"D. Beeckler" <dmbeeckl@scrtc.com> asked...
>I hate to post such bad news since there were so many good reports
>about the No Knead Bread. I tried it and it was awful. Perhaps I
>did something incorrectly. I used white-wheat flour and a little
>extra yeast (because how could 1/4 tsp be enough :).
It is enough. You don't need to add more. I always suggest
following a recipe, at least the first time. The point here is that
you have 12 to 18 hours for the yeast to do their job.
>I noticed there was no sugar at all - what feeds those little
>yeasties? - So I added some - not much.
Yeast, contrary to commonly held belief, do not need sugar to be
added to dough. They break down the starches in the flour to make
sugar, and then digest the sugar. Adding too much sugar actually
slows the fermentation.
>I placed it above my freezer which is where I raise all my bread.
What is the temperature there? While a warm area helps with regular
doughs and rise times, leaving it there for so long might not have
worked for you.
>oh well - followed the rest of the directions
Perhaps a bit late.....
>What is the problem? #1 I used rapid rise yeast, it works every
>where else, why not here, #2 How can you handle already risen dough
>and put it in a hot pan and #3 Shouldn't there be some sugar or some
>other sweet in it?
1. There shouldn't be any problem using rapid rise yeast. I used
instant yeast with no troubles.
2. No problem... pick it up and drop it into the pan. Be careful so
you don't burn yourself.
3. No. Yeast don't need sugar, and they don't need to be proofed -
at least that's what James Beard wrote in the 1970's, and I haven't
proofed yeast since.
I'll suggest trying it with white all-purpose flour once. And
following the instructions. The NY Times video is still on-line and
it shows how to do it at <http://tinyurl.com/yhozbt> The url to the
NY Times is too long to post here, so I shortened it with
tinyurl. If you want to use the original url, it is at
<http://video.on.nytimes.com/ifr_main.jsp?nsid=b20ca33a9:10fc6e00e0e:1840&fr_story=35eac03d90314ffed6a0c0ae143ab87b1474fb89&st=1167276367453&mp=FLV&cpf=false&fvn=8&fr=122706_102005_20ca33a9x10fc6e00e0ex1841&rdm=646072.135336583>
I hope the video answers more of your questions.
Mike
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Mike Avery mavery at mail dot otherwhen dot com
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