!

  36. Hi there! I’m dying to try some recipes from the gluten free bread book – but yeast everywhere is sold out. I currently have 7 grams. Should I cut down the master recipe or will it work to let the dough sit/ferment longer before I refrigerate it?

  37. I don’t have a dutch oven, but I do have a deep cast iron sauté pan that is 3.5 inches tall without the lid, and 5.5 inches with the lid. Do you think that’s enough height for the bread to rise in the oven?

  38. I’m reading about making soft dinner rolls with the master dough recipe. I’m confused if I place the rolls on the baking sheet and after rising do I place the baking sheet on the baking stone or just have the baking stone in the oven and my sheet pan on another rack. I’m on page 88 of The New Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day.

    1. The truth is, it doesn’t really matter, assuming you’ve let the stone come up to temperature. Then, the only question is whether your rolls come out nicer low in the oven, or high–may take some experimentation.

  39. Because I’m having some difficulty finding vital wheat gluten right now, I would like to know if xanthan gum is an appropriate substitute. I’m not making gluten-free bread, but a mix of white and whole grains. If not, do you have any other suggestions? I’m not making gluten – free bread, but wanting to increase whole grains to the white flour.

    Thanks!

    1. One thing you can do is skip the VWG (that’s generally what I do, but then again, I don’t mind a slightly denser bread). You’ll have to decrease the water though, maybe as much as a half-cup for one of our full recipes. Otherwise, you can experiment with xanthan gum, which we’ve never tried with wheat breads. Theoretically, it could increase “structure” for trapping gas, but I have no idea how its biochemistry interacts with that of gluten, so we can’t reasonably advise you here.

  40. I did not see this question asked. Just wondering if I can add a little sour dough starter to my bread dough. I usually have sour dough starter and when I feed I throw half away could I add that to the master recipe? I love sour dough but love and sometimes need the quickness of this recipe.

  41. European Peasant Bread, New Artisan, page 94.
    I have a small collection of brotforms and to make it easier to select one for a recipe I am labeling each with its volume. I usually record how high the dough has risen after the ferment. So, generally, would a dough rise as high after the proof as the same amount of dough did after the ferment, when it begins to flatten? I usually use King Arthur Bread Flour and adjust the recipe to 83.15% hydration.
    We love this bread! This will be the first time I’ve baked a 6- to 7-day-old dough. We usually can’t wait that long.

    1. Not sure I understand the question, but…
      Our stored doughs will rise less in the proofing stage as they age, that’s normal. They’ll still show nice oven spring though.

  42. The recipes in your book say yeast. Is that regular yeast? If I have instant yeast do I change the amount of yeast I use?

  43. Sent this question in a few days ago. I know it’s a crazy time but I’m sending it again hoping someone will see and answer it. Brioche recipe in Healthy Bread…was so wet — more like a runny batter than even your usual wet dough (which I’ve been doing since the first week your first book was published). Instructions said it would be wet and not to try to use it before refrigeration. I refrigerated for 2 days, but it was still the same….no way shapeable. When I sent this question earlier, I didn’t include the information that I used oil instead of butter. Thinking on it…could that be the reason. I prefer oil to butter (try to keep dairy use down) but it’s got more water and perhaps that’s what caused the problem? Hope to see your answer soon.

  44. Hello

    This is Katalin from Scotland. I have been watching Zoe’s bread baking class on Instagram. Missed the second class unfortunately as I was entertaining my two young kiddies. I was wondering on the actual ingredients as she only used water, wheat flour, yeast and salt online but the recipe on your web is slightly different. It uses both all purpose and wheat flour accounting to 1050 grams.
    Can I use all purpose flour only?

    Love to learn new techniques always and this is the best thing I find myself to do in these very strange times.

    Thank you so much for taking the time to reply and see you online again soon ☺️

    Katalin

    1. Sure, you can use all-purpose entirely–type “Back to Basics” into our Search bar above and you can see the full recipe for all-purpose only.

    1. Did you test your oven temperature with something like https://ow.ly/8CVPU ? That’s often the explanation, but there are a million possible explanations. Which of our books are you working from, which recipe and page number? Also, check our FAQs page, click above.

  45. Hi,

    Thanks to Zoe Bakes for the IG videos. Super helpful. I have ordered dough buckets. What is the best way to put a hole in the lid? Thank you.

    1. Karen: Either a small nail, or a small drill bit–the smallest one you have! It doesn’t have to be large to allow the pressure to escape.

  46. I have just learned of Platinum Sourdough Yeast. I make many of the breads from New Artisan Bread in 5 especially the Peasant breads. Can I use this yeast, instead of regular, in all these recipes with no issue? Any adjustments?

    1. Sure can, for a general guideline on how it works in our recipes, type “Platinum Sourdough” into our Search Bar above. Basically, that amount of the product in a full batch will work nicely.

  47. Hi Zoe!! Been watching ur latest instagram lives – awesome! Thank u so much for those!

    I wanted to see if you had a recipe for dough just enough for 1 loaf. Im struggling to find measurements for that online (yeast, water, flour etc) to make just 1 loaf at a time. Any such recipes for a versatile dough that can be transformed into any type of baked good?

    Thanks!!

    1. Suz: Our idea was to have lots of dough for spontaneous baking, but you can just halve or even quarter our recipes to make a two-pound, or a one-pound loaf. The most versatile is our Master Recipe (chapter 5), or the European Peasant Bread from The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day (on Amazon at https://amzn.to/1NdVkgj), or type “Back To Basics” into our Search Bar above.

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