Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Potato Bread.... not a no-knead bread



                                                      Potato Bread 





Lets talk about Bread. I know there is a lot hype about that no-knead bread. I tried it, it didn't
convince me. I am baking bread now for 4 years. I tried all kinds of recipe. It never worked for me.
I want my bread with a nice crust, a fluffy but juicy inside and tasteful. Not to salty, not to bold.

You might have your favorite recipe already. The no-knead bread might work for you. It also
depends where you are living. How the humidity is, how high about sea level you are for the 
yeast to rise. Living at the Space Coast in Central Florida, I had to figure out again what works
best for me. Funny thing is though that this recipe here is working in most parts of the world. I have
friends in Germany, Oklahoma baking it regulary and it works every time.

First of all, you have to find the right Flour. Since I am into Organic, I am buying Organic Flour. I like my bread more white so I am using white Flour. In this recipe I am mixing it with this two here:






Then its about the amount. I measure my teaspoons with this one here. The small one (I found them at Ikea). Just to compare with an average american size teaspoon. See the difference? Yes, the small one it is for me. Also, it really helps when you have a kitchen aid or any other kitchen gadget what is doing the kneading part for you. 5 min on the timer and i am doing something else in the meantime. 




ok, lets get started. Update: I corrected the amount of yeast and salt above in the recipe. I measured one of those spoons into the regular american measuring spoon. If you are in germany or have, like me, egg spoons, thats the size I was using here. So it would be 3 of the egg spoon yeast, 2 egg spoon salt and 1 egg spoon sugar. If you use the american measure spoons, stay with the recipe above


This is what you need:

- 300 gr white organic unbleached Flour (or Bread Flour)

- 50 gr Organic whole wheat Flour

- 2 Teaspoons Yeast 

- 2 Teaspoons Salt

- 1 teaspoon sugar

- 150 ml warm water

- 350 gr cooked and mashed Potatoes (I use Russet. weight them after you cooked them)

- 1 TBSP Oil






This is how you do it: 

Mix the Flour with the salt in a bowl. Cook the Potatoes with their skin til their soft, peel and mash them. Let them cool a bit before you add them to the rest. Measure your 150 ml warm water (not to hot or you kill the yeast) and add the 3 teaspoons yeast with the 1 teaspoon sugar (thats to activate the yeast). Let it sit for a couple of min til you see a nice foam. 

Once the Potatoes are cooled (they should be really almost cold) and the Yeast is foaming, add everything to the Flour mix and start on the lowest speed to combine it. Now it depends where you live. You might have to add a tiny bit more water or flour. The dough should be sticky but it should form a little ball. 






Now speed up to 3-4 and set your timer for 5 min.. That kneading process is necessary to active the Gluten. After the 5 min, turn it off, remove the dough from the hook and form it to a little ball. I add flour around the bottom and the walls of the bowl now so it doesn't stick later to bad. Cover and let it rest for an hrs at a warm spot. 




After the hrs it should have doubled its volume. Flour your working surface and remove the dough from the bowl. Add a bit flour on top of the bread but don't work it in!!!! just form it slightly into the shape you want it. Let it rest another 30 min.. In the meantime, heat up your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit with a Dutch oven inside. The Dutch oven should be really hot when you put the bread in. So heating it up 30 min while the bread is resting a second time is just perfect. 






(I got a smaller dutch oven in the meantime and the Bread is turning out even better). After the 30 min, remove the Dutch oven from the stove and throw the Bread inside. Be careful to not burn yourself. Cover it and put it back in the oven for 35 min.. After the 35 min, it might be done just like mine. But if its not, leave it in another 5- 10  min covered

When the Bread is done, remove it from the hot Dutch oven and cool it (best on a cookie cooling rack). 





Enjoy your bread. We love it

Guten Appetit 

2 comments:

  1. What if you have a yeast that doesn't need to be put in water? Should I just add it in or get yeast that needs to be activated?

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    Replies
    1. I usually use the active dry yeast. Try it with yours and if it foams, all is good. if not, you might want to get another yeast.

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