C is for Cold-Oven Method

In my last post on bread-making, I promised to devote a whole blog post on the cold-oven method. And here it is.

I have made bread many different ways over the years: with a bread maker, by hand with my grandma's traditional warm rise method, and with the sexy new artisan bread let-it-rise-overnight method. My biggest problems with letting bread rise is that the oven was the only place in my kitchen that I knew it could rise quietly in peace without being licked by cats or poked at by children. In order to pre-heat the oven for the actual baking, however, I would have to take out the rising bread and leave it on the counter. This almost always resulted in the bread sagging and being unhappy.

And, then, I learned about the cold-oven method. I am in love. It is both a traditional and brand-new method at the same time. It is coming back into favor because of its simplicity, which makes it easier for busy families. It makes my bread rise perfectly every time without disturbing its magical chemistry and makes beautiful loaves.

The cold-oven method simply means that you will start the bread in a cold oven rather than pre-heating. Part of the bread's final rise happens as the oven begins to warm up. It makes the rise more pronounced and produces a lovely crumbed texture. You simply allow the bread to rise for at least half an hour in the oven and then turn it on. Some people use a lower temperature to begin with and then turn it up, but for everyday sandwich bread, I keep it at 400 for about 35 minutes.

I like to couple the cold-oven method with some other artisinal techniques, such as placing a pan of water in the oven while baking to steam the bread, and allowing the first dough rise to happen in the refrigerator overnight. This makes the perfect blend of flavors and textures.

If you're a little nervous of making bread for the first time, take your favorite recipe and use the cold oven method rather than pre-heating. It will save you time and stress and will produce a beautiful loaf. 

B is for Bread

There's something about making bread that soothes my soul. It brings out some kind of retro-gene in me that enjoys kneading and forming and watching something grow from the most basic of ingredients.

These days, I cheat more days than not and make my dough in my two (yes, two) breadmakers. Then I knead, let rise and use the cold-oven method (we'll talk about that in the next blog post) to bake our daily bread. On the weekends, however, you'll find me making pitas, naan bread, crackers, French loaves and all manner of rolls and buns. If I didn't think that it would kill my love of bread, I would consider opening a bakery.

If you've never made your own bread, you have no idea what you're missing. There's something comforting and safe in the smell of bread baking in the oven. The danger, of course, is that you may never go back to eating the pasty, cardboardy substance they call bread in the store.


The trick to making great bread is simply practice. After a while, you will get a feel for the dough. You can take exactly the same ingredients and make bread on two different days, and it will come out differently. Temperature, humidity, flour settling and a host of other variables all come to the dance to create the chemical and biological process of creating bread from scratch. Knowing how the dough should feel will help you adjust it as you go until it is perfect.

You can knead bread by hand or pick up a breadmaker at a yard sale for $5. You can make the entire loaf in the breadmaker but it will never come out the same as a hand-shaped oven-baked loaf. There are a few other tricks I've picked up along the way:

1. Don't rush bread. Let it rise luxuriously out of breezes or other environmental shocks. The longer the rise, the better (and lighter) the bread. 
2. Keep your whole wheat flour and your yeast in the freezer. This will stop the flour from going rancid and keep the yeast strong. Take out what you need for each session and allow to come to room temperature. 
3. Use the cold-oven method for baking bread (see the next blog entry). I wish I had learned this method years ago. Makes a perfect loaf every time. 
4. Cut the first slice while the bread is still warm and slather it with butter. Enjoy it and revel in your new kitchen skills!