Thank you so much for trying out the bread! You will want to check out my other website that is dedicated to the books http://www.breadin5.com. There we answer questions about the recipes 24/7 and look forward to hearing about your experience.

Here is a good place to start if you have any questions: http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/?page_id=1479

Enjoy, Zoë

I ordered the book last night (discovering your site at midnight, I spent some time in awe of the process you use before going to bed I have been making a traditional sandwich bread for years, and really like the bread I buy from the bakery at the farmers market and so hope this will do the trick. I’m going to give it a try today from the posted recipes but have a question first. I have whole wheat bread flours from Great River Organic Milling Company that are a combination of unbleached white and whole wheat (some with lots of grains) and am wondering if I will need to ad the gluten recommended for the wheat recipe. According to the four company, the flours are perfectly blended so as to have enough gluten to rise, and I use a sponge first before adding the rest of the flour and kneading. I think I can figure out how much water to add by feel (having worked with bread a lot), but would like to be sure of a good rise (since I don’t really like a super-dense bread).

Thanks so much and can’t wait to give it a try! We have cut out all processed foods from our diet and bread making is an important part of our life these days. I have friends that would like to experience the health benefits of a diet free of processed foods, but they are afraid of bread-making. I’m hoping your recipes will help them out.

Jennifer Feeney

Best place for Bread questions are at http://www.breadin5.com. The fall of the dough is very subtle, just a flattening on top.

Hope that helps! Zoë

for our first loaf from our first batch of your basic master recipe, I roasted a whole head of garlic in the oven, while baking the bread.

The aroma of garlic and bread was wonderful -

We smashed up the garlic, added a bit of olive oil, and spread it thickly on the fresh bread.

Truly wonderful – and so simple.

You have, indeed, done something wonderful for many dinner tables.

A few nitty-gritty questions/comments that I haven’t see addressed on various blogs/forums:

1. I’ve used a large Tupperware bowl for the basic recipe (ie, 3 cups water, 6-1/2 cups flour), and am ordering some bucket-style containers to give as gifts with your book. If I understand correctly, the 6qt bucket works with the basic recipe. Is it big enough if I am working with a double recipe (ie, 6-3-3-13)? Or, what size bucket do you recommend for a 6-3-3-13 batch?

2. Love the look of your clear buckets with blue-rimmed lids – do you know the brand or source?

3. Have you heard any feedback from folks who split the basic recipe, as they make it? I’m thinking that folks who are pressed for fridge-space may have an easier time storing 2, 3 or even 4 smaller containers in their fridge.

4. As easy as the basic recipe is to make and store in the fridge, or to freeze fully-baked loaves, I can see advantages to having a lump of prepared dough in the freezer. For my first batch, I stored about 1/4 in the freezer (after an initial 3-hour rise), but I didn’t know about the recommendation of letting it first mature in the fridge for a few days. Tomorrow I’ll transfer another clump of dough from the fridge to the freezer. Do you have any suggestions/recommendations about how to freeze it? ie, in a plastic container, vs in a freezer ziplock bag?

I also plan to follow someone’s instructions from another site for making 24 mini-boules. But I plan to flash-freeze them (not sure if that should be after shaping, or after a 2nd rise; I’ll try both methods) and then transfer the frozen balls to a ziplock, so I can just take out as many as needed at a time.

I think that’s about all –
Have a wonderful holiday season -

Some people say to keep them in a paper bag, but I think this has mixed results.

Another option is to form the buns, rest them on a parchment lined cookie sheet, cover loosely with plastic and refrigerate them over night. In the morning preheat your oven and let the tray of buns rest on the counter while the oven heats up. Once the oven is hot bake the buns. They need much less resting if they have had a chance to rise slowly in the refrigerator over night!

Enjoy, Zoë