ARTISAN BREAD IN FIVE MINUTES A DAY

Artisan bread in five minutes a day
by Zoe Francois and Jeff Hertzberg

It’s such an appealing concept. Bread like it was made by a masterchef, but made by you! Bread like it took a lifetime of learning mysterious skills, but made in five minutes of effort from a simple recipe. It’s a bread-making phenomon sweeping America. And it works.

Artisan bread in five minutes a day, by Zoe Francois and Jeff Hertzberg, was released in late 2007. The key elements are not new in themselves (no kneading, wet dough, refrigeration), but here they are combined in an innovative method. With a mere five minutes of your personal effort, the dough is ready for several hours in the fridge (even up to two weeks, if you can bear to leave any that long) before it can be shaped, rested and baked at your leisure.

The book is structured around introductory chapters (dealing with ingredients, equipment and techniques), the master recipe, and variants on the master recipe (about a hundred of them – peasant loaves, flatbreads and pizzas, enriched breads and pastries). The variety of loaves made from the master recipe is surprising and spurs the imagination into overdrive.

It really is important to read the method all the way through before getting out the ingredients. Having the big picture in mind before starting will help substantially, as well as being sure to have all the recommended hardware or suitable substitutes. For example, a baking tray covered in parchment can be used instead of pizza stone and cornmeal. The bread can also be baked in a not-stick bread pan, but will lack the free-form artisan feel of a crusty boule.

Wet dough is, not surprisingly, very sticky, so don’t be afraid of seriously well-floured hands and extra dusting on the dough when shaping it (see the video for how Jeff does it). Be gentle and try to handle it as little as possible – the goal is to keep the air in the dough, and removing it will lead to dense or thick patches in the loaf.

There are some errors in the 256 page book, and the corrections are available here.

According to the New York Times, this “may be the world’s easiest yeast bread“.  It is a well-deserved title, as can be seen in video demonstrations by Zoe Francois and Jeff Hertzberg.  It’s just incredibly quick and simple.  Here is the ‘master recipe’:

6 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 tablespoons yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
Cornmeal and extra flour for dusting

Mix the flour, yeast, salt and water in a plastic container with a lid. (See the videos for a demonstration.)  The dough will be wet and sticky, and should be mixed until no dry patches remain. Then cover (but don’t make it airtight) and let the dough rise at room temperature for two hours. From here it can be baked or put in the fridge for up to two weeks. With well-floured hands, cut off a piece of dough and form lightly into shape. Place on a cornmeal-coated pizza peel and let it rest for about 40 minutes. Heat a pizza stone in the middle of a 450 degree oven, with an old broiler pan on the bottom shelf. Slash the top of the dough with a sharp knife (to prevent cracking) and slide it onto stone. Pour a cup of hot water into the pan to create steam (which helps create a lovely crust). Bake for about 30 minutes then allow the bread to cool as much as possible before enjoying.

While I personally love to get my hands into the dough, there are frequently days when I need bread quickly and I really do not want to get it from the supermarket. Having a batch already in the fridge provides delicious bread painlessly. The true gourmet would likely argue there is no comparison to the refinements of kneaded artisan bread made with the highest quality ingredients, and one reviewer went as far as to say, “For real bread, use your hands!”  But for simple, fresh home-baked bread with minimal effort and maximum results from inexpensive ingredients, Artisan bread in five minutes a day is simply marvellous. This book is definitely worth adding to the kitchen library.

If you’re looking for a gift for a potential bread maker, why not try a copy of this book with a pizza peel and baking stone?  It will inspire and make them realise that they really can make great bread at home.