Taking one for the team: bread division

Yesterday, because I’m always the last one to try new things, I made the viral recipe from Alexandra’s Kitchen for her mother’s Best No-Knead Peasant Bread.

It is baked in Pyrex bowls and makes two loaves. You grease the bowls with a tablespoon of butter before adding the dough. Since we have a vegan here, I used regular salted butter for one bowl and Earth Balance sticks for the other. I followed the recipe exactly since I hadn’t made it before. (I’ve made bread before and have always been happy with the results.) The loaves slid from the bowls right out of the oven, and they were a smash success. Everyone loved them, even me, and ironically I’m not a big bread person.
So today I decided to make more (since yesterday’s batch was gone) and thought I’d try greasing the bowls with oil instead of butter. I used canola oil on one bowl and olive oil on the other. It seemed like a good idea at the time.
Here’s where it would have been helpful if a voice had yelled “No, don’t do it”, but it didn’t, so I continued. The loaves were beautiful when I took them out of the oven, and I turned them over so that they could fall onto my cooling rack…

Let’s just say that a chisel would have been helpful. I finally got the loaves out of the bowls with the help of a long thin knife and a fish spatula. The bottom crust stuck to the bowls, and the loaves look terrible. They taste fine if you keep your eyes closed.
So I won’t make that mistake again. I should have wondered why I wasn’t able to find any versions of the recipe online that used oil instead of butter. I am a librarian and an expert researcher, but it’s always harder to believe a negative result.
I’m writing this to save any of you, tempted to make the same mistake, from the extreme frustration I’m feeling, along with two very unattractive loaves of bread. I do recommend making this bread the correct way - it’s very easy and very good .

In the words of Eleanor Roosevelt:
Learn from the mistakes of others. You can’t live long enough to make them all yourself.

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AK shared her single loaf version recently that was posted on this website. Even easier!

I agree w/you. I’ve been baking through her bread catalog and learning a lot along the way.

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Thank you for sharing this! Quite fascinating. I wonder why the butter/oil difference?? Great topic!

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Thanks. I think I’ll try this version next.

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Sounds like a great day for bread pudding!

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This mornings loaf proofing, pre bake.

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Looks great. I’m still recovering from my trauma, but I may make some tomorrow. Would love to see a photo of the finished loaf.

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Will do. Baking now.

Eta,


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Thanks. Looks great!

Sliced.

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Looks just like what I made the first time. I think I’ll try your version tomorrow. Thanks for helping me get back on the no-knead bread horse!

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My bread baking beginnings were brick doorstops. It’s amazing to be baking bread regularly with more confidence and curiosity. This loaf has 2 tsp of fresh ground B&B oregano added to the dry mix.

Finding a method I can exceed with was half the quest.

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I started out making bread with a bread machine. I only use the dough cycle now, but things usually turn out fine. Also I like using SAF instant yeast seems to make the results better.

I just took my Cup of Jo loaf out of the oven. It looks and smells great, so we’ll see…I hope it works because I’d rather use a loaf pan. The glass bowls, especially with the butter, are kind of slippery!

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High hydration is slippery! Yields a nice buttery crumb. Enjoy that tasty loaf! I have never tried a bread machine appliance but I like feeling the bread dough to better gauge the hydration.

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Thanks again for the loaf variation. It will be in regular rotation from now on!

That’s awesome!

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:+1:

I will give it a try…I have to confess that I like making kneaded breads because I love the feel of how the dough transforms from a sticky wad of gluten into a silky ball of dough and then to a crusty warm loaf.

But time and energy are not always in abundance!

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Next up,

Directions for one loaf or two are listed.

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You can go first! I just requested her cookbook from the library and I’m looking forward to trying more of her recipes. Have you seen it?