Bread making made fast and simple

Want to make bread without having to kneed or wait hours for the dough to rise?  There is a new technique that works great which Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francios describe in their books Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day and Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day.

Five minutes is a bit misleading, but not much.  First it takes about 10 minutes initially to mix the ingredients. I use a one gallon ice cream bucket as the mixing and storage container.  After the dough is mixed it can be used right way or stored in the refrigerator for up to a couple of weeks. The bucket's plastic lid should cover it, but not seal. The bucket will be filled with bread dough after the basic bread recipe has had time to rise.

When ready to bake the bread simply form it into a loaf, and then it just takes 40 - 90 minutes to let the dough raise.  Then  pop it on a hot baking stone in a 450 degree oven for 25-30 minutes. Bingo, you have a fresh homemade loaf of bread.  The authors suggest a cup of water be added in a boiler tray in the oven to increase the quality of the bread's crust.

Pictured above is a whole grain artisan free-form loaf which I made yesterday.