Can you make artisan bread like this? In only 5 minutes?
“All sorrows are less with bread.” - Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote
Most of us indulge a daydream or two about leaving our job behind when work is especially frenzied. Between punching out the widgets, making the donuts (ah, pop culture metaphors), or writing about what happens when you click “OK”, I have developed my own little Proustian escape mechanism. In fact, so developed is my fantasy, that I already have the language of the company sign worked out:
Metroknow Artisan Breads - over 1 billion served.
Original, eh?
I will admit it: I am a self-described addict of truly well crafted breads. This addiction to warm, crispy, wheat flour freshness was never clearer to me than when we went to Paris, where we ate anything that smelled good (without gaining a pound, by the way). There is a lot of folklore surrounding why bread made in older European cities tastes the way it does, everything from the water not containing chlorine to the laws surrounding the purity of ingredients. I can’t say either way.
In Paris, when I had the luxury of nibbling on the heel of a freshly baked baguette or batard on the way back to the hotel, the world around me became a silent film where I walked blindly through busy crosswalks, barely missing 12 foot sheets of plate glass being carried across my path, and being followed by a handful of pigeons catching the crumbs before they were able to rest on the cobblestone alleyway. All of this happened repeatedly, magically, while I was engrossed in the warmth and aroma of a sumptuous gluten cloak.
In those moments, I could care less about the shape of another man’s peel.
[Ed. Update: Welcome to Reuters news viewers, who saw my article, here. If you enjoy this post, please consider sharing it with your friends or subscribing to Almost Fit. It’s free, as always. Thanks.]
Enter Artisan Breads in 5 Minutes a Day
This week has been particularly hectic, but I have managed to do a couple of things on the personal side. While I have not written much on Almost Fit in the last few days, I have accomplished one Real Food task: I have created the loaves you see in the photos in this post.
How is this possible with 16-hour workdays, 7 days a week?
In a recent Thursday’s Real Food Resources post I mentioned this book:
Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking
I decided to crack open this book this weekend, and in a nutshell, this method simply WORKS. These photos are the result of following the simple instructions and then baking the bread in our notoriously temperature-inaccurate electric oven.
The time suggestion is more than just a sales-driven headline — it is actually true. There is a small time hit up front (about 20 minutes of preparation for the uninitiated, like me), but that is to make enough for 4 loaves. Each day that you want to have a fresh-baked loaf, it takes literally 5 minutes to prepare the dough and pop it in the oven - that is not an exaggeration. There is no kneading involved. There is no waiting for the yeast to start talking to itself. There is no punching down of dough, or trying to interpret the classic cryptic bread making instructions; there are photos of what each step looks like, and simple, understandable instructions. There is not even any exact timing you have to adhere to in order to achieve excellent results.
Another thing I love about this method? There are 4 simple ingredients for the core recipe: unbleached all-purpose flour, water, salt, and yeast. That is it. It is real food at it’s simplest.
To use this technique, you need four things: a good baking stone (about $25.00), an oven 
peel (not sure on price, I had one given to me as a gift), a 5-quart non-airtight sealable container ($5.00), and an oven thermometer (about $5.00). The thermometer is critical because actual oven temperatures can vary as much as 75 degrees from what the oven setting shows, and you absolutely have to account for that. In our case, when I have the oven set to 450, the actual temperature is 50 degrees off - it’s only 400. So I had to set the oven at 500 degrees to get the 450 I needed. And it worked. There are two things that depend on the accuracy of those kinds of numbers: the chemistry of baking, and the batting average of your third baseman.
What’s the secret recipe?
I would love to post the recipe here, but honestly, it won’t do you much good without the book. The trick to this bread is not so much in the ingredients as it is in the technique. I highly, highly recommend this book if wheat gluten is not your enemy. The book contains dozens of recipes from breads like these to panetone and pizza dough.
If wheat gluten IS your enemy, I’d love to hear your suggestions.
In the mean time, here is a link to a video of the authors explaining how it works:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMxJgIpe38Q
So am I quitting my day job?
Well let me put it this way: I did the math, and in order for me to quit my job to pursue a career as an artisan bread-maker, I will need to sell:
327 loaves per week. Not including taxes.
Somehow, I think I am stuck for now punching out the widgets on the big machine in the software sweatshop. I’ll go back to making my second batch of dough - this time a double batch, as I’m hoping to give loaves away as gifts this weekend.
But I’ll be watching Craigslist for that industrial oven.
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healthranker.com Says: 07.05.08 at 5:09 pm
Can you make artisan bread in only 5 minutes? | AlmostFit.com…
Using the techniques in this book, you can create artisan breads, desserts, and pizza dough in just 5 minutes a day….
OK, I’m sold! Your photos and the description of eating bread in Paris have made my mouth water. But what is an oven peel? And wouldn’t most sealable containers be airtight? What do you use?
Thanks! Corey
Hi Corey,
An oven peel is what you see people using to slide a pizza into a pizza oven. They are typically big wooden paddles. On the container, a plastic one is fine (I use a 5 quart food container - similar to tupperware). I snap the seal almost all the way around, and just leave a corner “unsnapped” if that makes sense. The big thing is not to use things like glass jars that seal airtight - they can actually burst from the expansion.
Paris is my weakness…even more than bread!
You are an evil man Metroknow. Kryptonite! Aarghhh!
That looks and sounds divine! You had me when you mentioned Paris… I will never forget celebrating my 21st birthday on the banks of a French river with a friend, a baguette, some ham and brie and a bag of cherries. Pure, simple bliss!
OMGOSH that photo is mouth watering. There is nothing better then a loaf of GOOD bread!!
*huggles*
=0)
Yum, bread - easy and fast, I’m ordering the book. Thanks for the great pictures and tips. I’m going to give it a try.
Robin
P.S. glad to have you back.
You mean to say there is hope for me? I have tried to bake bread all my life and can even flop bread in the bread maker! If you want a better concept about my lack of bread making abilities go to may archives…Nov. 2007…read the article titled Honey Buns. If you want a good laugh for today it will make you laugh! I promise. Now the question for me is do I dare? It all sounds too good to be true. You may get bread that looks like that but will I?
@Andrew: I have to show you this:
L-E-X L-U-T-H-O-R
M-E-T R-O-K-N-O-W
Coincidence? :))
@hanlie: I truly know what you mean. There is not a day that goes by, quite literally, that I don’t miss Paris. In fact, I have a serious plan with my wife that we will live in Paris for a year after our kids are in college. Its a long term plan, but you gotta start somewhere!
@Felicia: I totally agree. Couple that with some hand-made marionberry/blueberry jam that we bought from the Farmer’s Market this weekend, and the meaning of life unfolds before your very eyes.
@Robin: You won’t be disappointed. It is an enjoyable book to read, has great recipes, and they do a good job of anticipating the logical questions you will have when you try it!
@Christine: That is HILARIOUS!!! Folks, here’s the link - check it out: http://mrsbeasely.blogspot.com/2007/11/honey-buns.html
I think the book may even have a recipe for sticky buns. 
I cannot guarantee that if you do the same thing with this bread that you will get the same “moon” effect ;), but I found this to be incredibly “doable”. They even tell you HOW to scoop the flour out — I’m not joking — its actually important. And measuring, despite your Mother-in-Law’s tribal knowledge, is allowed. Encouraged, even.
Thank you for the larf - I need it today!
hye..nice blog..
Blog walking after drop you some entrecard..
Oh we write about same niche..its about fitness and healthy life..thanks for sharing nice tips here..
take care..
Regards,
Your Fitness Solution.
-fitnessfeeling-
Wow, that bread looks good! And the video makes it look so easy. I’m afraid to get the book though, I don’t need all that bread!
Hi John - Yep, you are right. As Andrew commented above, Kryptonite….
On the other hand I’ve not done too bad with it so far. Of course, umm…wait until you see my recipe of the week (now two days overdue)… 
Weigh in | Andrew is getting fit Says: 11.05.08 at 8:23 pm
[…] excercisewise except I had a bit too much bread on the weekend. I blame Metroknow for making me lust after bread with his great […]
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As I think I’ve said before, the only thing I think is worth the calories and fat of real butter is a fresh loaf of country bread. I’m not sure I’m happy with you, Metroknow………………..:)
@Lisa: LOL yeah I am getting that a lot with this article. In fact, Andrew over at AndrewIsGettingFit has asserted that I may be from the heated depths, horns and all….I promise - the next article is on salad! With no dressing! And maybe no lettuce - just air with a touch of salt
I live in a world where I haven’t bought bread, from store or bakery, for almost four years. That’s when my husband decided that making artisan, connected-to-our-cultural-past bread was what he wanted to do for leisure time. It’s literally indescribable - to live in a world where the bread is made to order, made a few days ago at most, and never pre-sliced. There’s just something about bread that connects to something hard-wired about being human, I think. And I believe that alone is why low-carb/no-carb diets seem … kind of evil.
Hi Anne-Marie,
I would say that your husband and I are kindred in this way. That is my intention as well - I’m now on my 7th loaf, with enough for a week’s worth of fresh bread already mixed. And I must say, its for a similar set of reasons!
That book SO tempts me. I may buy it out of sheer curiosity. But I sure better get a handle on the bread thing before I do! I don’t know what it is about bread, but I can eat it plain, no adornments and practically non-stop.
Evil, evil, evil!
Though the odd thing is, as much as I like bread, I don’t actually CRAVE it unless it is in front of me or in the house. I never feel tempted to buy it at the store. And I can happily walk into Subway and order a salad instead of a sandwich. It’s a weird relationship.
Great Blog Jeremy! Congrats on the Reuters pick-up!! I can smell and taste the bread in your articles. Ahh, how I miss glutenous loaves! I am on a search for a simple, bake in the oven, G-F recipe, so I’ll let you know when I find one. -Krista
Thanks for the recommendation. I’ve got my first batch of bread dough rising on the counter right now. Can’t wait until tomorrow night’s dinner!
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[…] Bake your own bread (It’s easier than you think, as Metroknow told […]
Best (and worst) of Almost Fit | AlmostFit.com Says: 08.06.08 at 10:52 pm
[…] Can you make artisan bread like this? In only 5 minutes? This article is by far my most read. It was picked up by Reuters among other sources, and is far and away my most widely distributed. […]
Gluten-free Summer Quinoa Salad | AlmostFit.com Says: 13.06.08 at 6:12 pm
[…] our case, we brought sandwiches using some of my freshly made loaves of bread (Can you make artisan bread like this? In only 5 minutes?). Other offerings included Asian noodles, enchiladas, and pizza, all of which quickly disappeared. […]
I’m Jeff Hertzberg, one of the co-authors of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. I’m so glad our recipes are working well for you. Come visit us anytime at http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com, where you can post questions into any “Comments” field, or into the “Bread Questions” gateway on the left side of the homepage.
Jeff Hertzberg
http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com