Hi Lyn V / Kerry

Did you only allow the dough to rise once??
I am looking at this
[www.chefmichaelsmith.ca]

Which, when I see him doing it on his show it looks really great, but involves a lot of time. IE 1st rise 12 - 18 hours, mould and 2nd rise 2 to 3 hours.

Lynette - I find it hard to justify a can of beer in a loaf of bread, but I really like the idea. The way you describe the 8 plat sounds really interesting. Do you know of a site that has steps of doing this?

John

John, sorry but I just winged it. Roll out a long thin sausage, bring the two ends together to form a ring, pull the ring into a skinny 0 and by picking up the bottom half and twisting it once, you have an 8. If the ring is too big, then twist it twice, and you have 8 1/2

Hi John,
I had the recipe before me. Followed instructions which is hard for me. As I was using Active Yeast as opposed to Instant and I didn't have a clue about their differences, I decided to still follow recipe as given. I did dissolve the 1/4 tsp in 1 c warm water first until it looked bubbly and ready for action. Into the flour mix a good stir then covered with plastic and a cloth. Twelve hours later after a cold night, tip onto floured surface gently so as not to exhaust the slight puffiness of the dough, then a gentle folding of the corners into each other (did NOT knead or overwork) until I had something about the size of an Ostrich egg, then I was able to pick it up and put it gently (gentle is the key) into the blistering hot cast iron pot with the blistering hot cast iron lid.

I have now eaten a slice. The crunchy top went a bit soft because I had to go out and covered it with a cloth while still hot. No matter. I have a dense bread that is light at the same time but there are air pockets too. Solid but not stodgy. I resembles a sour dough with texture and chew and slightly moist. I think tomorrow it will be better and I know it will make great toast.
Yes, only one rising.
Lyn, you covered yours with foil didn't you and were a little disappointed. It is essential (I think) to follow recipe and have a heavy lid too.

Kerry, would a Le Creuset cast iron casserole work? I wonder if the enamel could be damaged by the high heat. What are your thoughts?

As I understand it Chris Le Creusets are not supposed to be used above 220C so I chose not to use mine. I used a cheap as, old brandless, cast iron one that has seen better days but did the trick for the bread and didn't disintegrate with the high heat. Go the unpampered cheapos.

I'm having a try at a no knead beer bread this evening, a different recipe again from this website called Treats [treats-sf.blogspot.com]
I have the dough rising on the table at the moment, I'll see how it turns out tomorrow

So I made the bread, here's a picture of it. Looks beautiful, amazing crust on it. I have not cut into it yet
[s847.photobucket.com]

A little slice of New Zealand.
[sundayhotpants.nocturne.net.nz]

Mmmmmmmmm.......that looks fantastic Sunday. How do you achieve those perfect stripes? Have you glazed it and then used flour or meal of some sort to make the stripes. I bet it tastes as good as it looks!
Regards,
Dawn.

The stripes are made with strips of baking paper placed over the top of the bread just before putting in the oven. Flour is sifted over the top - carefully remove the strips of paper and then bake the bread.

A little slice of New Zealand.
[sundayhotpants.nocturne.net.nz]

That looks very professional. Have you cut into it yet? I wouldn't have been able to resist.

Thanks for that Sunday - you can probably tell I'm not much of a breadmaker!
Regards,
Dawn.

Yep I've cut into it. It's delicious! It has a texture somewhat like ciabatta - moist and with large holes. I'll take a picture

I only make bread about twice a month and I'm certainly no expert either. I just try to choose things that I think I can make

Aaarrrgh... in the chaos of the weekend, I just realised that I have not done my own challenge!

I had planned to make crumpets, and completely forgot!!!

I will aim to still get it done one day this week, and post about it a bit late. Clearly I got distracted making bagels the other day when I should have been doing crumpets.

Sunday - they look divine!!!! What a re you doing to me? Already tried out heaps of your recipes and you've just lit the kitchen candle yet again! You are opeing up a whole new world for me!!
Love breadmaking - nothing like the smell of fresh bread cooking - real doom buster and cheerer upper!! My Grandfather was the orginal test baker for Ernest Adamas and in his spare time at home he was always making bread - the old fashioned way.!!!! Took hours but the taste was mindblowing. I was lucky enough to have my Grandparents living next door until about 10 years ago and spent many hours talking baking with him and enjoying the spils of his toils!!!!
Keep up the great work - loving your efforts.

Deb, sorry !
It sounds like your grandfather has an interesting background, how lucky you were to have him living close by. My mother never baked bread when I was little. I think the first taste of a home-made bread I ever had was out of my own kitchen, and really only in the last couple of years.
Bread making is something I am still learning about - but what a fantastic journey, I think the biggest thrill for me is finding out that it's not as difficult as I always imagined it to be.
I'm really pleased you're enjoying my recipes it gives me a huge amount of pleasure knowing that someone else enjoys them