I make bread in a similar fashion to "Healthy Bread in Five Minutes". Likewise I agree with their stance on whole wheat flour. However, I think that purchasing whole wheat flour from the grocery store is a poor choice. The fats in wheat are very susceptible to oxidation once ground and most whole wheat flour in the store has already turned rancid before it is even stocked. If you doubt this, bake two loaves, one with fresh ground wheat and one with store-bought whole wheat; the taste most people today associate with whole wheat is actually the taste of rancid wheat oil. Rancid fats taste nasty and are probably not good for you.

Organic unbleached white flour is a durable substitute for whole wheat; it can be stored without refrigeration for extended periods. Or get a grinder and make your own whole wheat flour as needed.

Their site, artisanbreadinfive.com is also an excellent resource, both authors actively answer questions and make suggestions.

This post seems like a shameless shill. Why would I buy TWO knockoff books from a pair of non-bakers when I could buy ONE from the award winning professional baker who popularized the no-knead process (with Mark Bitman's help): Jim Lahey's My Bread

Jed: Based on my experience with both books you mention (and I've been baking bread every weekend for more than two years now), I find the "Five Minute" method WAY easier and FAR less intimidating when I'm showing people how to make bread from scratch.

The biggest difference: "Five Minutes" allows you to have bread the same day you buy the book (assuming you buy it during daylight working hours), while the Lahey book doesn't.

Both good, both interesting, but for me, "Five Minutes" is easier and less intimidating.

>This post seems like a shameless shill. Why would I buy TWO knockoff books from a pair of non-bakers when I could buy ONE from the award winning professional baker who popularized the no-knead process (with Mark Bitman's help): Jim Lahey's My Bread

This isn't the same thing. I have a couple of other no-knead recipes (and I still make beer bread every now and then), but the focus here is making artisan bread - a hard crust and a chewy interior like a fresh baguette and storing the dough long term. This lets you separate mixing day from baking day - and make enough dough for several baking days!

I've been using the recipe for 6 months and have a couple converts among my friends - and I didn't get the book till this Christmas. I blogged about it ( http://metapundit.net/writing/a-revelation-in-bread ) back in July and linked to an article that has the recipe for the basic boule. Try it, you'll be shocked by how good this bread is. It's the most exciting thing in baking I've tried - I'm making fresh pita, great artisan loaves, and (if I leave the dough long enough) a pretty decent sourdough with great texture for cheese sandwiches or BLT. Oh and one of the author's is a baker, the other is an MD with a baking hobby... And hey, if you like the bread I recommend the book!

This method was popularized for me (and many of my friends) in Suzanne Dunaway's 1999 book, No Need To Knead: Handmade Italian Bread in 90 Minutes. Wet dough, cold rise, self-steaming, crusty results. My favorite is the focaccia, baked in a cast iron skillet.

Unfortunately, the book is out of print now, with prices ranging from $16 to $168 on Amazon. Try your local library or interlibrary loan first.

I've been baking bread by this method for a couple years now. The results are better than anything I can buy in the store -- in contrast to earlier efforts with hand kneading, Kitchenaid mixers, and bread machines. Whole grain breads are much harder and less pleasant to do than all-white, but the long-rise/refrigerate method makes it work. My only disagreement with the excerpt here is the push for wheat gluten. I use about 90 whole wheat to 10 white and get excellent results without the gluten, which I think gives a kind of "dead" taste to the bread. And gluten is about as far from whole food as anything gets. For those who want a very airy loaf or extra protein it might be worth a try, but is not necessary.

Re Edward Bryant: a lot of people agree about the superiority of freshly ground whole grains over store bought flour. Kind of sinks the whole "five-minute" goal, though. If anyone has a review of a good, cheap grain mill, now would be the time.

Jed: The timing on the 5-minutes-a-day method is much more flexible than the timing on Lahey's method. With Lahey's method you wind up scheduling your day around the bread. With the 5-minutes-a-day method, you can work the bread around your schedule.

We discovered the method shortly after the book came out (I wrote about it at the time on my LJ: http://lexica510.livejournal.com/61947.html ) and loved it. Definitely need to get a copy of the book get baking again.

Second what Lexica said. With the refrigerator method I've got several people making bread who couldn't use the Lahey method because of schedules. With the 5-minute approach, there's total flexibility, so the reward way outweighs the effort

In fact everything about this is far more flexible than the more traditional methods. You can play with time, temp, ingredient amounts, and still be pretty sure of ending up with a splendid loaf -- maybe not what you envisioned, but still probably better than anything you can buy.

@Paul:
When I was starting out as a photographer one of the first assignments I had was for a baking trade publication, taking photos of Suzanne Dunaway and her Buona Forchetta bakery facility, which was in Culver City at the time. She was a gracious subject, and sent me home with heavenly bread (I can still see and taste it 10 years later), though I failed to get a copy of her book. Great to see it brought up here.

@Davey: "Kind of sinks the whole 'five-minute' goal, though. If anyone has a review of a good, cheap grain mill, now would be the time."
I'll second both of those thoughts.
--es

I have some bread dough rising for the requisite two hours now, I was so excited at reading the "master" recipe on artisanbreadinfive.com. One quick question: the instructions say after the two hour rise, to "refrigerate and use over the next 14 days". The video show the dough being stored in the refrigerator overnight. Is refrigeration necessary prior to baking? If not, given that the dough will already be at room temperature, does a loaf of dough still need the full 90 minutes sitting time?

@Ladd: Refrigeration is not necessary - use as is. And, on a fresh rise (imo) 90 minutes not needed. I'd let the shaped dough rest a bit (30 mins?), but have been known to pop in straight-away when in a hurry (you'll see slightly less rise in the oven). Happy baking!

Davey, I really appreciate your comments as I've been down the exact same path as you, except I've avoided any of the no-knead and 5-minute processes up until now.

I've decided to give it a whirl, having just placed requests for both 5-minute books from my public library system. FYI to all, there are 24 and 32 people ahead of me for these books!

Strangely, Amazon does not directly sell either book. Weird.

Angus: thanks for the tip regarding baking room temp dough vs dough out of the fridge. Two loaves coming right up!

I've had a lot of success in using the Hertzberg proportions (Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes) and timing, in combination with the Lahey cooking method (in a heated lidded ceramic or cast-iron pot at 475 Fahrenheit for 30 minutes and then another 17-18 minutes with the lid off). The Lahey bread's flavor is more complex due to the longer rise, but the differences are only noticeable in a side-by-side taste test.

Also, it's not necessary to dissolve the yeast first -- you can put the flour, yeast and salt together in a bowl, stir with a whisk to mix, and then pour the water in and stir with a wooden spoon or your hand to create the dough.

The other important thing is to use bread flour, not all-purpose. Bread flour, which is made from hard red wheat, makes a big difference in terms of flavor and texture; if you haven't tried it you'll be amazed.

I've been baking from these books for the past 3 months, and the technique is simply unbeatable. I have tried other breads - no knead, traditional, in the breadmaker - but nothing compares to the simplicity of this method. The results are just fantastic. The basic recipes are on their site, and Mother Earth News has some as well: http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/Artisan-Bread-In-Five-Minutes-A-Day.aspx

I have been playing with the books recipe for some time now. I love the outcome and as many people have already said its quite flexible. I have made it mixing by hand or with the dough hook on my Kitchenaid 600, which makes this extremely easy. My favorite thing to do is replace the water with beer. Two 12 oz bottles of beer conveniently equal 3 cups, which makes an easy way to add some complex flavor to even white bread. I will say if you use beer stick to the maltier varieties rather than the hoppy ones which can make the bread really bitter.

http://www.pleasanthillgrain.com/index.aspx#Nutrimill

http://www.pleasanthillgrain.com/buy_wheat_whole_grain_red_white_wheat_berries_making_bread_flour.aspx

Thanks for pointing out the Nutrimill, Thom. Any personal experience with it?
-es

@Ladd, the dough is quite wet, so will tend to lose its shape very fast. Refrigerating it makes it a little easier to shape so it doesn't just turn into something more like flatbread.

Oh, I love these guys! It makes creating homemade bread a snap.

I have a deep, deep weakness for crusty bread and butter, and this method makes it so easy. (Shameless plug for their string-of-dinner-rolls idea: http://lloydandlauren.com/2008/02/01/pain-depi/ )

Easier still is taking some straight from the fridge, smooshing it out to a thin disk and baking it without any waiting - a homemade flatbread/pita with zero effort. *sigh* If only bread had asked me to marry it before my husband did....

This is an awesome method for bread. I love homemade bread, and actually enjoy the long process of kneading, rising, etc., But, alas, most days (or weeks) I do not have the time. This 5 minute method has given me as good or better than the more traditional methods.

I have not yet tried the healthy in five book, but I will be ordering.

BTW, the original, basic recipe right out of the fridge is some of the best pizza dough ever.

Two of my tweeks. (1) Use parchment paper in place of corn meal, it is much more forgiving, especially for pizza. (2) get a *really* good baking stone. Mine is a 15x18 inch 1" thick cordierite plate.

PrairieMoon

I've used both methods (Lahey and 5-minutes) extensively and agree with most of these comments. It's easy and delicious. (PrairieMoon-the parchment paper and stone are definitely the way to go.)

My one comment is that this whole discussion about "five minutes/day" is a disingenuous sales gimmick to lure busy people into it. You can't make bread in five minutes. Sure, it takes five minutes to take the dough out of the fridge, shape it and put it on the counter - but it takes another 1 1/2 hours to get some bread that you're ready to eat. And before that you had to mix the dough and let it rise and flatten out and then refrigerate it for a while. All time well spent; I just think they should have called it "Artisan Bread Every Day" or something like that.

@Dacker You don't need to wait for the books. Go to their blog at www.artisanbreadinfive.com. They include some recipes. Watch the videos to get the technique down. The blog also shows interesting variations, points out errors in the books, and provides a forum for people to troubleshoot if they run into problems.

@Robo I agree the title is misleading, but, I don't think anyone would think they can mix, rise, and bake a loaf of bread in 5 minutes.

I discovered this book three months ago, we now bake every day.
As others have commented the process is most forgiving. I pull out dough every evening, then it takes two trips to the kitchen before the bread is out of the oven. Each visit lasts one minute. We find it impossible to eat store bought bread any more. I have put on two inches around my waist.
We have tried several of the breads but are most happy with the plain white and rye. Which I should add, goes extremely well with chopped liver.

Can you make a "traditional" shaped loaf with this recipe? That is, a regular sandwich style loaf? I ask because the loaves in their video are rather small and flat looking. One thing I liked about baking bread (way back when I used to do it) was making different shaped loaves baked in coffee cans, etc.

@Davey: Good and cheap in the same breath? There is no such animal unless your willing to grind grain by hand. Buying a grain mill is like anything else, buy the best and it only hurts once.

Why review of a good, cheap grain mill? If you are going to be baking for years you will save lots of money. A mill is one essential baking item that you can easily take with you (unlike the oven).

I say get the best you can afford - not a cheap one. It will pay for itself.

Stones (not metal) for grinding, wood body. If it looks good you may be more apt to use it.

How about: Grain mill recommendation, anyone? While we're at it, best (or best inexpensive) digital kitchen scale?--es

@Ralph: I use this method for my sandwich bread, 375F for 60 minutes in a Doughmakers/Pebbleware loaf pan.

I am just wondering why you add extra glutine, isnt theire enough glutine in wheat flour?

Sizar,

Glutin is added when lots whole wheat flour is used. I'm not sure if it's just the oils that are present in whole wheat or if the other components (germ, bran, etc) that inhibit the formation of the light bubbly structure you expect in bread. In their basic white flour recipe, you can put use whole wheat flour (http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=392) but only 5:1, 5 parts unbleached all purpose white flour to 1 part whole wheat. It's surprising how much affect that little whole wheat flour has on the rise of the dough.

Bob

This book is absolutely fabulous. My first loaf came out perfect and I used less than the 5 minutes. We plan on making our own bread from now on. I've gotten a number of excellent tools from cool tools - this may be the best.

I tried the NY Times way when I read about it here. My wife and I loved the results despite the fact that we let it rise the second time for way too long. Then we tried this method. The results were just as good without the critical 18-hour wait. We have made Anadama and 10-grain bread this way and they have come out fantastic. We no longer buy bakery bread. The other day we were at a small farmer's market and there was a girl selling bread for $7 a loaf. It was no larger and looked no better than what we make in about two hours. We felt bad for her. I have added 1 tbsp of sugar to half the basic recipe. This makes it rise in one hour. Then shape the entire mass into a boule and let rest covered for 30 minutes while heating the oven. I put it in a covered pre-heated dutch oven. Bake for 30 minutes and it's done. It's so quick there's no need to keep a batch in the fridge unless you want to.