trying to make bread

[mermaidmama]

but not having luck yet. I am using the recipe from this book: The River Cottage Family Cookbook by Hugh Fearnley. The problem I am having is it cooks all the way until the middle....where I am left with peices of raw dough. The loaf also feels heavy. What might I be doing wrong? This is my 3rd try.

BTW- I use my kitchenaid to knead the dough because of my fibromyalgia pains

[lil_earthmomma]

Originally Posted by mermaidmama

but not having luck yet. I am using the recipe from this book: The River Cottage Family Cookbook by Hugh Fearnley. The problem I am having is it cooks all the way until the middle....where I am left with peices of raw dough. The loaf also feels heavy. What might I be doing wrong? This is my 3rd try.

BTW- I use my kitchenaid to knead the dough because of my fibromyalgia pains

I think you need to make no knead bread!!! Check out www.breadtopia.com

It's an amazing website that taught me how to make gorgeous artisan bread, sourdough starters, and the video tutorials really help imho.

It such awesome bread super easy and fool proof, and no need to knead it!

[organicmidwestmama]

i dont make my own bread so no help there but...

how is the river cottage family cookbook? i keep spying it and thinking about getting it on amazon...

[mermaidmama]

re

Thank you so much for directing me to the no knead bread! I just barely scanned over his comments and already found 2 things I had done wrong. :

As for the cookbook....I really like it and have had success with the other recipes I have tried. It is my favorite. The pics are beautiful too. Plus, I can say now that the reason the bread didnt turn out for me was not the books fault. I used junk yeast and tap water

[HappiLeigh]

I'm not familiar with that recipe, but if you are having trouble with it being raw in the middle you might need to tent the loaf with foil so it doesn't burn on the top and let it bake longer.

[mermaidmama]

re

Thanks!

I will try that!

[journeymom]

By the way, the thing about tap water being bad for bread dough is not relevant anymore. I read about this just last night, Artisan Baking Across America, by Maggie Glezer.

"The myth about water quality affecting bread quality (you often hear this in New York City, where people claim their water, and hence their bread, is better) started hundreds of years ago, before the advent of municipal water systems, when bakers drew their water from private wells. If the water in the well was bad, so was the bread, obviously. Today, almost all tap water is fine for all types of bread baking."

But I would imagine that the quality of the yeast is definitely relevant. The bread might not rise properly if it's just too old. This happens when I get the idea I'm going to make bread, poke around in the fridge and find a pack of yeast from four years ago, the last time I tried to make bread.

Doughy in the middle: your oven's temperature calibration might be off. You think it's heated to 350 F, but it's actually at 400 F, or whatnot. Get yourself an oven thermometer and test the oven. Set it to 350 and see what the thermometer reads. Your oven might be hotter than it says it is. If that's the case you can adjust accordingly.

[mermaidmama]

re

Ok...will try that too Thanks!

[BaBaBa]

Google Sullivan Street Bakery New York. (I think it's also on youtube)

You will find a recipe for hands down, the EASIEST, TASTIEST bread recipe you will ever find. Seriously, a child can make it.

Since DH discovered it he's been making fresh bread every day.