i think i'll give that swirl one a try this weekend!

i like the texture of the no-knead bread with soups, its so hearty. its also great when you've got a soup or stew in the crock pot, cause you can have bread ready to go with it by the time it's all done.

has anyone made pita bread? i've wanted to take a crack at it but am kind of intimidated!

Oh, there's a bread thread! I forgot!

I made successful bread for the first time today. It was a basic cinnamon swirl bread and I made a couple of rookie errors (didn't let the yeast rise for long enough), but it actually turned out okay! Especially since I basically did it out of boredom.

I think my next goal is going to be olive focaccia: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/06/olive-focaccia/

I've been baking bread pretty in all seasons but summer. I'm a kitchenaid convert (kneading with the stand mixer). I never really got the technique down, though. We prefer whole grain flours like oat, WW, and rye. Between the dense flours and my poor technique, sometimes my bread just utterly fails.

I went through a rut recently where the dough wouldn't rise and the bread was always heavy & dense (though tasty). The gluten just wasn't developing.

I started to realize that I was adding too much flour. So I adjust to be more generous with the yeast and lighter on the flour - I try to work the stickiness out of it rather than just keep adding flour until it's not sticky any more. That tactic worked okay but made the dough less stable - more likely to deflate in the oven.

I ran out of WW flour a couple weeks ago so I made a few loaves with all white AP flour. That made a huge difference! Perhaps my technique isn't THAT bad and I simply wasn't developing enough gluten. So I'm picking up a box of vital wheat gluten the next time I buy WW flour.

the other thing I'm going to work on is making sure I include an autolyse stage. I think I may need to give my dough a "rest" or two to encourage the gluten to begin development.

pamelaNeko said:
I've been baking bread pretty in all seasons but summer. I'm a kitchenaid convert (kneading with the stand mixer). I never really got the technique down, though. We prefer whole grain flours like oat, WW, and rye. Between the dense flours and my poo...

Breadmaking can be so crazy, because recipes frequently say to knead until it's not sticky and to add flour as needed, so I classically would end up doing what you did - add too much flour and end up with non-sticky and shapeable, but excessively dense bread.

I bet gluten helps your WW baking alot! If you're going to go whole grain 100%, it's nearly a must-have. I tend to just cheat and not put whole grain flour at more than 60% (of the flour) in my breads.

Resting does help. You may find that you do not need more yeast so much as you need a little more fermentation/rest time. I have started using less yeast in my breads because so many recipes I used called for so much that the bread started tasting excessively yeasty. I frequently cut the called-for yeast quantity in half and just give it more time - but I also only make bread on weekends, so, do what works for your schedule!