Dark and mysterious - no-knead bread n.5 Plain and useful

Number 4 and number 5 spent time together in the same oven, but they are very different creatures.

Number 4 is made with the addition of oat bran and it is soft and slightly moist, not too soft though to make excellent turkey and cranberry sauce or peanut butter and jam sandwiches, for example.

These are the measurements I think I used for number 4. I say “I think” because I used the individual measuring cups (one is 1 cup, one is ½ cup, and so forth) and after I mixed up the ingredients I suddenly wasn’t sure if I had used the right size. So, paying close attention to what I was doing, I made number 6, which is going into the oven in 30 minutes, and which is made with the measurements intended for number 4. Got that?

For number 6 I followed a slightly different procedure and I will explain it tomorrow, or so.

(Please see here for the original recipe and all general instructions on which the following recipes are based.)

Loaf Number 4 (Oat)

One cup all-purpose unbleached King Arthur flour

One cup whole wheat King Arthur flour

One cup oat bran

2 teaspoons salt

¼ teaspoon active dry SAF yeast (plus a few grains)

1 and 5/8 cups water

After a 19½ hour rise, I floured, folded and shaped it (it was very sticky), let is rest for 15 minutes, then put it in a bowl covered with plastic wrap in the refrigerator, as someone on Chowhound suggested, for 3½ hours. I removed it from the refrigerator, let it sit in its bowl for 15 minutes, then shaped it and loosely wrapped it in a floured towel to return to room temperature and rise for 2 hrs. and 20 min. I baked it in a heated 3 qt. Corning Ware pot with a Pyrex lid for 30 minutes, then baked it uncovered for 10 more minutes. I probably could have left it in for another 5 or 10 minutes.

I just discovered that the Corning Ware pot I have is no longer made. Corning Ware was purchased in the nineties, and the oven ware they now make can not be used on the stovetop.

Here’s a photo of the humble, but useful, oat loaf.

Let’s move on to dark and mysterious loaf number 5.

Loaf Number 5 (Cocoa and hazelnut)

As usual this is a variation of the Lahey/Bittman No-Knead Bread recipe explained here.

2 cups King Arthur all-purpose flour

½ cup King Arthur whole wheat flour

½ cup unsweetened cocoa

¾ cup hazelnuts (I did not chop them up)

¼ teaspoon of SAF active dry yeast

1 teaspoon salt (a little less than usual)

1¾ cups water (a little more than usual)

After a 17½ hour rise, I floured and folded the dough, let it rest for 15 minutes, floured and shaped it, placed it between two towels and let it rise for 2 hrs. and 20 min. I baked it covered in my heated 5 qt. Le Creuset for 30 minutes, then for 12 more minutes uncovered.

It’s soft yet chewy, and if you like bitter chocolate you will probably like this bread. I certainly do, particularly with some of Trader Joe’s Organic Strawberry Fruit Spread on it.

12/13 UPDATE:

The cocoa loaf does not hold up as well as some of the other ones. I really liked the flavor shortly after it was made and the next day, but not as much the day after that.

Loaf Number 6 - Oat

I used the measurements given above for loaf number 4, but I varied the method somewhat in that after it had risen for 17½ hours, I folded it, let it rest for 15 minutes, put it in a bowl in the refrigerator, covered with plastic wrap, until the next morning (14 hours), took it out of the refrigerator and left it on the counter all day (9 hours). The temperature in the house was about 62º F. After this period I took it out of the bowl, folded it, left it on a plastic cutting board covered for just short of 2½ hours. It rose very well. I baked in my pre-1990 3qt. Corning Ware (see above) for 30 minutes covered and 20 uncovered.

It was not any different from Loaf Number 4, except that it was a little too moist.

Sono indietro con le versioni in italiano. Ho appena fatto quella per il precedente post, ma non ancora questa.... bocciata!