Beer bread!

[altivo]

I declare the bread a success. Here's a photo of the loaf as it came from the oven. It has a real "crackling" crust, the kind that makes crackling sounds as it cools and is hard enough to shatter. The inside is chewy like sourdough. Very good, and quite easy. The only hitch is the long rising time (20 hours total.)


[Almost] No-Knead Beer Bread

Time: approx. 90 min. plus 14-20 hrs. rising time

3 cups unbleached bread flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour (+ extra for dusting)
1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
1 tsp. salt
1 can (12 oz.) beer

In a large bowl combine dry ingredients, then stir in the beer until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rest at least 12 hours, and preferably about 18, at room temperature.

Dough is ready when surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle with a bit more flour and knead and fold a couple of times. Cover loosely and allow to rest for 15 minutes.

Gently shape dough into a ball. Set onto a cotton (not terry) dish towel seam side down and place in bowl to rise. Cover with another towel and let rise until double or about 2 hours.

At least 30 min. before dough is ready, heat oven to 450F. Place a 6 or 8 quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, or Pyrex) in oven to heat. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide hand under towel and turn loaf over into the pot, seam side up. If it looks messy, shake pot a couple of times to even it out. Cover with lid and return to oven. Bake 30 minutes at 450F with cover on, then remove cover and continue baking for another 15 min. Loaf will be dark brown and quite crisp outside. Cool on rack.

Yield: One 20-22 ounce loaf.


Since the oven was already hot, I made a pizza too. Home made whole wheat crust with three cheeses, tomato, onion, green pepper, anchovies, mushrooms, pepperoni. Nice and tasty.

And it's snowing. Hard and fast, and right on schedule. Just maybe this storm will live up to the prediction, which means 8 inches by tomorrow morning and more during the day. Oh, and artwork happened (well sketch for same at least) while the bread was baking. Argos will have the news on that, at least as soon as he puts it up.

Comments

[feathertail]

Ooh, nice. ^.^ I love teh bakingness.

What recipe did you use for the pizza crust? I bought a huge jar of organic tomato sauce on discount that I wouldn't mind trying out on this.

[altivo]

My favorite pizza crust is simple:

1 cup warm water
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 cup (4 oz.) whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cup (6 oz.) unbleached bread flour
Some Italian blended herbs to taste
2 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast (or one packet)

I usually let the bread machine knead and raise the dough, but you can do it by hand if you don't have a machine. Given a warm place to rise, this dough is ready to use in about a half hour.

[feathertail]

Ah, okies. ^.^ Many thanks!

[kint.livejournal.com]

So you did end up pre-heating the cast iron? Looks like it turned out quite lovely!

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yes, after jmhorse told me that he uses that method and the floured dish towel to flip the doughball into the pot. It worked fine and the bread is great. Of course you end up with a messy towel to wash. ;p

[flamekist.livejournal.com]

The bread looks great! Do you have a preference on what beer to use? Light vs. dark vs. whatever?

The pizza looks wonderful! Nothing better than homemade!

[altivo.livejournal.com]

We've only made the bread twice. First time Gary used English style cider rather than beer, which I thought was kind of a waste of the cider. I'd rather drink it.

This time I used a cheap US mass-produced lager. I think it was Busch. The bitterness of the hops is nicely balanced in the bread actually, and lends a good flavor in my opinion. A malted ale would probably make the yeast take off faster, but that might be at the expense of less chewy character to the crumb. Dark beers usually have more sugar, so I suspect they'd also induce a faster rise. The flavor might be good, but the texture could suffer. This is easy to make, but needs time. I let the initial sponge rise for 18 hours at current room temperature, about 67F. The loaf rose another two hours before going into the oven.

The original NYT version uses plain water. Another version I found on the web used water with vinegar added, probably trying to imitate sourdough flavor. I'd say go with cheap beer. ;D You can always use that for cooking brats or barbecuing chickens if you don't like the bread. Do make sure to use real bread quality flour. Bleached all purpose flour won't cut it.

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

*nearly drools to death* Whoa what a fantasic looking pizza and loaf :D

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Pizza's gone, but there's still some of the bread left. *gives you some with butter and jam*

[cabcat.livejournal.com]

Oooo thankyou plushie horse *gets jam on his whiskers*