That sweet, beautifully full aroma that permeates your sense of smell, tantalizes your palate and piques your interest is the scent of homemade bread baking in your oven. How did it get there? Is it a dream? It may be now, but it doesn’t have to be. Making bread is simple with quality ingredients, fine baking tools and friendly help from your friends at Breadtopia.
We suggest if you’re new to the rewarding world of bread making that you consider utilizing the no knead method, which involves virtually no “hard labor,” yet yields superior results. After you get started, you may want to expand your repertoire by creating a traditional European style whole grain sourdough or other more challenging breads.
We offer recipes, baking classes on video, premium ingredients and much more for those wishing to create bread that a connoisseur of fine baking would find superior in every way.
Video instruction is one of the most useful teaching tools we can offer. To get instant notification of our newest video, please take a moment to fill out our short “Video Notification” form located near the top right column of this page. The videos are free, the benefits are great.
Here at Breadtopia, you will find everything that you require to ensure successful bread baking and more. Our site is designed to make bread baking easy, fun and healthful.
Baking perfect bread has never been easier.
{ 28 comments… read them below or add one }
Is there an optimum “moment” to add sourdough starter? Let’s say I’ve refreshed my starter several times in the last few days. It doubles in about four hours. Should I add it to my dough recipe at the peak of its activity (doubling), when it is exhausted, or does it matter, as long as it has been refreshed?
Second question: My starter smells sweet (not particularly yeasty), but when I taste it, it is very acid-tasting on my tongue. I’ve been trying to make slow, refrigerator-risen sourdough, and though the rise has been so-so over two days, the baked bread has virtually no sour flavor. What variable might I be missing in getting the sourest possible result?
Many thanks for any ideas.
Hi Pete,
I’ve had so many favorite recipes since I mentioned the “2 cups sourdough” one that I’ve long forgotten specifically which I was referring to at the time. I do know it came out of Ed Wood’s Classic Sourdoughs book as there’s a number of recipes in it that call for 2 cups of sourdough. It’s not a bad book to have for the sourdough aficionado.
Eric, In one of your starter videos, I believe the one you rescued an old sour dough starter , you mentioned that one of your favorite breads used 2 cups of starter. Is this recipe somewhere on this site or are you going to put it on?
I would really be interested in having it… I like you, cut my teeth of SF sourdough bread more specifically at Fishermans Wharf.. Keep up the great work,. Breadtopia is a God send for all of us aspiring I was going to say young bakers, but alas am well past my youth but love to bake bread.. Pete
Thanks for your advice. The problem that I was having with the bread not rising enough seems to be solved. I was letting it rise in the oven with the light on for 18 hrs, and the yeast was spent by the time it came to baking. I’m letting it rise now in a cold oven for 18 hrs, then while I fold it for the second rise, I put the oven on and let it warm up a bit. I then put the cold dough in this warm oven and let it double in size. I take it out while heating the oven and the clay bakers to 500 degrees and then put the dough in the hot bakers for 30 minutes. I take off the clay tops and let it brown a little while longer. Usually less than 10 minutes. I think it now has the light texture that it should. I put a couple of tbs. of butter in the mix and love the taste and the fact that the bread stays moist longer.
*Click to enlarge
Hi Merle,
It’s easier to get a better rise with stiffer (thicker) dough. So you might try adding more flour at the beginning and/or less water. Just experiment a little and see what happens. Also, sometimes shortening the proofing time from 18 hours to 10-14 (depending on room temperature) can help a lot, and reducing the second rise to not more than 60-75 minutes or so. The yeast may be more potent earlier in the proofing cycle.
And if you’re not already doing it, place your dough in the cloche after you’ve preheated it. That will give you better oven spring.
Hope this helps. Let us know!
I love this bread!! My neighbors love me because of this bread. I follow the directions exactly, (except I put in a couple of tablespoons of butter) and I’m wondering if there is any way to get the bread to rise just a bit more? I’ve tried varying the water and the rising time, but these don’t seem to have much effect. I’m using King Arthur bread flour, SAF instant yeast, purified water, and clay bakers yet I’ve never gotten the large holes that many pictures show. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks
For you No Knead Bread enthousiasts who don’t have or don’t want to invest in a Dutch oven, I have been working with a very economical alternative.
I purchased a clay plant pot underliner, which measures 8.25” at the bottom and a stainless steel salad bowl measuring 9.25” across the rim.
I preheat them in a 450 degree oven and tip the bread in it when it has risen enough. The benefit here is, as with a cloche, that you don’t have to plop the dough into it but gently lay it on the underliner.
Attached is a picture with the result. This is a odified version of the NK bread with steel cut oats. I just used more whole wheat instead of white. I also use this contraption to bake bread using more convential methods, such as the multi grain based on the recipe in Nancy Silverton’s book “Breads from the La Brea Bakery”.
For me the big advantage of baking in a dutch oven, cloche, whatever, is that, for the same end result, you don’t have to spray the oven with water which eventually will cost you $300/$400 in repairs if you have an electronic ignition system for the oven. (I have first hand knowledge of that).
Happy Baking
Hans Leenhouts
*Click to enlarge
Hi Kate,
I would like to do that at some point in my life. There’s a recipe for sourdough croissants in Daniel Leader’s book Local Breads that’s been calling to me for some time.
My wife is really the one to ask. She used to make croissants when she had her bakers and still shudders at the thought of how much work they are. Of course there’s a big difference between making something for yourself and making it commercially. Maybe your request will move it up on my “to do” list but with all the other things on that list, I can’t see it happening anytime soon.
Thanks for asking though.
Hi, Eric! I’ve been a fan of your site for awhile now, but I just wanted to send you a suggestion and cross my fingers that it’s possible to do… What I’m hoping to see is you making sourdough croissants!! Here’s hoping you’ve done it, or plan to soon! Thanks for all the great recipes and videos, my family rejoices when they see me watching a vid on Breadtopia! In fact, I’m about to get started on the w.w. banana bread, mmm.
~ Kate
Hello Fahriye,
I would stick with 1 cup = 5 oz flour. One cup of water is equal to 8 oz and whilst I suppose it’s possible to compress 8 oz of flour into a cup, I think the more accepted method of measuring flour consists of sprinkling it into a cup and then leveling it off. When that’s done, you end up with more like 4½-5 oz of flour.
Hi, Thank you for your wonderful bread recipe. I am going to make it soon but confused about the conversion.
Above, on your video recipe, it says 1 cup of flour ( 5 oz ) but my conversion on the net says 1 cup = 8 oz. Can you help on this please, thanks.
Great Site.
Kristal L. Rosebrook
I just tried the no-knead recipe using steel-cut oats and absolutely love it. Thanks for sharing it with the world.
Don Paul
why do you have an aluminum foil covered sheet pan in the bottom of your oven??
when i made the cook’s bread from their recipe, the bottom was burned even though the temperature was correct.
Hi Ellen,
I’ve never seasoned mine. Not even sure how one would go about seasoning stoneware. I suppose it might be necessary for baking meats and such but it’s definitely not necessary for bread baking.
Hi.
I just purchased a clay bakeware.
Do I need to season it and how, please?
Thank you.
Hi Anthony,
Thanks a lot for the heads up on the search engine problem. I wasn’t aware of it. I’ve taken it down until I figure out what’s wrong. I’ve have the darnedest time trying to find a simple and effective search engine that doesn’t conflict with something else.
As for the rye recipe, it this the one? http://www.breadtopia.com/bread-recipes-dry-yeast/#Ricks_Rye
Coincidentally, I’m going to be posting another readers rye recipe later today so you can check back tomorrow. It will be on the home page, just scroll down a bit.
Your site is great but there is a problem with the search engine. I’ve tried a few different recipe searches and the results window opens and pretty much freezes up the browser. It keeps refreshing itself and I am unuble to click on any of the links; in the end, it is not possible to close the browser window. I am looking for a rye bread recipe that I previously saw on the site. Thanks for everything!
Excellent!
Please email the pic to me and I’ll post it. Thanks.
Update on my sourdough .. I cut the rise time to 10 hr and added a bit more flour … viol’a … magnificent … and How do i at a pic to this blog … thanks agian Judy
Hi Judy,
During the warm summer months it’s easy to over proof bread so the yeast has kind of run its course and there’s no oomph left at the end of the second rise. So a lot of people are finding the solution in shortening both the long rise from 18 hours to 12 or even 10 and the second rise to 30-45 minutes.
Try it and see how it goes for you.
I am having some Problems with my no knead sourdough ! Simular to Linda .. My dough rises up nicely in the second rise , yet doesn’t rise in the La clloche . how do when it is done rising the hour is i think to long . .. thanks Judy in WA
Hi Marsha,
If it’s particularly warm or especially warm and humid where you are, you can try cutting way down on the long proofing time. From 18 to 10-12 hours or so. What might be happening is your yeast (or sourdough) may be petering out so there’s not much oomph left to give you the oven spring you’re asking about.
If you make them again and try this let me know if it helped. And, yea, by all means adapt the recipe to steak
.
I used the no=knead recipe to bake rolls. After the second rise (it rises out more than up) I baked the rolls. They pretty much came out of the oven looking just as they did when I put them into the oven, except browner. Were they supposed to rise again during baking? Not that I actually care, because they are freakin’ great!!!! Nice and crusty and we’re thoroughly delighted with them. So I’ve done the bread in the dutch oven thing, and then an adaptation as a loaf in a loaf pan, and now the rolls. All wonderful. So, can you now adapt that recipe to make, oh, i don’t know, steak?
Thanks for the great website.
Thanks Sylvia.
Eric……Great new look…I love the bread photo.
Thanks Tom! I really appreciate it.
Eric,
I love the “new look” you’ve given the site. It was a very pleasant surprise on my visit this afternoon. I’ll be making your Whole Grain Sourdough starting tonight and wanted to watch your excellent videos once again — well, probably 2-3 more times before I get it underway.
Tom.