Saturday, February 28, 2009

Baking Bread ala Range!

© 2009 Albert A Rasch




OK, so I got this from Miss Jamie over at Borderland, but in my defense I did make some changes! Cold Day in the Desert

It came out pretty good all things considered. It really was a gooey mess, and almost threw it out. But in the end I tossed it in the oven and it worked! First cookies and now I bake bread!



Since making this batch of bread, I have increased the flour by half a cup and I found that it wasn't as difficult to work with as before. I also think that if you let it rise longer, rather than shorter, it comes out better. After you cut the dough and shape it, you can put it to rise again as long as you think prudent. I cut the salt down to one tablespoon from one and a half. I'll probably move it up to one and a quarter.

It is a thick, heavy, chewy bread, with lots of potential for modification. The crust is delicious, but can be a little tough. Not a good idea to try to bite through it if you have braces. My next batch of oven baked bread will have mashed up garlic in it, and the Mrs wants some of that rosemary in another loaf. It goes great with stews and soups, and the kids wolf it down.

This kind of bread baking is pretty darn easy, if a little messy. I find that baking pans are easier to work with for me than free forming on a cookie sheet. At least it contains and corrals the dough. One of these days though, I am going to get a pizza stone.


Regards,
Albert A Rasch
The Hunt Continues...

4 comments:

Home on the Range said...

Once you get the pizza stone you will wonder how you got along with out it. I use mine for many, many things.

Anonymous said...

If you want a no knead easy bread you might take a look at this deer camp bread recipe.

http://wildedtx.blogspot.com/2007/12/easy-deer-camp-bread.html

Anonymous said...

Nothing beats a good loaf of bread especially homemade bread.

Jamie Woodward said...

So happy you gave it a try! I like the idea of garlic and rosemary. And yes, if too wet or sticky add a little more flour. It looks great though!