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I've just bought The New Artisan Bread In 5 Minutes A Day.  It mainly uses US all-purpose flour and I was wondering if anyone in the UK has the book, and if so what flour do you substitute?  I'm not sure whether to try plain flour or bread flour.  Probably bread flour first and see how I get on, but it would be great to hear of anyone else's experience with using this book.

Susan, the Frequently Asked Questions section of the ABin5 site addresses that issue. The short version is that for all-white-flour breads, flour that's higher protein needs a bit more water in the initial mix. Here's the link, for details on different types of flour and water adjustments: http://www.artisanbreadi...02/10/qa-flour-and-water

The site incorporates a lot of information that didn't make it into the first edition, but I think they tried to include much of that in the new version.

Is there not a general-purpose white flour sold in the UK? If there is, that's what I would start with unless at the store you're buying from there's a reason to think that bread or other flours would be fresher.

Adding to Ellabee's observation.. UK millers DOve Farms has a useful comparison.. and a tip: "It's best to know what you want to bake, before choosing the flour. Then get the flour you need to bake that". Persoanlly, as UK wheat is (generally speaking) softer than US wheat, for any yeast or levain breads I'd choose a strong flour or bread flour. Let us know what you end up doing & how it turns out!

Thanks both of you for the links - very interesting and helpful.  It all still seems too complex to me with hydration levels and gluten percentages (which mean different things in the US and Europe!) but I've just chosen a flour and decided to try it out and see what happens.  Bread is in the oven right at this minute and looking a bit small and flat but smelling good.  I'll let you know how it works out!

So Susan_F, how did that bread turn out?? Would you repeat it? Did you experiment with different flours?

I've been having great fun with it and made more bread in the past two weeks than I probably have in my life! (Ok I am a beginner!)  I started with Tesco own brand strong bread flour, simply because I've always been told to make bread you need bread flour, not plain flour and I couldn't make myself believe that wasn't true. The recipe is enough for four loaves, which I made over four days. I don't own a pizza peel or bread stone so simply put the dough on a baking sheet.  The first one tasted good, but it was very flat and dense.  I upped the rising time before baking from 30 mins to 90 mins.  It's a very wet dough so difficult to shape and it spreads out a lot without rising very much.  The extra rising time made a big difference and the bread did taste really good and quite special.  Next time I'll try making it in a loaf pan to help the shaping and maybe add a little more flour.

For my next experiment I tried using Tesco own brand plain flour.  This makes a much more manageable dough, which rises nicely and keeps it's shape well.  It's almost as good to taste as the first batch but has a much more even look about it.  I've got a couple of loaves worth of dough left which I'm going to leave to mature for a few days yet and see how that changes the flavour, if at all.  Then I'll try a rye bread...

It's amazingly easy and the amount of time you need to make this bread is so minimal compared to the result.  It won't stop me making bread the more conventional way sometimes, but it'll certainly become a much-used recipe in our household now.  There's a youtube video about it - search breadin5 (sorry I can't get the link to work).

Susan_F - I added the video for the basic artisan boule as well as the videos they had for their books and recipes.  Any time anyone spots videos they want added for books or recipes, just email Christine at [email protected] and she will add them.

Thank you Jane - for some reason I never even thought of asking you to do that.  Doh!

Just came across the dialogue re the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes - thought I'd throw a bit in. In Australia, plain flour equates to the US all-purpose but I would never use plain flour for bread again as any time I did  the end result was too "cakey"due to not enough gluten present. It works sometimes when it is specified in a soft roll or in a baguette or something, but not in a  basic loaf of bread. I have also found I have to reduce the flour component of nearly every US recipe as our flour tends to be much more absorbent. UK flour would probably be different again and experience will tell you that.Starting off working with US recipes is likely to deter a novice baker-good for you it doesn't seem to have done that. I have friends who are very experienced bakers who will not use US recipes because there are too many variables with things like flour, and the (usual) lack of weights and reliance on cup measures. 

Re the the no-knead method, I personally didn't  like the result, no matter what I did, compared to other methods. I found the texture of it sort of "gummy" and unsatisfactory.  Since that book came out there have been a lot of developments and tweaks to  the method by other well known bakers, where the bread is given a couple of "folds" during the proving process, and thus delivers a far superior loaf. 

If it is not too presumptuous of me, if I had to suggest a book for someone  starting out on what could very well end in compulsive bread making, one would be the recent UK book by James Morton called Brilliant Bread. He tells you about the " few folds" method and how you can incorporate it, or not, into your bread making. It is a very informative book, he knows his stuff and knows how to get it across. It is appealing to have a big bin of dough in the fridge that you can theoretically turn into a loaf any time but, honestly, once you get into the swing of baking bread it is the quality of the loaf that counts. It sounds like you are cut out to be a bread baker and your loaf that spread out too much would probably not have done so if it had been given a few folds. Happy baking.

Thank you Dibrims, I really appreciate your help.  I get the feeling bread making can get quite addictive once you really get into it!  It's almost like a science experiment each time :-)  Now by happy co-incidence, I have just started a new batch of dough about an hour ago and I already own James Morton's book.  So I've read up on the few folds method and have included this process with my latest batch.  Can wait to try it out now, but as I've already made two loaves for today (one of which has already disappeared along with a baked camembert round for lunch), it'll have to wait until tomorrow.  I might even pluck up the courage to try some of the other breads in his book as up until now I haven't got past looking at the photos!

This thread has been really useful in stopping a "domestic".. my husband has been struggling with "true" sourdough since becoming addicted to baking late January..  all works perfectly until the bit just before baking! So we've just looked at Artisan bread in 5 minutes (including everyone's notes as to 'success") and we're about to try it! Being a purist he's struggling with using commercial yeast ;-).. but the scales are now out and the 5 minute mix is starting (using "Lighthouse" brand of  bread flour as opposed to  all-purpose flour). Will keep you posted as to whether it works or not!!

Hello there  Susan_F.  It really sounds like you are well on the way to the bread baking addiction. Very glad you have that book as  it is a  good all-round book full of sensible information, recipes and methods. I think he explains things really well. The pictures are really helpful and the text is well ordered and informative, go for it. I have followed the development and the science involved with the no-knead method for several years now and have found  the transition fascinating.The one thing they all have in common is they don't have the big tub of dough sitting in the fridge. They all have a tendency towards "wetter" doughs and longer proving periods and a folding procedure instead of kneading is now very common. Different very well known bakers have slightly different methods and there are some terrific books on the subject.There are also a lot of very, very poor bread baking books on the market as well. My best breads have been made using an overnight biga (starter) being mixed with the other ingredients the next day, light kneading or the folding method and (this has been just the best birthday present to me ever!) being baked in an Emile Henry baking cloche. My first loaf baked in that made my jaw drop. If you love baking bread then write that letter to Santa for sure. A lot of people are baking loaves in enamelled casseroles very successfully, the cloche is better, made to withstand the very high temperatures needed, and you are less likely to burn yourself in the process. And no, I don't work for Emile Henry, that is how I justified the expense to myself.

Your are so right about the science aspect of bread baking, you really get the whole bread thing there! I am a bit of a baking nerd because there is always more to learn and understand. I read a quote once by some famous baker whose name escapes me now -" cooking is science, baking is art, but bread is magic". Perhaps it is better described as a combination of all three?  I love talking about making bread.  Will be interested in hearing about your experiences and would gladly send you some tried and true, well tested recipes if you are at all interested.  Cheers, happy baking.  Di

Hi there,

I've been using their technique at home for quite a while now. I also teach something similar in my cooking school for people who want to make bread regularly and don't have the time for all that prep and kneading.

I'm an Aussie pastry chef, I understand that bakers flour is ideal for bread baking due to the higher levels of gluten, although this technique is different and I think you'll find the results you might be looking for would be better with plain flour.

So if your wanting to make pizza or bread with a lighter crumb rather than a ciabatta type crumb, your better off using plain flour.

This technique uses time to absorb water, which in turn develops the gluten, rather than the usual method of time spent kneading. So using a good quality plain flour will work great.

If you dust the surface of the dough with a little flour before pulling out your baking requirements you'll find it easier to work with. Just dont go overboard, remember dry dough's produce heavier dryer bread.

Read their instrucitons again sometimes you can miss something and have fun baking.

Hope this helps

Regards Bec

Thanks to all for this thread: our first loaf was a delight.. sooo easy! We ended up using 1/2 bread flour and half organic spelt rye. Tasted just like I remembered "Hovis" bread to taste.. the small boule disappeared very quickly , so my second loaf is now baking (this time in a loaf tin)...