I finally broke down and bought the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.
It is wonderful and I highly recommend it. No more buying packaged bread for me. And my house smells like a bakery. However, it is a bit dangerous because bread makes my butt big and the fact that I slather it with butter doesn't really help. I suppose I could have a worse habit, like crystal meth or something. Crystal meth, butter, crystal meth, butter — yep, I'll take my butter!
I have made two types of bread so far, the 100 percent Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread and the Oat Flour Bread. Both were extremely delicious and healthy. However, I did notice the bread really didn't rise well. I followed the very well-written directions, but the dough didn't act right. So today I went to their website. There is a section listed "Errors"
One of the errors in the book is that all the recipes as written call for 1 1/2 packets of yeast, when it should be TWO packets of yeast! Huge boo-boo on their part.
If you have the book I suggest you check out the error section of their website.
But even with the problems, I still love the book and will continue to make my own bread.
Enjoy,
This article appears in May 20-26, 2009.