Sunday
15Mar2009
Yeast Bread and schedule balancing
Sunday, March 15, 2009 at 6:50PM
Bread was one of those things that my mother refused to make without the aid of a bread machine. But hand making bread was right out. And although I do not fear the bread, I tend to think of it as being harder than it really is.
Part of the reason I don't fear bread baking is because I have studied up on the techniques and understand the basics of the physical chemistry of bread. Gluten and I are good friends, and we pal around on the weekends and go on fishing trips together. We invite yeast along*, occasionally with some sugar and butter or similar, and a good time is had by all.
Perhaps a bigger part of why I don't fear baking bread is because I have a stand mixer with a dough hook, and consequently don't have to knead by hand. Those of you who are hand-kneaders may scoff at me (I see you back there), but it removes a decent amount of the work and active time to the baking process.
I think the reason that I do have a little trepidation for making bread is because I'm never really convinced that rising and proofing are attention-free on my part. There's always a bit of me that has to check up on it from time to time to see if it's achieved the proper amount of lift, and I tend to be on its timetable rather than it being on mine. Some of this is because I'm a project manager, and so am duty-bound to keep an eye on the progress of others.
Still, I am making bread. Ideally, I will work it into my daily routine, along with my day job, writing for my various blogs and publications, exercise, housework, and spending time with my lovely wife. Most of that's easy, but the day job makes it trickier, because it's this big 8 or so hour chunk of time in the day where it will take 30 minutes of driving if I want to make adjustments to the bread.
The King Arthur Cookbook suggests that I can learn to play with the amount of yeast in my bread recipes, which will fine-tune rising time. Perhaps that will be my secret. Perhaps I will manage something with sponges, or refrigerating dough overnight, or similar.
So I ask you, my readers: How do you juggle a full-time job and regular bread baking?
*- Yeast, incidentally, constantly makes flatulence jokes and giggles. It's not my thing, but he brings the booze as well, so what can ya do?
Part of the reason I don't fear bread baking is because I have studied up on the techniques and understand the basics of the physical chemistry of bread. Gluten and I are good friends, and we pal around on the weekends and go on fishing trips together. We invite yeast along*, occasionally with some sugar and butter or similar, and a good time is had by all.
Perhaps a bigger part of why I don't fear baking bread is because I have a stand mixer with a dough hook, and consequently don't have to knead by hand. Those of you who are hand-kneaders may scoff at me (I see you back there), but it removes a decent amount of the work and active time to the baking process.
I think the reason that I do have a little trepidation for making bread is because I'm never really convinced that rising and proofing are attention-free on my part. There's always a bit of me that has to check up on it from time to time to see if it's achieved the proper amount of lift, and I tend to be on its timetable rather than it being on mine. Some of this is because I'm a project manager, and so am duty-bound to keep an eye on the progress of others.
Still, I am making bread. Ideally, I will work it into my daily routine, along with my day job, writing for my various blogs and publications, exercise, housework, and spending time with my lovely wife. Most of that's easy, but the day job makes it trickier, because it's this big 8 or so hour chunk of time in the day where it will take 30 minutes of driving if I want to make adjustments to the bread.
The King Arthur Cookbook suggests that I can learn to play with the amount of yeast in my bread recipes, which will fine-tune rising time. Perhaps that will be my secret. Perhaps I will manage something with sponges, or refrigerating dough overnight, or similar.
So I ask you, my readers: How do you juggle a full-time job and regular bread baking?
*- Yeast, incidentally, constantly makes flatulence jokes and giggles. It's not my thing, but he brings the booze as well, so what can ya do?
tagged baking, bread, project management, time in food
baking, bread, project management, time in food 
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Reader Comments (16)
I've been baking my own bread now for about...oh...four years or so? At this point, I honestly can't imagine going back to store bought. I also recently invested in a good KitchenAid with a dough hook and honestly can't imagine going back to hand-kneading. Ha!
I usually do "big" bread projects on the weekends - the sourdoughs, breads with preferments, etc. It's only me and my husband, so this is usually enough for us for the week. If not, I supplement with some no-knead bread (I like the version from "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes" - http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/21/dining/211brex.html?_r=1&ref=dining" rel="nofollow">http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/21/dining/211bre...).
My new bread-crush is on sprouted breads. I'm waiting for a good weekend to try making it at home! Good luck with your own baking adventures!
For me, it's the no-knead recipe. The rising is inherently attention-free because it happens while I am asleep. There are numerous versions of this now-famous recipe. Here's mine:
http://feedme.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/01/the_amazing_nok.html" rel="nofollow">http://feedme.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/01/the...
Basic idea is a very small amount of yeast (1/4 tsp) in a wet dough, left for a very long rise. It develops the gluten without kneading. Not that I minded kneading -- just that this fits my weekend timetable. Make the dough the night before, bake the next afternoon, have bread with dinner!
I don't know why I still have not made a no-knead bread. It's been on the list to do for forever now. Okay, I will try that. Thank you for the suggestions.
Incidentally, in case anyone was worried, the bread I made this evening turned out lovely, even if it was a bit sticky before I let it do its initial rise.
Cool rise, baby.... cool.... I have yet to find a recipe where this doesn't work, and actually, I think you get better flavor with it. I always add a bit extra yeast, just in case, knead it up in the Kitchen Aid, cover and pop it in the fridge till the next day. You can shape the dough first if you like, or not. Just let it warm up about an hour and then shape, 2nd rise (if needed), and bake.
--Beth
I do the same thing. I make focaccia all the time and I do a first rise in the evening, making a "sponge" , which takes about 45 minutes. Then I add the main dough ingredients, (my KitchenAid mixer does all the kneading) and I let that rise for an hour and a half. Then I punch it down, cover it with wrap and refrigerate it. The next day, I get it out, spread the dough out on a baking sheet, cover and let rise for a couple of hours. Then bake.
So: Wake up early, take dough out of fridge, check news, exercise, bake, write blog entry, remove from oven, go to work.
However, ideally I should allow the bread to cool for an hour before wrapping it up. Do I just leave it out, confident that it will be fine?
After supper... Mix 'er up and knead in the Kitchen Aid. I just leave it in the bowl and cover. Then chill in the fridge overnight. In the morning take dough out, punch down, shape as needed (I usually just cut it up with a sharp knife & put in bread pans), put it back in the fridge. When you get home from work, take it out, let it warm up for about 1 to 1 & 1/2 hrs. and bake. Viola!
Or, I haven't tried the following, but I don't see why it wouldn't work: sneak home at lunch, remove from fridge, punch down, shape, and let sit out till you get home. First one home pops it in the oven. It might rise a bit more, but by then the yeast should be moving pretty slowly.
My grammie would leave dough in the fridge for up to 2 days before baking it.
Yeah, that's a good variation on what King Arthur suggests. It works better if there isn't anything perishable in the dough, but I think even if there's butter in it that it should be fine for 8 or 9 hours.
I am totally hooked on artisan bread in 5. It is the most delicious bread ever to come out of my kitchen, and it is easier to make than muffins. And you don't have to babysit it during the proofing, because it is allowed to rise until it collapses. Try it asap!
Absolutely. I will order it immediately. I should have thought of that, as I am following Zoe on Twitter. Silly me.
I'm not a huge fan of the Artisan Bread in 5. Maybe it's just the recipes I've tried, but the texture tends to be tougher than I like. My favorite standby is Cuban bread. I make 4 loaves at a time and freeze whatever I'm not going to scarf pretty quickly. No, I don't manage to freeze much. Bread baking has been so much of a habit over the last 15 years that I don't even think about it taking up time, until I randomly want a bacon sandwich and I don't have any....
With ABin5, were you using a southern AP flour? I'm not that far into it, but I'm given to understand that it more or less requires such a thing.
Of course, as you have the baker lifestyle internalized, clearly you don't ned it.
Yup, I used AP as instructed. I do wonder if it's just the recipes I picked, since I tend to go for breads described as "rustic" or "peasant" breads. I might should try something less hearty to compare...
Certainly worth a try. I'll be trying out some of those recipes soon, so if I find something that's not terribly tough, I'll let you know which one. What brand flour are you using?
Gold Medal. I've started a batch of what they describe as a softer loaf, and we'll see how it goes... It certainly is a convenient method of bread baking, but it's not worth it to me if it's not delicious.
Cool. I've gotten through the intros on the book, and so I've looked through the recipes. I'm a little dismayed that they didn't at least include weighed measurements for their ingredients.