Trying to Get a Rise

This is from an email that I recently sent a friend of my regarding some questions had about first time bread making. I'm no master-baker, but I have learned a few things from trial and error. Previous to this email, I told Keith about an article that would be helpful, but I couldn't remember the author's name....

September 27th, 2011
Correspondence between Adam and Keith

The guy's name is Jim Lahey, just like Jim Lahey from Trailer Park Boys. I should have remembered. Here is the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/081mrex.html.

 Also, look at the myriad recipes available at http://www.kingarthurflour.com. Here are some changes I have used with success:

 Up the flour to 4 cups, use 2-2 1/2 teaspoons of salt, use very warm but not quite hot water. Read this article fully because it has some techniques that will be fun to mess with Here is what I do:

1. Combine all ingredients. Add water until the dough is slightly past the "shaggy" stage referenced in recipe. Humidity will have a surprising effect. I think it looks like thick goop. Do not knead the dough. The act of mixing thoroughly is enough.

2. Let the dough sit covered for about an hour at room temperature. If it's cold in the house, find a warm spot. Play around with the time, though, because you might need to adjust for temperature.

3. Put the dough in the fridge for as long as needed, up to about a week. The dough should have at least 8 hours to do its thing in the fridge. If you're making dough for a same-day meal, let the dough sit out for 4+ hours at room temperature with no refrigeration.

4. To bake, cut a piece of dough for your needs and put the rest back in the fridge. Allow dough to come to room temperature, usually 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Pizza:

1. Preheat oven to 450.

2. Grease, flour or apply corn meal to a pan.

3. With greased hands (use olive oil), start working the dough into a flat disc. The dough should be fairly loose, so do try not to make any holes.
 
    a. If the dough is too loose, add small amounts of flour to tighten it up. In either case, the dough might stop wanting to respond and actually start to pull back into itself. This is called recalcitrance. Let the dough sit for 10-15 minutes and it will bend to your will once more.

4. Stretch the dough out using the palm of your hand. After forming the disc, place it on the palm of your left hand and either guide dough down with your right hand, or let gravity do it if your dough is loose enough. If you have a preferred formation method, apply now.

5. Place the dough on the pan. Let it sit for about 15 minutes.

6. Bake the dough until some of the high spots start to get dark brown. Most of the rest of the dough, however, should look somewhat less than done.

7. Remove pan from oven and dress your pie with whatever toppings you see fit.

8. Place pan in oven and bake until done.

9. Eat.

Steaming Loaf:

1. Preheat oven to 450. You can try 500, if you're feeling lucky...

2. Grease, flour or apply corn meal to a pan.

3. Lightly dust a flat surface with extra bread flour.

4. Take your lump of dough and play with it a little. It should remain wet, but not as wet as the pizza dough. Knead for just a few minutes.

5. Let the dough rise for probably about an hour at room temperature in a lightly floured, covered vessel. Watch it, though. It should maybe double in size.

6. Remove dough from vessel. Now, "knock it down". Do this by folding the dough once or twice to get some of the air out.

7. Form the dough into the final desired shape. This could be a simple ball, a tube like shape for baguettes, or get crafty and braid the dough.

8. Let the dough sit for about a half an hour, covered. It will rise again.

9. Before baking, you can two finishing methods, or do nothing:

     a. Spray the loaf thoroughly with water, and spray again in oven about 3-5 minutes after it starts baking. This will yield a dull, rough-looking finish.
 
     b. Paint the dough with olive oil, covering the entire surface of the dough. Herbed olive oil is tasty, too. This finish is slightly less rough-looking than option a, and has a much softer crust. Also is tastier.

10. Bake bread until done. Usually this is when several parts of the crust become dark brown, if not black. If bubbles form in the surface, they will be the first to change color. If this happens, wait until non-bubbly parts turn dark.

11. Remove from oven, let sit for 15 minutes or so.

12. Enjoy.

Let me know if you have any more questions!