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.
I know in the celebration bread book, you say you can make the challah in the slow cooker. Is it ok to just go ahead and make your regular recipe in the slow cooker? I am confused by the rise times. Which one do you omimt?
You can, with instructions here on the website–type “crock pot bread baking” into our Search Bar above. I think the rise times are pretty clear in there.
AACK! I accidentally added too much yeast to my master dough recipe. I am using packets and I added 4 1/4 tsps of yeast instead of 3 tsp to make a Tablespoon. What should I do?
Thank you!!
Nothin! A lot of people prefer the flavor with less yeast, but it won’t be ruined.
Hi, I have a question and I hope it is not silly! I just got your Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day book, and I am very eager to try it out! My question has to do with something called the Cornell Flour mix. The theory is that adding wheat germ, soy flour, and powdered milk to unbleached white flour can help make up for the nutritional deficiencies in white flour as opposed to whole wheat flour. If I wanted to try this, would it throw off the consistency of the bread? Also, would it be okay to add this to wheat flour, not just white flour, or would that be over the top? Thank you!
Claire, I did a whole post on Cornell–just type “Cornell” into our Search Bar above. I think that post will exactly answer your question.
Thank you for your reply! Your post gave a recipe for Cornell Pita bread, but did not seem to say whether or not the Cornell formula works for regular loaves of bread. What do you think? You said that you decreased the amount of the supplemental ingredients, but I have no idea where to start guessing how to do that. Should I just abandon the concept? I just really want to make sure that the bread I bake is very very healthy so I don’t have to worry about eating/enjoying it. Thank you!
Yes, you can use it for white-flour loaves, sure. That said, the WW will be more nutritious, and I’ve already worked out all the proportions for you! With white flour, it’ll take some experimentation. Starting point: 6c AP, .25c soy, .25c skim powder, .25c wheat germ; skip the vital wheat gluten. Seeds, yeast, salt as written, but decrease the water to 3.0 cups.
This may be off on the hydration, so adjust as needed…
Dear Jeff, thank you for all your help. So are you saying that if I want to bake a whole wheat loaf implementing the cornell mix, I just use your pita bread recipe? But form it into the shape of a loaf?
Even the natural food store I went to did not have soy flour, so I tried baking a regular whole wheat loaf (the healthy master recipe–70% whole wheat) and it did okay. I baked it in a cast iron dutch oven, because I thought that was what I was supposed to do to help trap the steam with the loaf, but it stuck outrageously to the bottom!!!!!! I had to pry it off, and still the bottom stayed stuck. Am I doing it wrong? Am I supposed to put down parchment paper and then remove it partway through baking? Or use cornmeal? Sorry for all the confusion. And thanks for your help!! -Claire
Well, you have to use something– if you go with cornmeal, make sure the loaf is well-dusted with flour so the cornmeal itself doesn’t get moist–that’s what can create a gluey environment that adheres when heated. Parchment is more failsafe.
Breadsmith makes a wonderful Multigrain bread using NO whole wheat flour, just us bleached flour, corn meal, cracked wheat, rye meal, sunflower seeds, salt, oats, and yeast. Do you have any recipes like this or close to this? I have three of your books and make your breads all the time, but this bread is my favoritefor toasting and would love to make something similar. Any thoughts?
Thanks
Not all in one recipe, but I do something like this all the time, by feel (sorry!). If you’re experienced with our method, you should be able to use the Master recipe from the New Artisan Bread in Five (or its original from 2007), swapping out one cup of the white flour for some mixture of the flours/meals/seeds you’re interested in. Then you’ll have to use more water; if I had to guess, it’d be about a quarter cup more than what’s called for in the full recipe.
My Brioche loaves dependably emerge from the oven with one side sort of split, as if the top had separated from one side. This makes for some oddly-shaped loaves that don’t slice very easily without pulling off the top. Is there a fix for this? Should I be slashing the top of the loaf? Or am I overproofing?
Underproofing’s more likely, but I think you’ll solve the problem by slashing, as you suggest.
I just got your Gluten Free Artisan Bread book and I’m wondering if you have tested using Bobs Red Mill 1 to 1 flour or equivalent rather than mixing your own all purpose GF flour. It seems like that would be a big time saver.
We tried many of them, and none of them worked, until we tried one in particular… Type “Better Batter” into our Search Bar above for details (this company provided samples of the flour for a giveaway but wasn’t otherwise a sponsor). The other brands didn’t work in our method.
New Artisan, Master Recipe, page 53
I think I might be able to fit 2 Dutch ovens in my oven. Would that cause any problems with the bake?
How do you use a proofing basket (the one made from coils) with the master recipe based dough?
Sure, just type “brotform” into our Search Bar above. I’ve written on this in the past and I think you’ll find it helpful.
To be more specific, I am thinking of using two 8-inch Dutch ovens containing 1.8 lbs dough each to speed up the process. My giving list is expanding rapidly during this epidemic crisis.
Rethinking that two 9-inch (3 1/2-quart) Dutch ovens would be better.
I just think the preheat time might be longer, and possibly the baking time as well, because of that additional thermal mass that has to heat up. In a large oven, this will be less of a problem. Maybe a 15% increase in preheat and bake? Use crust color as your guide.
I have your original book and want to make a sandwich style loaf of bread. Something that’s soft and easy to cut thin. Any suggestions? Thanks!
Assume you mean our 2007 book, which has loaf breads on page 43 (but it’s crusty), and a much softer one on page 204
Hi there! Thank you for your amazing recipe, I’ve been making bread for years using your methods and can’t go a week without making either a loaf of pizza!
I do have a question for you- can I use 00 flour in place of the AP? During the quarantine, I’ve obtained several bags from a bakery that will be closed for the time being and thought to use it for my weekly bread.
I hope everyone is staying healthy and safe!
You can swap… we have a recipe in our Pizza book, on Amazon at https://amzn.to/eo10NJ (see page 73, there’s a major correction from the all-purpose recipe). Our publisher gets upset with us if we put all our content from the books here on the website!
Hi Zoe and Jeff, I am new to GF cooking and bought your new book and have cooked 2 loaves of the crusty white sandwich loaf and need so feedback on the results. I made a batch of the master recipe #1 flour and then a batch of egg dough pg 73. I did forget the sugar. I used Bob’s Red Mill products, quick rise yeast, weighed the flour, stand mixer and all the recommendations. I had egg whites in a carton and used 3 tbls per egg since eggs have a little over 3 tbls of egg/yokes. Should I have used 2tbls/egg? I used a separate thermometer to calibrate the convection oven and cooked the 2 lb loaves at 450 for 45 minutes based on recommendations on pg 74 instead of 425 for 55-60 minutes on pg 87. 1st loaf was after the initial mix and rest of 2 hours and the 2nd one was 9 days later. Both loaves had internal temp of 205 at the end and did not rise much like your picture on 85. The middle of the loaves were a little more moist than the outer parts of the loaves. What should I change? Add the sugar, cut down on the egg whites and change the temp and cook times? Thanks for any feedback.
If the bottom line was that it wasn’t as well-baked in the center as you’d like, it could be that your dough was a little too wet. So you could try cutting the egg white to 2T, that’s reasonable. So might a very slight water decrease–a couple tablespoons. Longer bake time might also help, so long as you’re not over-browning the crust–every oven performs differently.
But you may be happier with free-form loaves, which have more surface area from which to dissipate moisture.
Hi!
I watched (and really enjoyed) your recent Instagram video using the bread cloche and have a question about the oven temp for the loaf you baked in the cloche. Your book indicates to bake a Master Recipe boule at 450 degrees but I think that Zoe said to bake at 475 degrees in the video? Was that due to using the cloche or some other reason? I’m about to try baking my first boule in my (new!) cloche (finally used a Williams-Sonoma gift card from Christmas!) and want to not screw this up!
Thank you for any guidance you can provide!
No, nothing to do with the cloche! Some readers find that they don’t get the rich brown crust unless they do the higher temp. It has a lot to do with your oven’s characteristics, so try both.
because of flour shortages lately, i have a friend who can only get self rising flour. any way to use this to make your bread? thanks
Haven’t experimented with that, because there’s baking soda/powder in there. It wouldn’t need yeast to rise, but I don’t know if that’d be enough rising power to raise bread (it’s intended for cake/cookies). If it’s all you can get, could be worth a try.
Hi –
I’m wondering what the conversions are if I only had fresh yeast on hand?
Are you able to provide some conversions on how much to use?
Thanks
Sure–when measuring by volume, you need twice as much as when you use granulated yeast, in order to get equivalent rising power in a given amount of time. Could also try our low-yeast versions, go to Questions/FAQs/Yeast
Hi y’all,
Things are crazy and there is a massive flour and yeast shortage. All I could find is bread flour and quick yeast. I am using The Master Recipe:Boule on p.26, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day. Are there any adjustments I need to make for this? I do hope this is doable. I had to buy 25 lbs. of bread flour!
Thanks for any guidance you can give me.
Martha
Quick yeast is great, no adjustment on that. Bread flour takes a little more water… Above, go to Questions/FAQs/Flour Varieties.
Hi,
As I was scoring my dough, it collapsed. But what do I do after that? Do I wait for it to rise again?
Thanks in advance.
It didn’t really collapse in a meaningful way, just bake it off.
New book: where is the recipe for European Peasant Bread?
Euro Peasant appears in two of our books:
The New Artisan Bread in 5 (2013) https://amzn.to/17Rw23Y
and also in its original edition (2007) https://amzn.to/2w6FFDe
Easy to find in the index…
There seems to be 2 different recipes for the Master Gluten Free Flour Mix. In the “Gluten Free Book”, you have a recipe with white rice, sorghum etc. In the “New Artisan Book, Gluten free section”, you have a very different flour blend using Brown rice flour etc. I am confused. Which one is correct? Are there a different application for each?
Our recipes evolve over the years–as we developed more GF stuff, we grew to prefer the ones in the GF book–use those recipes. It’s just a matter of preference–that’s ours!
Morning! I have a question from “The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day”, pages 88 and 89. It feels like a stupid question on my part, but you never know till you ask!
For soft dinner rolls, it says preheat baking stone as step one. Step four says place baking sheet in the oven. Does it mean I can do either? And I imagine I can just do two at a time instead of five?
Thank you for your help. I’m very happy with the book. Much easier and less time consuming than sourdough starter that had me a little anxious.
Have a great weekend!
If you have a heavy duty baking sheet like https://amzn.to/1UF9YmI , you can skip the stone altogether. If you use a stone, it needs the longer preheat.
Many recipes in Artisan in Five call for steam in the baking process. 1 cup of water added to broiler pan steams away about 1/2 way through the baking process. Is this normal or should I add more water?
You only want steam at the beginning, so this is perfect!
I love your Bread in 5 Minute book and bake all the time in Los Angeles. I am now in Park City at 7,000 feet. How should I adjust the recipes for the altitude? Especially the basic and challah recipes?
Thanks.
Sure, go to our FAQs page above and see the high-altitude link; I think you’ll find it helpful.
I recently purchased an EH bread cloche, would I still need to place a cup of water (for steam) in the oven with my artisan loaves?
Nope, don’t need it. See Zoe and I have both posted on using a cloche with our recipe; Zoe’s post is specifically with the EH product while mine is with the bare-ceramic Sassafras product. They both work great:
https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2009/03/31/baking-bread-in-a-closed-clay-pot-cloche-the-best-crust-yet/
and https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2013/12/08/baking-in-a-cloche-plus-a-big-holiday-baking-package-giveaway-signed-copy-of-thenewabin5-gold-medal-flour-red-star-yeast-and-an-emile-henry-cloche/
In the New artisan Bread in five mins a day, buttermilk bread, can I substitute plain Greek yogurt? For buttermilk? I looked up subs on google and plain yogurt was mentioned. Or I also have milk, I could thin the Greek yogurt out a bit.
Thanks for your help. Made some of your master recipe a few days ago. Delish!!!!
Closest would be thinned-out Greek yogurt; yes some milk will help because Greek Y has the water strained out and it might throw off the hydration
can i substitute coconut sugar for granulated sugar in your recipes such as the bagel dough recipe? trying to bake with no refined sugars.
Sure can!
Hi, I noticed that sometimes, when a dough requires a rollout, the tends to snap back to where I started. Recently, I was rolling out circles for the Raspberry Star Bread and I had a lot of issues. I did try to let it rest a bit in ball form. I also rolled a little, let it rest, then rolled again, to varying results. Some were more flexible than others. Instead I just used the pizza dough method of stretching to get it to the size I needed. Is there something that can help with this issue?
A few things that may help:
1. Letting the dough warm to room temp before rolling out
2. Increasing the resting time between roll-out attempts (cover with plastic wrap while it’s resting)
3. If you’re using bread flour–go back to A.P.
There’s nothing wrong with the pizza dough method…
Thanks for the help and will try this next time. Also, why AP would be more helpful here rather than bread flour? Due to shortages, I have more bread flour than AP at the moment. Thanks again!
You can use bread flour, just increase the water as in our FAQ above on “flour types…”
Hello Zoe and Jeff,
Nice to e-meet you. I am reaching out to know if you can share a recipe for an eggless Challah bread?
I look forward to hearing from you.
Thank you,
Nidhi
Challah’s based on egg, I’m afraid, so there’s no such thing!
I am wondering how many cups of Whole Wheat flour I can substitute for the white AP without changing the integrity of the dough for the Master Recipe
Which Master Recipe are you working from, in which of our books, and what recipe and page number?
For your bread recipes, specifically the master recipe, if i wanted to make half the quantity outlined, is it as simple as cutting all measurements (weight) in half? Thank you.
Which Master Recipe are you working from, in which of our books, and what recipe and page number? We have many “Master” recipes. But you can always cut the measurements in half.
The new healthy bread in 5 minutes a day. Pumpkin pie brioche recipe has 2 water ingredient lines. First one is 2 cups after the vital gluten. The second one is after the spices 1 1/4 cups? What does this mean?
Above, go to About/Corrections/ and choose The New Heathy… There’s a correction…
I’m puzzled by how to use both starter yeast. As in how much to use for making bread.
and I’m puzzled on whether or not I can use quick rise yeast in place of regular yeast for making bread.
I have looked online for days and I can’t seem to get a clear answer. Yeast is hard to find these days and I don’t want to use it incorrectly.
“Starter” is different than yeast, so I’m going to answer for “yeast.” In our recipes, it doesn’t matter which of these granulated yeasts you use:
Instant
Better for Bread
Active Dry
“Platinum”
… they all work nicely. To make it go further, see https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2007/12/19/low-yeast-version-of-our-master-recipe/
I put together your Brioche dough last night. I want to make a plain old brioche loaf of bread – but, I ordered your book online, but with things the way they are it will be a bit before I receive it. So, my question is, to do a brioche loaf, are we talking 1 lb of dough? 1 1/2 lb? approximately.
I don’t see a recipe on your website for that, but I’m thinking there will be one in the book once I receive it. But wanted to try some out sooner!
Also, I just set 1 1/2 lb of the dough aside to make the brioche blueberry buns tomorrow morning. Excited to try it out.
Thank you
Our standard size for brioche is 1.5 pounds. Frankly, though, you can make it any size at all–adjust baking time accordingly.
Zoe, where can I find your list of vendors who are selling flour? Thank you!
Let me check with Zoe and get back to you hear (if I haven’t answered by Tuesday, please post the question again, the website has wild traffic right now!).
Here’s a link that might help, on Zoe’s pastry site: https://zoebakes.com/2019/04/01/flour-resource-online-sales-and-shipping-guide/
But things may be tightening up on those links as well
I made the Challah dough to try the cinnamon buns. Definite win, we’ll do those again.
I would like to know if I can make a standard loaf of bread with the Challah Dough. There’s only variations on braiding in the recipes i’ve seen.
Thanks!
Nancy
Sure can, but use the challah over temp, not the loaf-bread temp, or it’ll over brown. That said, the baking time will increase, depending on how tall a loaf you make.
Hi- I have ordered your new book, but it won’t arrive until at/or around April 24th. I have been working from recipes I see as a result of watching IG Live sessions with Zoe.
I have a Wolf Steam oven and LOvE it but
still learning how to use the setting and adjust cooking times. As well as finding the exact right setting- Auto Bake Steam etc. any suggestions on cooking with a steam oven is appreciated.
We have not been fortunate to test those, I’m afraid (Wolf company, are you listening?). What I can tell you is that you want steam only for the first third of baking or so. My guess would be that this is what the Auto setting is giving.
I have been using the plain Master Recipe in the updated “Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day.” Flour is Pillsbury All Purpose. Yeast is Fleishmann’s Active Dry. Beginning with the first day in the refrigerator, the top 1/4 inch or so starts “drying out” and becoming “crunchy” over time. The dough seems denser as well. This has not happened every time I have made the Master Recipe. Just curious if anyone has ideas on what I’m doing wrong.
It’s drying out in your fridge. If this is harming the baked result, you can beat it by transferring to smaller containers as you use up the dough.
Bought 25lbs of all purpose flour at Costco before we were ordered to shelter in place and then noticed it is bleached. I know it says on p. 8 in ABIFMAD, “DO NOT USE BLEACHED FLOUR.” Help! Any suggestions?
Sorry about that, we wrote that book 13 years ago, when some bleached flours were manufactured in a way that washed away some of the protein. Today’s bleached flours have the same protein level as unbleached, so bake away!
Hi!
I’m looking to make a sourdough bread with my starter. I have a proofing basket but it’s 11 inches. My Dutch oven is 9 inches. Can I still proof my bread in the basket and have it still fit in my Dutch oven? It’s my first time using both these and making sourdough bread!
Sounds like it might compress the loaf sideways, and that might slightly deflate it. I’m thinking that you might get away with it though, I think it’s worth a try. No promises though! Worst case: over-dense.
Hi, I bought two POUNDS of Red Star Yeast in two smallish, tightly-compressed packets, planning to share the extra yeast with friends and family who are learning to bake bread but can’t find yeast. So can I freeze the extra yeast and portion it out as needed? If not, how best to store it?
Thank you,
– Vicki
I have this product, and basically, it freezes indefinitely in jars. I recently used one that was 20 years old, I’m not kidding. Long story…
Thank you, Jeff! You’re on the job!
Hi! I’ve been using Goldrush Sourdough Starter granules from the Goldrush Products company based in San Jose, California) for years, purchasing it from my local grocer. Now I can’t find it anywhere! Suggestions?
We’ve never seen that product, I’m afraid. Go ahead and type “easy sourdough starter” in our Search Bar above, to make your own!
Hi Jeff, I used the Goldrush brand granules in my Simplified Sourdough Bread entry at the 2014 California State Fair, which won a Blue Ribbon, and I have used it ever since – but I’m flexible! And in these times that’s important. So I’ll try your tip, and ration the envelope I have left. By the way, I was SO reassured by your comment about today’s bleached flour, because with the current shortage at least here in the Central Valley in California, a large quantity of bleached was available and it seemed prudent not to be snobby about it. I’m so glad the bleached flour process has been improved over the years! And I never would have known if I hadn’t read your Q&A tonight! THANK YOU for staying involved!
You’re welcome Vicki, thanks for checking in with our community here. Bleached is OK, yes, even if I prefer fewer chemicals and the rich color of unbleached.
Hi! I enjoyed your live videos! How do I enter the bread cloche giveaway? Thank you!
afraid that one is over, sorry.
European Country Bread, New Artisan, page 94.
The day after I made the dough I was able to round it without any trouble, but after 5 days in the refrigerator it had gotten so wet that I could barely round it enough to get it into a brotform. Is this common?
For your information, I have been baking HALF of that dough recipe using a 9 1/4 x 3 1/4” round coiled brotform (9 cups capacity) and a Le Creuset 4.5-quart (9.75” D) Dutch oven. Perfect partners. Together, they are the perfect sizes for 1/2 of the recipe’s dough. A gorgeous, delicious, beautifully gelatinized, and high loaf.
I have to add my thanks to Jeff and Zoe for their unwavering help always, but especially during these difficult times and especially for their advice to so many new bread bakers, many of whom will probably become BreadHeads like the rest of us when they taste the results of their new creations. Here’s a virtual hug to you both!
Thanks Rita! I can’t explain why this became so wet– I know you’re experienced with our method (which does get wetter with aging). If nothing’s changed, and you haven’t seen this at this level of aging, I can’t explain it.
Easiest way to deal with it is to use a lot more flour on the outside of the loaf at this point.
Thank you Jeff, There is always an opportunity to give a loaf away once I get the dough into the refrigerator so I usually wind up baking the day after or on the second day after I make the dough. This dough is now 6 or 7 days old. I had to use quite a bit of flour when rounding it but will keep that in mind. I was thinking of sifting some flour lightly on top of the remaining dough in the bucket to get it hydrated before I use it and will use more flour when rounding the dough. I hope to bake the second half of the dough tomorrow.
Good strategy…
Is there’s something I can use instead of dough bucket? I want to try baking a few ties before I invest…. ❤️Ur videos!
Sure, anything non-reactive, even a soup-pot. Crockery. Stainless steel. Glass (don’t use screwtops or it explodes). Anything with a not entirely airtight cover.
I can’t find a VENTED dough storage container anywhere. Any suggestions for non-Amazon sources?
Best as I can tell, vented ones aren’t available, though I did buy one from Ikea 12 years ago. I’m sure they’re out there; the Ikea one is gone (fit a half-batch).
Can you bake these recipes in an air fryer?
We’ve not tested those and I’m not an expert on the air fryer method. If you happen to try it, and it works, please let us know. Check with the manufacturer to be sure there’s no safety issue and to be sure it won’t damage the fryer.
Hi,
I am stumped and wondering if one of you can help me. I’m an advanced home cook/baker and like to try to new recipes and experiment as well as set baking goals each year. This year my goal is to learn to bake with sour dough. My family makes homemade pizza every Sunday but we’ve recently been adding SD to our recipe instead of dry yeast. We are also playing with kamut flour ( which I purchased from The Food Nanny – I believe it’s organic and all purpose). The last two weeks our pizza dough has been very spongy. If I pull/stretch it, it just rips. When I lift it from my counter to quickly place it on my pizza peel, the weight of the dough cause it to tear or just kinda fall apart. We’ve tried starting the dough Saturday night and letting it rest for 24 hours before making pizzas and we’ve tried making the dough Sunday morning to use Sunday night … either way it has the same problem. Any ideas as to what might be going wrong? Thank you! Becky
Yes–sounds like the kamut you have is relatively low in gluten, which is true of the various wheat variants, and is the reason some gluten-intolerant people talk about this flour. Plus, “health” flours are often roughly ground, which will contribute to the phenomenon you mention. All told, my guess is that unless you decrease the amount you’re using, your going to have this problem.
I think you’re on the right track–this flour probably is OK for flatbreads and pizza, but not loaf breads.
Thank you for your thoughts! I appreciate your time.
Hi! I am using your book “The New Healthy Bread in 5 Mins a Day”. I’d like to make more bread today. Can I use a tablespoon of leftover refridgerated dough that I scraped from my recent Master Recipe (p. 79) batch container to substitute for yeast? I haven’t been able to find any yeast at stores. Otherwise I’ll give your Sourdough Starter a try (p. 385) but as I understand reading the directions, this method takes 5 days to ferment.
Thanks!
Nancy
You’re talking about the pate fermentee method on page 89 of that book. This doesn’t have enough rising power… If you’re skipping the yeast, you need a true starter like on p.385
Thanks for your explanation. I think I’ll give the sourdough starter a try. I only have Italian white flour in my cupboard. For the Levain-Risen Bread should I adjust the water amount?
Thanks so much for your replies and help with this project. My family and I really appreciate it!
Nancy
Well, you should be able to just go by the consistency. Won’t take a major adjustment
No Active Dry yeast available. Can I do something else? Some kind of whole wheat sourdough?
Sure. Type easy sourdough into our search bar above
Shiny – Guess I didn’t give enough info in my question on April 7th. I use your book, 1st edition, pg 113, Whole Grain Rye Bread. However I’ve modified it considerable to add other flours (spelt, barley, oat & garbanzo) and seeds (flax, hemp, chia). I use 1 Tablespoon yeast and 1/4 c. plus 2 Tablespoons gluten. Any advice you have, since I can’t find yeast, would be so very much appreciated. I’ve baked this bread for years now and share it with friends who also love it. My old hands can’t knead anymore so your bread is truly a lifesaver for me. Thank you!….shiny
Well, this is going to be challenging, because that is a very heavy dough, and natural sourdough is tricky to get it just right, and very active. This wouldn’t be the first sourdough I’d have you do, because the result’s likely to be denser than most people like if baked as a tall domed loaf. Any chance you’d go for flatbread with this? type “easy sourdough starter” into our Search Bar above, using whole wheat flour as your base. I have to say–this is going to be an experiment for you…
Hello,
Do you have an Instagram page?
Thank you,
Hai Lamb
Yes! Go to Instagram.com/breadin5
Love all your books and have given many as gifts. wanted to make Bestys Seeded Oat Bread and have no vital wheat gluten nor is it available to order. Read that Xanthan Gum is a substitute for vital wheat gluten and struggling with conversion……don’t want rubbery bread. any guidance would be appreciated !
P.S. I did find recipe not using VWG at all….will try, but would like to figure out this xanthan gum substitute also.
Thanks and happy baking.
Haven’t tried Xanthan in this situation, so that’d need a lot of testing. Amount, effect on flavor, etc. Sorry I can’t be more helpful. Alternative–you could leave out the VWG and decrease water to make a workable dough, but I suspect it’ll be very dense. Might make a better flatbread.
Thanks…guess I have time to experiment a bit. Flatbread sounds interesting. Will first try your version without VWG as flour is at a premium…..everyone be safe and stay healthy!