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Arrange interviews, print media, or television, please contact publicist John Karle at john.karle at stmartins.com

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1,808 thoughts to “Contact”

      1. would like input on use of coconut oil in baking. Healthy or not? thank you..

      2. Well, there’s certainly nothing wrong with it, from what I’ve heard informally. But– I haven’t researched this carefully so please don’t consider me an expert. At the same time, I’m very skeptical of wild health claims, or claims that it’s much better than other plant-based oils. Personally, I use olive oil in almost everything– including as a swap for neutral-flavored vegetable oil in our recipes. It does impart some flavor– but I like that. Some people prefer neutral-flavored oils.

    2. In hbin5 book- pine nut & pesto bread, is the 4 oz of cheese the weight of cheese BEFORE shredding or is it 4 oz measured in a cup after shredding?? in making the pesto for the bread?? Thank You.

      Reply

  2. Hi Jeff and Zoe, I’m using the New Artisan Bread in 5. I’m in the process of mastering the “master” recipe. The top of my bread is very crusty and the inside is soft, but the bottom of my bread isn’t browning as much as I think it should. What do you suggest?

    thanks!!

    Reply

    1. Are you using a stone?– otherwise the bottom crust won’t be as good.
      If you’re already using a stone, consider a longer pre-heat, 45 min or so. Also an oven thermometer might detect a problem, something like https://ow.ly/8CVPU

      Reply

      1. thanks, Jeff. Yes, I’m using both a stone and an oven thermometer. I’ll try a longer preheat time for my next loaf –maybe an hour or so….

        Thanks for the advice…

  3. Just wondering if the diagonal slashes made in the dough before baking are more than just cosmetic. Makes the loaf look very artisan :), but do they, perhaps, effect the way the loaf bakes inside?

    Reply

  4. I just made your gluten-free boule recipe and could not get the refrigerated dough to rise. I even left it at room temperature much longer than the recipe suggested. also, the yeast was new. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

    Reply

    1. Hmm, we know that recipe works well, so something’s gone wrong. First, what brands of product are you using (we tested this and all our GF recipes with Bob’s Red Mill)? Second, did you make any substitutions at all, even if they seem minor? Third, did you leave out or decrease the xanthan gum (won’t rise without it, and guar gum doesn’t make a good substitute).

      Any chance you used overly hot water?

      Did you bake it even though it didn’t seem to rise much? The rise with the GF is less exuberant, and it’s possible that you’re misinterpreting. So it’s worth baking off a small loaf to see what it’s like inside.

      But GF results are definitely denser than wheat…

      Reply

  6. I would like to add ground flaxseed to basic recipe. I am currently using bread flour until it is gone. I am using the New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day book.

    Reply

    1. You can add it, but don’t go overboard. Maybe a quarter-cup per batch (decrease the flour by that amount). If you go further the flavor can be strong. And it gets in the way of stretch and rise in the dough.

      Reply

  7. Are you working with sprouted grain flours? I recently started using them for the health benefits the offer.

    So far I made a nearly 100% whole rye bread and was amazed how sweet and good tasting the bread was. I did have to use some sprouted wheat flour in order to make the dough wprkable during kneading.

    Thanks for your great work in this area!

    Reply

  8. Hi, I’ve got your HB in 5 book and I want to make TEFF flour bread (P249) but I am diabetic so don’t want to use the high GI rice flour and tapioca starch. I’m NOT gluten intolerant so I’d appreciate some suggestions of which flours I can use to replace the brown rice flour and tapioca flour. Could I use 50% teff and 50% rye with added vital wheat gluten? Many thanks! Sally

    Reply

  9. Hi I love your book The New Artesian Bread in Five Minutes.
    My question is have you ever made the Master Recipe from fresh milled Einkorn flour? I have the grain and a grinder but with its cost I don’t want a lot of mistakes.

    Thanks
    Deb

    Reply

    1. You can probably swap it for whole wheat or whole rye, into recipes where we have a limited amount of whole grain in the first place. For the recipes where we use vital wheat gluten (like in Healthy Bread in Five), you could probably do a partial swap for whole wheat. And our new book has a partial spelt bread in chapter 6.

      But… fresh ground flour behaves unpredictably in recipes tested with standardized commercial flours, so unfortunately, this is going to take a lot of trial and error, which may get expensive. See my post on this at https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2009/11/11/using-fresh-ground-whole-wheat-flour-and-some-highlights-from-our-book-tour

      Reply

  10. Hi – I have made at least 10 of your ABin5 Master Recipe breads and twice, the Ten Grain Boule. I get NO oven spring.
    Or at least very little. Recently, I switched from King Arthur Flour to Gold Medal and also to Red Star Platinum yeast. That helped some, but nothing looks as high as yours do. I only make 1/2 of the Master Recipe – and use 3/4 T yeast and 3/4 T sale – sometimes then I do two different loaves on different days; sometimes 1 whole one. I let the recipe rise for 2 hours before the refrigeration. I let the shaped dough rise for 90 minutes. I keep it in the refrigerator at least one week before baking, and usually two. What am I doing wrong? Help!

    Reply

    1. Hi Jane,

      Are you getting no oven spring with the Master or just the 10 grain? The 10 grain is a much denser loaf and will not have the same spring as the master.

      Thanks, Zoë

      Reply

      1. Hi, Zoe. It’s mostly the Master Recipe and it’s driving me crazy. I only make a half recipe. I started out using King Arthur AP and Red Star active yeast. The dough was ‘way too wet and sticky. Then I switched to Gold Medal and Red Star Platinum. I use a very scant Tbl of platinum yeast, a scant Tbl of salt, 3.25 cups of flour, and 1.5 c of lukewarm water. The dough is then mixed and sits on the counter for 2 hours. It rises well there. Then it is refrigerated for at least a week before I bake, and mostly the full 14 days. It is not overly wet and shapes well. When I shape it, it never sits out for less than 90 minutes before baking. I do put slices in it. I have used the Dutch oven technique and I have also used a pizza stone, with 1 cup of hot water thrown in a preheated pan in the oven. It just always comes out like a ciabatta! Help, please. Again, everything is excellent (taste, crust, holes) except it doesn’t rise in the oven.

      2. Hi Jane,

        Try baking a loaf earlier in the storage cycle, maybe at 3 to 5 days and see if you notice a difference in the oven spring. The yeast will lose some of its rising power at the end of the two weeks in the refrigerator. We generaly recommend making flatbreads with the older dough, which fits with what you are finding. The dough should have quite a bit of flavor developed after even 3 days.

        Thanks, Zoë

  11. p.s. to my posting above: all of the breads are just fine . great taste, great crust, good holes, just this rising problem.

    Reply

    1. Jane, just a thought….could you by any chance be using regular all-purpose flour instead of unbleached all-purpose flour? A friend of mine did that at first and had similar problems.

      Rita

      Reply

      1. Good thought and thanks for your idea. However, I always use unbleached with all flours. I’m going to try Zoe’s suggestion of baking earlier in the cycle.

    2. Zoe: Thanks. I will try to bake earlier in the cycle. That may do the trick! Will let you know. Thanks soooooo much.

      Reply

  12. I am in love with your books and breads they help me to bake. Recently I began experimenting a little bit. I really loved Brown Rice and Prune bread from your Healthy Bread book, so I tried an apricot version. I used dried apricots and apricot nectar instead of prunes and prune juice. I am very happy with the result and my 8yo had three pieces of apricot bread for breakfast! Thank you so much for the great recipes and inspiration!

    Reply

    1. Hi Yulia,

      That sounds incredible, thanks so much for the note and the recipe variation!

      Cheers, Zoë

      Reply

  13. Zoe:
    Just baked the Master Recipe in a 1 lb. loaf about 4 days into the cycle and voila! Oven spring! Thanks a ton!

    Reply

  14. I have tried unsuccessfully to make the gluten free bread using recipe on page 268 of The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. . I have bought scales to weigh my flour, checked my oven temp, and bought the cast iron pizza stone. All attempts have have a very wet center no matter how thin or thick I make the bread. Help! My hubby needs bread. Thanks.

    Reply

    1. Hi BettyLynn,

      My apologies for your unsuccessful attempts, it is that recipe and not you! There was a line of ingredients that was omitted from that edition. You can find the corrected recipe here: https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2013/10/01/corrections-to-first-printing-of-the-new-artisan-bread-in-five-minutes-a-day-2013 and you can try this recipe as well. It is our original crusty boule: https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2010/01/05/gluten-free-crusty-boule

      Thank you, Zoë

      Reply

  15. Zoe, the corrections page here for Gluten-Free Sweet Brioche (NewABin 5, page 286) does not include the changes in the gram column. Here is the conversion for those who use metric:

    1 1/2 cups (8 1/2 ounces, 241 grams) White rice flour

    1 cup (5 ounces, 142 grams) Tapioca flour

    4 cups (22 ounces, 624 grams) Cornstarch

    Reply

  16. I just bought the new artisan book… I’m struggling to find any sourdough recipes anywhere. The book says you can use fresh starter in the recipes (but doesn’t give suggested substitutions), and gives a sourdough tip to reuse a sourdough bucket. But that’s it as far as I can see! A boule made with instant yeast is hardly artisan…

    Reply

    1. Hi Jon,

      Here is a post on using your sourdough starter in the recipe: https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2009/11/30/sourdough-starter-in-our-recipes Our goal is to introduce home bakers to the craft of homemade bread baking. The art of making a loaf of bread is a wonderful experience, whether it is with instant yeast or a 120-year-old starter. There are lots of terrific books available for more traditional methods of baking bread that go step by step on creating and using a starter.

      Enjoy your bread! Zoë

      Reply

  17. Baked Naan (with yogurt dough), Pizza book, page 222.

    I need to bake off several naan breads a few days before serving them. I plan to freeze them as soon as they have cooled.

    Would I reheat them wrapped in foil or not?

    Do they need some kind of moisture so that they don’t turn into crackers?

    What would be the best oven temperature? I would be grateful for any other insight.

    Reply

    1. Hi Rita,

      I would defrost them, still wrapped in the pastic. Transfer them to the foil and bake at a low heat, maybe 300, just until they are warm. If you bake them too long they will dry out.

      Thanks, Zoë

      Reply

  18. I refer to 3 of your books. I do some stretch and folds to my doughs – usually once a day. Have you experimented with doing S&F’s and do you think it of any benefit or is it unnecessary?

    Reply

    1. I’ve experimented with this before the initial rise, not after. I’ve always assumed that doing it after the initial rise is going to knock gas out of the dough (which will not return since we’re storing after the yeast goes relatively inactive)– would create an over-dense loaf.

      I’m not even convinced that the S+F before makes any difference, but then, I’ve never done a side by side test (with/without).

      Reply

  19. Thank you for your reply – appreciated. I have been doing the S &F’s for some time and find if anything the dough gets lighter and airier. I guess I will have to do a side by side experiment. Cheers

    Reply

  20. I just got the ABin5 book and very excited to try your recipes. My question is, do you use Vital Gluten in all the recipes in HBin5 book? I see you mention that in ABin5, and would like to know if that’s the case for all recipes in HBin5. Thanks in advance!

    Reply

    1. Yes, they do– because most of our testers found that the results were a little too dense for them when they stored whole-grain dough made without it. But– I’ll tell you that I myself frequently leave it out, and adjust the water accordingly (downward). It’s a bit complicated, but the book works fine without VWG– it just takes a lot of experimentation and in the final analysis, it just might be a little too dense for your taste.

      Reply

  21. Hi Jeff,
    Can you explain the cornstarch wash a bit more.
    I did not understand it the way it was explained in your book.
    What is it used for? When is it used? How is it used? How exactly is it made (measurements)?
    Thank you for your time.
    Ray

    Reply

    1. It’s the traditional glaze on rye breads that have caraway sprinkled on top. It’s a great “glue” for that, and also shines the surface a bit. But, water works almost as well! The recipe’s in the book.

      Reply

  22. Using “AB in 5 a Day.” Bought your book because a friend told me about a recipe that bakes the dough in a slow cooker or crock pot. Can’t find it.
    Also, I use NO plastic that will touch food. Could I store the dough in a crock or a gallon glass jar?

    Reply

    1. Crockery or glass are fine, just be sure not to use a screw-top lid tightened all the way on those; they can shatter (rare, but it can happen). Your friend has The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day (on Amazon at https://amzn.to/17Rw23Y). It is the revised version of our first book and it came out in 2013 (the original is copyright 2007). Only the revised edition has the crockpot recipe, but you can find it here on the web too, at https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2012/05/29/crock-pot-bread-baking-fast-bread-in-a-slow-cooker

      Reply

  23. Hi! Just got HB in 5, and I have my first loaf of master recipe on the peel rising right now. When I got the bread out of the refrigerator this morning I noticed that the dough was not elastic, but rather my dough just breaks off. Using Hogston Mill wheat gluten, and I measured everything by weight. During mixing I just mixed everything until it was wet.. Any ideas what went wrong?

    Reply

    1. Hi Mary,

      This can be caused by temperature. If your refrigerator runs a bit cold, the dough will tighten up and just break off. You can just let the dough rest for an additional 15 minutes and it will bake as normal.

      Thanks, Zoë

      Reply

      1. I am clearly still doing something wrong as I continue to have the same problem. I have tried with three different batches.
        The first I measured by weight, the second by scoop and scrape, and on this batch I bought all new AP flour just in case my old canister had bleached flour. I know I am using whole wheat flour, unbleached AP, and Hogstong Mill gluten. The dough breaks instead of stretches, even after a 30 minute rest from the fridge.

        The only thing I havent tried is mixing with my stand mixer instead of a wooden spoon. My bread comes out increadibly dense and hard.

        Any more thoughts on what I can be doing wrong? (It rises fine, it’s like the gluten isnt engaging)

        Thanks!

  24. I love your book “Artisan Pizza and Flatbread”. However, I couldn’t find what distinguishes a pizza from a flatbread. Is it the shape, thickness of the crust, or are they synonomous?

    Reply

    1. Hi John,

      Pizza is a type of flatbread, but really there is no difference. What we consider a pizza is just based on the toppings. Other than Neapolitan Pizza (page 39) there really aren’t many rules.

      Enjoy, Zoë

      Reply

  25. I used to buy a bread in Meijers ( a super store in Michigan) called BLACK BEAN BREAD, they quit selling it a few months ago, and I’ve tried to get the recipe from them, but no luck. The only thing they told me that it was a southern recipe. I have tried all of the search engines and have been unable to find any such recipe. I have found some that if I had the equipment and bought the beans and ground them up and added so many other things it was just to much. I’m sure there has to be a recipe that doesn’t take 4 days to get one loaf of bread.
    I know this is a very long request and you have asked to keep it short but I find it is hard to put into a few words what I’m looking for. Please if there is anyone out there who has a recipe or a recipe book to make blacke bean bread I would really appreciate it.
    Thank you
    Merry

    Reply

    1. Hi Merry,

      I’ve never heard of this bread, it sounds great. It sounds like the beans were ground, like a flour? Maybe one of our readers has a recipe?

      Thanks, Zoë

      Reply

  26. Hi
    I prefer bread flour for the master recipe but I would like to add more fiber by combining it with oat flour. Do I need to adjust liquid or rising time? Can I substitute more than 1 cup of oat flour for the bread flour?
    Thanks for your help!
    Annette

    Reply

    1. Hi Annette,

      Oat flour has no gluten in it, so it will lack the stretch and structure your current dough has. Depending on how much you substitute you may want to add some vital wheat gluten. As you experiment I would make small batches, until you get the bread you like.

      Thanks, Zoë

      Reply

  27. Hey folks,

    Would a 3/8″ Baking Steel work well with the recipes in The Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day?

    Thanks!

    Reply

      1. Hey Zoë,

        I’ve seen that post but it looks like it only touches on baguettes and pizza. Have you tried any recipes that call for more time in the oven? I’m a little worried that 30 minutes on a steel plate would burn the bottom of a boule.

      2. Hi David,

        I do it all the time. The steel does transfer heat more quickly, so it will come to temperature faster, but it is still the same temperature as the oven. Just make sure it isn’t sitting right on the heating element and you should have an independent oven thermometer to check the actual temperature of the oven.

        Thanks, Zoë

  28. In NewABin5 pg 56 it says the dough will shrink back on itself and that this is normal. My 5 dough batches thus far have all lost literally half of their rise in the fridge. Is this amount of shrink normal? Here’s my last dough: 4c hard white wheat 1c soft white wheat 1c king Arthur’s unbleached AP; 5T VWG; 1T active dry yeast; 2tsp Real sea salt; 3 1/2c water. Stored in 1gallon glass cookie jar w non-tight lid. Excellent fast rise – in few hours it filled the container. But daily it lost an inch of rise in the fridge and by day 5 it was half gone. Baked the bread and it was rather dense – thinking bc it shrank so much. Is this normal? Is it preventable? Thank you, enjoying the book and website. Amy

    Reply

    1. “Is this normal?”

      It is. 🙂

      “Baked the bread and it was rather dense”

      Have you seen the “My loaves are too dense and heavy — what am I doing wrong?” part of the “Tips and Techniques” chapter?

      Reply

      1. Yes I read through that section on heavy/dense loaves – need to read again before I bake next loaf. I do think I over handled the dough once I took it out of the fridge container and formed it. Hoping that was one reason. I have had a couple of good loaves but can’t get there consistently. Well thank you for the reply; I guess it’s good to know that losing half the rise in the fridge time is normal – seems like I “lost” some dough though – was hoping I could avoid that! I am purposely letting dough hang out in the fridge for 3 to 5 days before baking – that is supposed to reduce the carb count and make the bread more digestible and more healthy. Maybe I will stop at 3 days next batch (to lose less of the rise). Thanks again, Amy

    2. Hi Amy,

      It is normal for the dough to collapse in the bucket and never regain that rise. The issue of the dense crumb may have more to do with the flour you are using. Have you ever tried our Master recipe as it is written? If so, did you have the same issues with dense crumb? What brand flours are the hard and soft wheat? Hard wheat has quite a bit of protein, as does the king arthur, then you are adding a lot of vital wheat gluten, all of which seems like it would result in a dry dough. I see that you’ve added more water, but I think your dough is going to have to rest longer before baking to make up for all of the added gluten.

      Thanks, Zoë

      Reply

      1. Zoe, the hard and soft white wheat flour is freshly ground in my Ninja Ultima blender (which does an excellent fast job of the task btw- highly recommend) from Palouse brand wheat berries. I added 5T VWG because the bag said to add 1T per cup of flour. I only used the King Arthur white bc I was having issues with a good rise and soft crust before using it and was convinced by friends and blogs that you need a little white in the dough for rise and crust help. My aim is a healthy bread that is easy and tasty. I am really wishing I would have purchased the HealthyBin5!!! I did not know about it until reading the website. I have been experimenting with this no knead dough for about a month and ran across your book last week. I definitely will try your master recipe this next batch, but will have to adjust to using wheat – I just can’t make an all white bread – gasp – hah! And either skip or reduce the VWG next batch. And reduce the fridge time to 3 days (as I said in prior comment I am purposely letting dough rest in fridge for many days bc that is supposed to reduce the carb count and increase digestion …. Which is supposed to make it more healthy…). Also I do think there are many things I can adjust in my baking based on tips section of ABin5 (over handling dough, oven temp, crust only lightly brown so probably not cooking long enough, and I am not letting it sit long enough once done (it smells so amazing out of the oven-2 hours to sit on counter is torture!! But soggy crumb is not worth cutting too early!)) so I will keep working at it. Thanks again for responding, Amy

      2. Zoe, the hard and soft white wheat flour is freshly ground in my Ninja Ultima blender (which does an excellent fast job of the task btw- highly recommend) from Palouse brand wheat berries. I added 5T VWG because the bag said to add 1T per cup of flour. I only used the King Arthur white bc I was having issues with a good rise and soft crust before using it and was convinced by friends and blogs that you need a little white in the dough for rise and crust help. My aim is a healthy bread that is easy and tasty. I am really wishing I would have purchased the HealthyBin5!!! I did not know about it until reading the website. I have been experimenting with this no knead dough for about a month and ran across your book last week. I definitely will try your master recipe this next batch, but will have to adjust to using wheat – I just can’t make an all white bread – gasp – hah! And either skip or reduce the VWG next batch. And reduce the fridge time to 3 days (as I said in prior comment I am purposely letting dough rest in fridge for many days bc that is supposed to reduce the carb count and increase digestion …. Which is supposed to make it more healthy…). Also I do think there are many things I can adjust in my baking based on tips section of ABin5 (over handling dough, oven temp, crust only lightly brown so probably not cooking long enough, and I am not letting it sit long enough once done (it smells so amazing out of the oven-2 hours to sit on counter is torture!! But soggy crumb is not worth cutting too early!)) so I will keep working at it. Thanks again for responding, Amy

        Also– more on dough rise issues – I have been experimenting with diff flours in all of my 5 batches of no knead dough over the last month – and changing too many variables at one time probably! (Dough with all bobs red mill wheat flour – didn’t rise well and tasty yucky; fresh ground soft white only: didn’t rise well – made good waffles though; fresh ground soft white and cake flour – didn’t rise at all (then I learned that cake flour has too little protein and soft white wheat is not for bread) so then I got the hard white wheat and the King Arthur AP white and made the batch I listed in original post …. Great rise, collapsed too much (bc let sit in fridge too long) and 1 loaf was tasty but 2nd loaf wasn’t.

      3. Amy: I’ve experimented with 100% WW dough without VWG, even though it’s not much explored in our books (there is one like that in our first book and its re-issue). Some of our testers found it a bit dense, so we played it safe and used VWG throughout Healthy Bread in Five. What I can tell you is:

        1. Doesn’t store long in the fridge. 5 days is absolute max, thereafter is too dense.
        2. Expect a denser result– this isn’t fluffy U.S. white bread.
        3. Flatbreads and small loaves are less dense than tall sandwich loaves
        4. Freeform’s better than in a loaf pan– more likely to fully bake through to the center.
        5. A little sugar, a little oil or butter help. Maybe two tablespoons each in a full batch.
        6. All bets are off with home-ground flour– the moisture content varies too much to make any statements about how much liquid you’ll need.
        7. In general, you can drop the VWG from any of our recipes that call for it. But, you also need to decrease the water, by about 1/4-cup in most of them, but you may need to experiment. See the videos on how wet this should look, and adjust accordingly. See https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2010/02/16/new-video-how-to-shape-a-loaf-using-whole-grain-dough

      4. Since you have dough which does not rise well, why not make thin crust pizza out of it? Thin crust pizza is the current rage for foodies. If you notice at you local pizza place, they take balls of dough out of cooling box where they have been stored for at least 24 hours and make their pizzas. The cool storage adds better flavor and makes better thin crust pizza. When you have lemons……

    1. Hi Rita,

      I love biscuits, but we don’t put them in our books because we only write about yeasted breads here. Biscuits are made with baking powder.

      Good luck, Zoë

      Reply

      1. Zoë, since these “biscuits” are not the classic type of biscuit and do contain yeast, I thought that they might have an application here. They also contain baking powder though. It’s a quirky recipe to be sure. 🙂

      2. My guess is that it’d work, because it has at least some yeast. Basically, the question is whether you can store the dough like ours– you have to mimic the hydration we use or it loses too much rising power in the storage.

      1. Art, thank you for reminding me about that trick. I completely forgot about it – I rarely do classic biscuits. But since it has yeast in it, I had to try it. I was going to go with a processor but don’t care to pull it out just to cut butter into the flour.

        It’s a tasty recipe but the texture is somewhere between a classic biscuit and a slightly sweet dinner roll.

        Rita

  30. Hi. I’m using New Artisan Bread in Five… and the master recipe. I’ve been tweaking for several weeks to get a great crumb structure and color, and while I’ve got those things down, I’ve noticed that the loaves I bake start out with a firm crust when I first take them out of the oven, but they quickly go soft. So the bread *looks* like it ought to have a crunch to it, but when you cut it, the loaf is soft. Not underbaked–just a soft crust. It’s similar to what you see with supermarket bakery loaves that look artisanal, but are soft. If it helps, I’m using a baking steel, a hot oven, and a little bit (less than a cup) of water introduced at the start of baking. Otherwise, everything is pretty normal.

    Reply

    1. Hmm, some questions:
      1. What flour brand you’re using?
      2. Do you live in a high-humidity climate? Often, this can really prevent a crisp crust.
      3. Are you checking the oven temp with something like https://ow.ly/8CVPU ? Allow it to come to full temp, which may take as long as 45 minutes in some larger ovens.
      4. Have you tried the shelf-switch on page 39?
      5. Does your dough look about like it does in this video? https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2010/03/08/new-video-shaping-the-ball-from-a-very-wet-dough Shouldn’t be any wetter than that.

      If we don’t figure out a problem based on these questions, you may just prefer it with just a little less water in the initial mix. 2 to 4T less?

      Reply

      1. I’m using a local bread flour and am adding the extra water (1/3 cup). My dough is generally pretty wet, maybe a little wetter than the dough in that video.

        I’m in NY state–not terribly humid. I haven’t done a shelf-switch, but that would be hard, since I bake on the baking steel directly and can’t really move it when the oven and steel are hot.

        Oven temp-wise, I’m at a pretty even 450, although I’ve also baked at 480 and have had good results with that.

        It sounds like my dough might be too wet. Do you recommend leaving out the 1/3 c. extra water for a start?

      2. Exactly. The other issue is that the local flour may have more moisture than is typical for the national brands we tested with. But start with the less water. As for the shelf-switch, the loaf is meant to go to the top without the stone or steel.

  31. How are you storing the bread? If you put it into a plastic bag or something airtight before it is actually cooled and has given off its moisture, the contained moisture will make the crust soft.

    Reply

    1. You/re right, it will. See FAQ tab above, and choose “Storing bread: What’s the best way to do it?”

      Reply

    3. Art: we’re not big believers in these thermometers, and have never used the product you mentioned. Our policy is not to endorse any products we haven’t used, so I had to drop that section from your note.

      Reply

  32. NEW Artisan Bread in 5, Master Boule

    I made a large batch of the recipe using King Arthur bread flour. It doubled in its container in 1 hour and still moving. I wondered if this might be an indication that there was too much water in the dough?

    King Arthur bread flour = 1790 g
    Yeast (Fleischmann’s) = 0.67%
    Salt = 2.6%
    Water = 80.4%

    Thanks,
    Rita

    Reply

    1. No not at all. The cardinal sign of too much water is when it doesn’t hold a shape well after you form the loaf, so see what happens.

      Reply

  33. After following many of the comments posted, I have to make the following observation. If you follow the recipes in the book without varying them by making substitutions of any kind, you will be blessed with a beautiful loaf every time! I think these folks are creating their problems.

    I am sure the recipes in the books were written after much research and trial and error which we all can benefit from by simply following the instructions! This is what I have done and I have been happy with every loaf I have made! Thank you Jeff and Zoe!

    Reply

    1. Thanks for the kind words, Patricia. Variation can be fun– but yes, you’re right, it often requires much trial and error. And error. Etc!

      Reply

  34. I make Italian Easter Bread every year! Best tip to make consistently light fluffy bread instead of hard loaves??

    Thank you!

    Reply

      1. I’ve been using our family recipe. I would gladly try yours to make a more consistent bread

        Thank you!

  35. Jeff, I have used your brioche recipe for the last two years for Italian Easter bread and it has worked perfectly!

    Reply

  36. Do you have any video or pictures of making the olive fougasse? I had a hard time rolling it back into a ball and then flattening it out. A lot of the olives popped out. Maybe I didn’t let the dough rest enough? Thanks.

    Reply

    1. Don’t have any AV for that, sorry! Maybe cut the olives a little smaller, or just press them back in as they emerge?

      Reply

  37. Hi Zoe and Jeff,
    I have been baking breads from AB in 5 for over 2 years. I always use either the master recipe, p-46 or the Soft American on p-205. The only difference between your recipes and what I do is that I usually bake in a 9×5″ bread pan because I like a higher loaf for sandwiches. I have three problems. First, the loafs are much smaller than you propose, for example, you say that the master recipe will make 4- 1 lb loafs. Mine makes barely 2 loafs in that pan, and they only fill the pan half way, and rise to the top of the pan, but rarely over it (the dough is doubling). Second, the loafs are invariably way too wet and soft (not cooked inside) at the end of your cooking time (in 3 different ovens, so I think the temp is correct). At that point I remove the loaf from the pan and put it right on the stone for 10 or 15 min, and it’s still too moist in the middle, but too brown on the top. Third, the bread is too crumbly, even though the tooth looks normal. When sliced thin, it crumbles; when sliced thick, it still has trouble holding up as a sandwich without falling apart. It does make wonderful, but “hard” toast. I use fresh yeast, and unbleached AP flour. HELP!

    Reply

    1. That’s a larger bread pan than we use (8.5 x 4.5) but even ours takes 1.5 to 2.0 pounds of dough– so you won’t get more than two of this kind of loaf from a batch. That’s the easy one.

      Quick question before we really dive in. How are you measuring flour– if by volume, make sure it’s scoop-and-sweep, like in this video, at https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2010/04/28/how-we-measure-our-flour-using-the-scoop-and-sweep-method . Second, what brands of flour are you using? And finally, even though it’s three ovens, you should check oven temp with something like https://ow.ly/8CVPU

      Reply

      1. OK, about the pan. I’ll get a smaller one.

        I do use the scoop and sweep method.

        I use Pillsbury, a store bulk generic, or Publix (a southern store chain), but all are unbleached AP.

        Thanks for your help.

        Mike

  38. Hi Guys
    My mum has just been diagnosed with cancer and has been advised to follow a wheat gluten dairy sugar egg free diet – I am happy to purchase one of your publications but do you have such a bread recipe please.?
    Many thanks for your time

    Reply

  39. Ok, I’ll try a smaller pan and a longer bake and let you know what happened in a few days ..

    Thanks,

    Mike

    Reply

  40. Do you think you can advise me how on how to make this recipe using your method?

    https://italianchips.com/brioche-bread/

    I would love a vegan brioch ! And this looks great but I love your method
    Have all your books been and devoted and passionate baker of your breads since your first book came out.

    Reply

    1. Well, it’s not really a true brioche, which is a white bread enriched with eggs and butter. This is actually an olive oil dough. Which of our books do you have? I can point you to a recipe for olive oil dough which you can shape into rolls like this.

      One other thing– in order to facilitate dough storage, our stuff is much wetter than the recipe you pointed me to.

      Reply

      1. Ok, I have all your books except for newest the gluten free one.

        I was looking to use a eggless and dairyless brioch dough it in making the donuts in your most recent post.

        Do you think I could use the olive oil dough page 214 from the NEW ABin5 book – can I adjust the sugar up to make a sweeter dough? and use to make donuts?

        Thanks again for your help.

      2. Yes, that’s what I was thinking. And you certainly can sweeten it to the level you see in the brioche. Honey or sugar, your pick.

    1. My guess is that your Kamut flour product is whole grain, so more likely, it’d swap for whole wheat flour (Kamut is an ancient variety of wheat). If you try to swap for white, it’s going to need lots more water. And probably vital wheat gluten (those kinds of recipes, though none specifically with Kamut, are the subject of Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, on Amazon at https://bit.ly/3wYSSN). You can probably get away with a partial swap, like in the Light Whole Wheat recipe. Swap for the whole wheat, not for the AP and I bet it’ll work w/o a lot of experimentation.

      Reply

  43. Hi guys!

    Can’t thank you enough for these easy and fantastic bread recipes!

    Quick question – I like to add a bit of the previous batch of dough into a new one, using the recommended method of blitzing the old dough into the water of the new base before adding anything else.

    I’ve noticed though, when I do this with your Whole Wheat Crusty version, I end up with a large golf ball sized glob of “stuff” that won’t blend in. It isn’t sticky, but is very stretchy, thick and gluey. I’m guessing it is the added Wheat Gluten?

    Is it best to just toss that out since it doesn’t dissolve into the mix or how would you recommend dealing with that? Have had no problem with the classic white crusty bread.

    Thanks!

    Reply

    1. I’m so surprised you can’t get it to dissolve. What if you try soaking it in water overnight (measure the water). Can start with very warm water, you won’t be adding yeast till it cools anyway.

      Reply

      1. I think you’ll get away with no changes with that shape of pan. Maybe a slightly longer bake, but 450 should be OK. Small chance the outside’ll burn before the center baked through, but I doubt it.

  45. Hello Jeff and Zoe!

    I would like to try some different variations on soft sandwich loaf breads. I have both AB5 and HB5. I am more interested in trying some recipes in the HB5 book. Do you think I could do the quinoa loaf or the betsys seed loaf baked at 375 in a loaf pan for about 60 mins? No steam. Would any of the recipes work with this method for a sandwich loaf?

    Also, in general, is it okay to swap spelt flour for whole wheat?

    Thank you!!!

    Reply

    1. I think either of those will be good in a loaf pan, but you may need a longer baking time than that– this is going to take some experimentation. In general, you can do this with any of the recipes, though the heavier the dough (more seeds, etc in it), the more likely it’ll be challenging to bake through as a loaf-shape.

      About spelt, see our note about that at https://artisanbreadinfive.com/2009/12/08/corrections-for-healthy-bread-in-five-minutes-a-day; look at the item about page 79’s ingredient list.

      Reply

  46. Hello Jeff and Zoe,
    I was wandering if I could replace the all purpose unbleached flour with unbleached bread flower. And if yes, do I need to adjust any of the other ingredients.
    Thank you

    Reply

      1. Thank you very much Zoe. Your response and the information you send me was very helpful.
        With regards,
        Ray

  47. I have noticed when I bake Focaccia or some of the flatbreads, they seem to get crusty quicker. Are they meant to be served warm and be done in that moment (So should I make a smaller portion if there are less of us?), or is there a specific method to keep the flatbread softer for a day or two? Does reheating do the job? I personally like the bread soft like it is from the oven over crusty.

    Thanks so much for the delicious and quick recipes. They have all been enjoyed by everyone!

    Reply

    1. Hi Maria,

      Which dough are you using for the focaccia? If you use a dough with oil, like the olive oil dough, it tends to be softer. You can also leave out the steam from the recipe and bake it at a slightly lower temperature.

      Thanks, Zoë

      Reply

      1. Thank you for the reply. I used the Olive oil bread that was listed with the flatbread section of the book. What temperature would you suggest?

        It seems very soft coming out of the oven, but once it cools, it is crustier. I didn’t know if there was a storage trick to keeping it softer or if it was just meant to be eaten right away.

        Thanks again.

      2. Hi Maria,

        You may want to try making the flatbread with the challah dough (you can use olive oil in the dough if you like that flavor), which is softer and will stay softer after baking. You’ll want to reduce the baking temperature to 375 and bake for 5 to 10 minutes longer.

        Thanks, Zoë

      3. Zoe, wouldn’t the loaf be less crusty if she were to put it into a plastic bag, at least briefly, while it was still warm, to allow it to steam a bit and soften the crust?

        I’ve packed regular beautifully crusty loaves overnight in a plastic bag (after they had cooled thoroughly) for those in our family who prefer softer loaves and it works very well. Not gonna mention dental problems…oops! Did that slip out?

      4. Hi Rita,

        It is worth a try, but if the loaf is warm it may just get soggy. If you’ve had good luck with this, then by all means don’t mess with success! 🙂

        Cheers, Zoë

      5. Actually, Zoë I’ve always waited until the loaves were at room temp before bagging them in plastic if I wanted a softer crust. I just threw the warm loaf idea out there as an option, but you are probably right — it might make the loaf a little soggy. Thanks for keeping us on track!

        Rita

      6. Hi Rita,

        Yes, at room temperature it seems like a great idea to bag them if you want to keep the crust soft.

        Thanks, Zoë

  48. Hi Jeff, I am using The New Artisan Bread Book (love it) and making rye bread. When I set out a grapefruit size of dough to rise it has a tendency to spread out too much. The bread is great but I am not getting enough height on the loaf. Any ideas on how to stop the dough from spreading too much?

    Reply

  49. Hello!

    I have all three of your books, but I mainly work from the HB5 book. I am curious, is it okay to add things such as nuts/ dried fruits to any of the recipes in the book (that don’t already have them). And would 1.5 – 2 cups be okay for the full recipes? I wanted to add the nuts/ fruits right into the dough. Are there any doughs that I should avoid adding to, or extra steps I should take when doing this?

    Thanks!!!

    Reply

    1. Hi Sara,

      I can’t think of any off hand that wouldn’t work, but you may need to increase the water if the dried fruit is absorbing too much of the liquid as it sits. This will depend on the dough you use, so it may take a bit of experimenting.

      Enjoy, Zoë

      Reply

    1. Hi Mollie,

      Which book are you using? Are you trying to swap whole wheat flour? It is an easier swap if you are starting from the challah in the HBin5 book.

      Thanks, Zoë

      Reply

      1. I cant have any wheat flour but the recipes in both books are straight up A/P flour or a mix of that and whole wheat.

        I would love to make really good bread that is spelt only.

      2. Hi Mollie,

        Spelt flour is a variety of wheat, so if you can’t eat wheat, you will also have issues with Spelt. It has slightly lower amount of the protein that forms gluten, but it still does contain gluten. If you can tolerate spelt, then I recommend using the recipes in our HBin5 book, but you will need to decrease the amount of liquid. If you are trying to lower the gluten content, you will need to eliminate the vital wheat gluten and reduce the water even further. Unfortunately there is no quick rule of thumb, it will just require some trial and error. I recommend trying it with a small batch until you find the dough you like best.

        If it is a gluten intolerance, you may want to try our gluten-free recipes.

        Thanks, Zoë

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