Baking bread ....

[Judith-aka-Judith]

Today for the first time in a long time, I baked a loaf of bread, by hand.  Nothing strange in that you bakers would say .. though in fact, I'm not baker, and it was needs must (supermarket did not have my bread, and the breadmaker refused to work!).

I only had brioche flour, and a first attempt over the weekend had worked OK, but it was very difficult to knead, so this time I tried a no knead loaf.  Following instructions from the internet, to my amazement it worked!  But the crust was rather thicker and crustier than than I like .. so this is my question.

How can I make the crust less crusty and thick??

Thanks!

[Alan Zoff]

Might be down to the lack of kneading.

With the normal method, I find if I have been a bit lazy and shortened the kneading time, I get a thicker crust (as well as a heavier loaf).

[Judith-aka-Judith]

Alan, that's helpful.  It did say on the instructions that it was because it was cooked covered, and the water built the crust, but I really do not know. 

I just find that kneading and I don't really see eye to eye, nor  have I ever had very good results with it, even when the breadmaker worked and I used it to prepare the dough,and cook it separately, but if preparing it by hand in the morning, and then just letting it do its own works, I am happy to try a few options and see what works best.  It seems to be fairly forgiving of errors .. which I have never seen occur in kneaded bread!

[ericd]

We have followed this recipe since beginning of Covid. Not one loaf wasted, all delicious, crusty (thin crust).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkpEueQA4iQ

[suein56]

ericd wrote the following post at 18 Sep 2020 11:34:

We have followed this recipe since beginning of Covid. Not one loaf wasted, all delicious, crusty (thin crust).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkpEueQA4iQ

My goodness that was fascinating .. thank goodness for the subtitles as her Québécois accent was very strong .. nevertheless I am inspired to have a go .. and I am useless at bread-making.

As I only have a small size cocotte do you think it will work with1/2 size the amounts ? And a small adjustment in the timing ?

[Judith-aka-Judith]

Thanks ericd, sen that video before ..  going to see if I can capture the amounts .. but that will be too large for me, for sure.

[ericd]

The bread keeps well inside a cloth. As for the size, I can't see why it wouldn't work with half the ingredients ..... not sure about the cooking time though .... Good luck and give us feedback !