I knead help!
Supposedly, the No Knead Bread recipe written about in the NY Times last year is so easy, a child can make it. I am convinced that I am cursed to only bake bread that tastes pretty good but will not rise, because I seriously botched this one. Food bloggers everywhere have had great success, but me? Nope. I failed so miserably with this one that I refused to take a picture of the finished product.
Why is baking so hard for me? I just want to be a brilliant baker, but every time I try, it is a debacle. Will someone please come to my house and help me bake a moist cake, a fluffy loaf of bread, crispy or chewy cookies, something?
Here’s a list of a few of the successful bread-makers and their posts about it:
Smitten Kitchen
Mother Chef
Not Martha
Wandering Chopsticks
(Actually, the bottom of Jaden’s Steamy Kitchen’s post has a neat feature in which all the people who have tried the recipe can post their blog. Just go there if you want to see how much better other people are at baking bread!)
deb replied:
So… what happened? Do you think your yeast was bad? I wonder if it rose too fast and maybe kinda “blew out” or something. We must get to the bottom of this!
September 19, 2007 at 1:07 am. Permalink.
contrarycanary replied:
You know, I think that it rose for too long, causing it to “blow out.” I forgot that I had an appointment in the afternoon (when I had planned on shaping and baking the bread) so it ended up rising for closer to 22 hours than the “up to” 20 hours from the recipe.
By the way, thanks for the comment! I’m honored! I love your blog!
September 19, 2007 at 4:12 am. Permalink.
deb replied:
You must try it again! You know, if your place is a little warmer or your yeast kind of freakishly active, sometimes things rise really fast. I think this is the scary part of bread-baking; not the ingredients but the range (”oh, 15 to 22 hours, you know!”
and the imprecision of the process. Good luck! Oh, and thank you!
September 19, 2007 at 3:22 pm. Permalink.
Wandering Chopsticks replied:
I’ve let my bread rise for a full day and had no problems. I think it’s more likely the yeast. Also, there’s very little shaping needed. Or is it your oven? Keep trying! It’ll come out right one day.
September 20, 2007 at 4:07 am. Permalink.