Reddit mentions of The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking

Recipe from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, an amazing book that got me started on breadmaking.

• 1 head of garlic
  
• 3c (1.5lb) lukewarm water
  
• 1 1/2 T yeast
  
• 1 1/2 T salt
  
• 1 1/2 T sugar
  
• 1 mashed potato (book says 1c, but I used one potato.)
  
• 6 1/2 c (2 lb) all-purpose flour (I used King Arthur)
  
• Cornmeal to keep the bottom from sticking
  
  

1. Wrap a head of garlic in foil, roast at 400 F for about 30 minutes. I also baked a potato in foil for about 40 minutes and mashed it, since I didn't have pre-mashed potatoes handy.
   
2. Mix the yeast, salt, sugar, potato, and garlic (squeeze it out) and add the water. Use a stand mixer or lots of arm strength, and mix until combined. Don't knead.
   
3. Cover with a cloth and rest at room temperature for about two hours; dough will rise and then flatten.
   
   The dough can be used immediately or refrigerated for up to a week.
   
   When ready to bake:
   
   
4. Dust the surface of the dough with flour and take a 1 lb (grapefruit-sized) lump out. Dust it with more flour, and stretch the sides around to form a ball. Rest on a pizza peel or cutting board dusted with cornmeal for an hour (40 minutes if fresh, unrefrigerated dough.)
   
5. 20 minutes before baking time, preheat the oven to 450 and put a baking stone in the center. Put a broiler pan on a rack underneath the stone.
   
6. Sprinkle the loaf with flour and slash a 1/4 inch deep cross, scallop, or tic-tac-toe pattern in the top to allow for rising.
   
7. Slide the loaf onto the hot stone, and pour hot (or boiling) water into the broiler pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes, and try to avoid opening the oven. The top will turn deep brown and the bread will sound hollow when you knock on it. Overcooking is hard to do; you don't want to be undercooked!
   
   Let it cool, and eat! (If you're impatient, like me, the crumb will be pretty moist.)

This is virtually identical to the boule recipe in Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day.... the only difference is the added sugar.

You don't need to be so finicky with the mixing. Dump everything in a bowl, stir til mostly combined then cover it with a towel and stuff it in the fridge overnight. You can use it immediately, but it's not quite as flavourful.

The book suggests cooking it on a pizza stone at 450 for 30min, with a 30min rest between when you do that folding of the hunk of dough thing and when you stick it in the oven (they call it a gluten cloak).

It's good bread. It's even better after the dough has sat in the fridge for a week (it'll last two). It also makes decent pizza dough.

And the brioche recipe in that book can be turned into AMAZING beignets.

Edit to add link.

I didn't! It's from a dough recipe in this book.


Wonderful recipes in here. I highly suggest buying it if you like making bread!

Thanks for the heads up! Yeah it looks like there are some gems in there for sale. Can anyone vouch for this book? I want a great bread making reference.