Recent content by bakingmad

Has anyone used cake flour along with all-purpose for French bread? What kind of crumb did you get? Does it make a tender, delicate crumb?

I now use a bread machine to knead my pizza dough. About 7 minutes and it's perfect. What I was after with my first post was getting a LARGER bread with a crumb like that of pizza crust. I have yet to perfect this bread baking thing. Still ending up with a crumb that is unsatisfying...

Hmmm. A steamer for the dough? Interesting. I might have the right gadgets to make one. Thank you for the link, Walt.

I've been handling my French bread dough like it was nitroglycerine. No wonder why it's been such a nerve-wracking experience! I will try again, but now with more confidence.

Thank you so much for the link, Sabrine. The videos were most helpful. The video runs quite well via dial-up (56K). I think I'll give the banging the dough method a try. Looks fun and I can let off some steam at the same time. Thanks again, Sabrine.

Any particular series? I'm not getting any results using just "Breads and baked goods" and "Danielle Forestier."

I don't think I'm allowing my bread to rise properly, but then again, the type of crumb that I'm looking for might require other ingredients in addtion to water, flour, yeast and salt. If anything, my conventional oven "might" be a bit off, temperature-wise, but most likely it is something...

Now that you mention it... It might not be a French bread that I'm looking for. I would have to ask what they use at the bakery where I've purchased this kind of loaf, which might contain fats, etc. My bread being "quite heavy" was not intentional, but a problem I've been having with them.

How can I get a light and fluffy crumb for my French bread? Is this possible using a conventional oven? I have tried numerous times to make bread like that from a bakery, with a very soft and cottonball-like crumb. My loaves register a proper internal temperature but come out quite heavy...

I like how my pizza crust comes out and would like something similar in a larger bread. I've tried numerous times to make French bread, but the crumb turns out rather firm. I don't know whether I'm not kneading enough or baking the dough before the it rises to a proper level. I end up with...