I got to thinking after I had written that maybe it could be the pan I've been using. I'm going to try again Saturday since I'll have more time to do it than during the week (baking day). So I'll try a diff pan and see what happens.

As I understood it correctly you have been baking this bread in the pan (9” x 5”). Right? If yes, then this is what might cause the bread not to brown. This lean loaf of bread should not have been baked in the loaf pan. This bread should be baked on the tray or baking stone. I've never tried to bake this type of dough in the pan before. I could only assume, if this dough is baked in the loaf pan then it could be steaming in the enclosed form, not browning. Any thought on this analysis?

Happy Baking

Made my first two attempts tonight. First dough ball ended up in the trash and the second did not rise well at all but made it through the oven. I take it from the previous threads that there are too many variables to take into consideration when trying to diagnose failure and my best bet is to pay attention when making bread and make a lot of it. :)

I have been baking homemade bread for about 50 years and have learned a few tips and terms I wasn't familiar with before but question a couple of things. For one thing, I think that amount of flour on the bread before baking may be artisanal to you, but to me it's ugly and nasty. I was taught by my grandmother to brush the top with melted butter and maybe a very light sprinkling of flour or poppy seeds or whatever floats your boat, but that amount on yours seems excessive. Also, I have been slicing bread hot out of the oven all my life and my kids and grandkids love it. I simply have an extremely shapr Cutco knife I use and apply no pressure letting the knife do the work. I wait 5 minutes or so before slicing. After all that heel and the first couple of slices hot out of the oven with butter, cheese spread, or super crunchy peanut butter are why many of us still make our own bread. Darn, now I have to go make some. It sounds so good.

The amount of flour that is sprinkled over the dough is entirely up to you; in fact, there doesn't have to be any. Just make sure that the blade you are using is ultra sharp to slash the dough so it doesn't tug and deflate the proof.

As for cutting the bread straight out of the oven, again, if this floats your boat :-), it's up to you. We're all about being flexible at Rouxbe, so if this is something you prefer to do, by all means, go for it. Glad that you were inspired to make some bread! Cheers!

I ate my bread and it was good. I love this school and have learned so much. I enjoy the flexibility and the techniqes and tips are wonderful. Just keep it coming.

can a pizza stone be used to bake your bread on, and what is the best way to use?

You can bake bread on a pizza stone. Place the stone into a cold oven and heat to the desired baking temperature. The only thing is that you'll have to liberally coat the peel with cornmeal and place the shaped dough on top and let proof there without disturbing it. Once proofed, you'll then have to then slide it off the peel onto the pizza stone in one quick motion without deleting the proof. A bit tricky. Until you are really comfortable with the whole bread-making process, I'd stick with the sheet pans for now. Cheers!

Hi, yesterday I made a bagatte following the bread-making process described in the video. It was a success and very fun to make. I would like to know if I can use the same steps make whole wheat bread or is there a different process for whole wheat bread? Thanks

Whole wheat will change the texture of the bread and make it quite dense. Whole wheat flour cannot be substituted 1:1 in recipes that call for all-purpose or bread flour. Refer back to Topic 5 in the Wheat and Gluten lesson for more details.

Whole wheat flour interfers with the development of gluten. Usually 1/3 to 1/2 can be substituted in recipes, but the texture will obviously be different. If you would like to experiment, try substituting no more than half of the amount of bread flour with whole wheat flour. Cheers!

I've been (trying) to bake bread for years, sometimes with success but most often, though they taste great, my baguettes and other loaves turn out quite flat. I tried your recipe for the lean dough, and shaped and proofed it as it said.. but again, during the proofing, the dough spread out horizonally instead of vertically. The dough doesnt seem too sticky, feels just right, but it seems like 8 loaves out of 10 go flat like this. Any suggestions as to what I can do to improve this? Thanks so much! :)

Two things that may cause this. First, the wrong flour, especially ones for bread machines (they are not suited for hand-made bread). The other is too long of a second proof when you've shaped the bread, which may cause the bread to loose too much co2 gas. Also, perhaps your oven is not hot enough (minimum 400 F if you're having issues).

Also, try propping up the bread with the sides of your hands, sort of giving it gentle karate chops at the base right before putting the shaped baguette in the oven.

I have been meaning to try this ever since the lesson first came out, but was a little afraid that I would fail due to all the steps involved. I finally made bread the other day and it came out perfect! I kept the computer on my kitchen table and played it step by step as I made the dough. I made a round loaf and it really came out great. We were out of bread in the house so I thought this was a good time to try to make bread for the week. Well, we ended up eating most of it that very night. Putting your steps into practice was much easier than I thought and I had fun getting my hands full of dough and getting flour all over the counters. Thank you so much for your clear instructions and givning me more confidence in the kitchen. I'm looking forward to future recipes.

Another great series!
In April I took an artisan bread baking workshop here in Spain and the teacher had explained to us that slashing bread also used to have the function of identifying/distinguishing everyone's bread that was often baked in communal ovens in villages.

If your oven only has one level or grill, what can you do to make up for putting the tray with the few tablespoons of water below?

You can place a small pan beside the tray. It doesn't have to be underneath. As long as you have somewhere to create steam, you're good to go. Cheers!

How about a gluten free bread recipe. I am gluten free and It is very hard to find a good one that is good to eat that is not expensive to make. Rachel Adamson

Here is another thread that asks this same question about this subject. Cheers!

In the video lesson, you simply say to cut the dough, flatten it and then shape it. I've worked in bakeries for many years and even owned my own. After the initial proofing of the dough, we would cut the pieces and then round them before resting the dough. This time of rounding the dough would greatly strengthen the dough structure. After sitting 20 to 30 minutes, the dough was again punched before shaping before the final proofing. To shape the loafs without this step would allow the gasses to escape more easily. Is there a reason you didn't do this in the lesson?

This is actually covered at the end of Topic 4 and into Topic 5. After the initial fermentation and after the dough has been punched down, we do indicate that this dough should rest for at least 10-15 minutes before shaping. This resting period helps to relax the gluten which helps to make shaping easier. Depending on the type of dough, the resting time in between fermenting, shaping and proofing can and will vary. In large-scale bakeries, dough is often punched down, portioned, rounded, bench rested and then shaped prior to proofing. Cheers!

You misunderstood what I was saying. My comment was not concerning the resting. My comment was due to the fact that you do not round the dough after cutting and before resting. This would cause the gluten to be brought together rather than lay out flat. This step will insure a higher raise because the gluten will be strengthened more. It is the same thinking when you first round the dough before the first fermentation.

Ah yes, you are referring to pre-shaping. You are correct that dough is often first formed into a boule (round) or a cylinder (log) prior to resting and prior to the final shaping. This helps to train/coax the gluten into the desired final shape. Pre-shaping can help many doughs to rise better. In this lesson, we covered the very basics and will eventually have a lesson on shaping dough into a variety of different shapes. In the meantime, there is a drill-down attached to the lesson called "What is Pre-Shaping". Cheers!

Hi,
is there any way to know if my yeast is still active before I start? I have a instant one bought 3 months ago and my dough didn't rise...can I use all purpose flour(pre sifted) instead of no bleached? proportions would be the same? cheers!! :o)

Testing to see whether or not yeast is alive is covered in Topic 3 in the lesson on Bread Making Basics. We also cover flour in this lesson as well. You can use all-purpose flour but it will likely result in a softer loaf due to the lower protein content. Use enough flour to obtain the same consistency as shown in the video as different flours will require more/less. Cheers!

Is it possible to freeze bread dough? What about pizza dough?

Thanks in advance