Bread!! Question please.

Nature Boy

I wanna do bread tonight finally, and was thinking about Dr. Chicken's French bread to go with some lobster ravioli I have. The recipe calls for 375 for 20 minutes in the oven.[p]On a pizza stone, what dome temp should I use?? Any other tips??[p]I am going up to start the dough. I'll check back in an hour or so in hope of some suggestions. I really need to break the ice on this bread thing. It must be good.[p]Thanks
NB

Dr. Chicken

Nature Boy,
Some of the other people can give you a better idea, since I've only done bread once on the Egg. I took my dome temp to 400 degrees and checked my cooking area with an oven thermometer.....375 degrees. The cooking temp is very forgiving and since I posted the recipes, I've jumped the cooking time up to 24 minutes both on the Egg & the oven. High tempertures will do you in faster than slightly low temperatures! I have not really got into cooking a lot of bread on the Egg,,,,Yet! My wife has an adversion (almost paranoid!) to me using her pizza stone in the Egg after a friend of ours had a disasterous happening removing the pizza from the Egg. I plan on getting a couple more of them & the place setter in the near future, to remedy the situation.[p]Good bakin', Dr. Chicken

Nature Boy

Dr. Chicken,
Thanks.
Yeah. I am treading in risky territory.
Just got done making the dough (1/2 recipe). I have this piece of crap "kitchen center" that we ditched in the basement years ago. Too complicated. It's a blender food processor, mixer all in one. I remembered it had dough hooks, so I brought the huge box upstairs and set it up. What a contraption. The dough hooks pulled the dough upwards and it got a bit messy. Aren't they supposed to push it down? Anyway I finished it up by hand. Got a sweet looking ball of dough. Actually kneeding for 10 or 15 minutes was relaxing. I liked it.[p]Put it in an oiled bowl in a lukewarm oven. Then I looked back at the mess I had just created on the counter and the floor just to get this stinking ball of dough. Amazing. I guess experience will help.[p]Then I noticed this guy has 3 rises, and probably won't be ready to cook until 8 or 9 pm! Oh well, it should make a good snack. Maybe. Got no idea what will happen.[p]If it works, my wife will be hooked. Hopefully at least I get close to success.[p]Happy rising
NB

Nature Boy

Dr. Chicken,
Oh yeah. I remember someone posting a picture fairly recently. A nice analysis and discussion followed once Mary got involved in an educating critique.[p]I'll see if I can find that thread.
NB

Grumpa

Nature Boy,[p]Sounds Like you need to look into a KitchenAid Mixer for your wife's upcoming birthday :~)

Gfw

<p />Bob, that sounds like a great idea - you know that I bought my wife a medium BGE for her birthday last September!

Nature Boy

Bob,
Oh yeah. That's a great way to get big points. Rule 1. Never give your wife an appliance for a gift.[p]Reminds me of the Wierd Al Yankovich satiracal song, where he redid Thomas Dolby's "She Blinded Me with Science". He replaced the words with a screaming female voice "You Bought me an Appliance!!!????!![p]Anyway, those Kitchenaids look sweet. They have em at Costco.[p]I don't mind hand kneeding, but how much will the kitchenaid improve my cooking life?? Does you use yours a lot??[p]NB

Lee2

Nature Boy,
I would think your bread will be just fine with two rises. The third, IMO, is just icing on the cake.

Nature Boy

Lee2,
About an hour and a half for the first, then punch it down?? Should I do the second rise after I've rolled it out? or while it is still in the bowl??[p]I am ignert on this subject.[p]Thanks a lot.[p]Chris

Lee2

Nature Boy,
The KitchenAide will improve your cooking life more than you know. They are worth th $$$ just for whipping cream alone. Anything that takes a long mixing time, toss it into the mixer and go off and do something else for a few minutes. They are the best kitchen helper since the invention of the BGE.

Lee2

Nature Boy,
Yes, form your loaf and let it rise a second time for about 45 minutes in a warm place.

Grumpa

Nature Boy,[p]I bought my wife her's for her birthday and have recieved nothing but praises ever since. That rascal sure takes the work out of dough handling and mixing. Makes great smashed taters too.

Grumpa

Gfw,[p]So...how's she liking it :~)[p]My wife is getting me a small for our anniversary next month. I can't wait!

Gfw

Bob, she loves it - she used to have to cook!

Char-Woody

Nature Boy,

Char-Woody

Nature Boy, This one will have some dough in it..!! :-)
Let me think..It seems to me that "Cooks Illustrated" had a mixer test not too long ago..One of the subjects covered was using a Kitchen Aid or similar to knead the dough..Not nice..do it by hand as the little yeasties are prone to dislike the beating by the mixer and thrive on hand kneading. So do the dough mix in the mixer and when it balls up on the hook, remove and knead it.. It also loves slam dunks on the kitchen counter, pitty pats, and hard knocks...LOL...for real..cheers.
C~W[p]

Fritz

Nature Boy,[p]I would agree with Dr. Chicken. 375* - 400* for about 24 minutes should do the trick. I would elevate the pizza stone with firebricks if you dont have a plate setter.[p]Fritz

SpiceCooks

Nature Boy,
I want to know where you got the lobster ravioli from..?? I noticed that no one asked you that question.

Char-Woody

Gfw, I kinda got the same problem now..I asked the wiffy the other day to go ahead and make chops her way..do the whole thing, in the kitchen..She has a two word comeback, its "uh, no".....Very short!
C~W[p]

King-O-Coals

Gfw, what a great guy! But I topped that.. I got my wife 2 new Calcutta reels and a couple of upper-scale state of th art rods for her birthday.. And for our anniversary,,, yep,,,,,, she got a brand new Industrial Rated LawnBoy self-propelled mower. Our ladies are lucky they found us..

Nature Boy

Char-Woody,
Don't mind the hand kneeding at all. Slam dunks eh! Sounds like fun. Real nice SPLAT sound I expect.[p]I need more work. I'll post results now.
Cheers
NB

djm5x9

Nature Boy:[p]If you are serious about a Kitchen Aid, contemplate the 350W motor (standard or professional), with meat grinder and slicer/shredder attachments. Bread making (loaf, French, and pizza), meat grinding, and cheese grating chores happen quickly. You will discover other uses as well.

JimW

Nature Boy,
A Kitchen Aid will be the best money you've ever spent except for the EGG. My dad used his for 45 years. I've had mine for over 30. I don't use it every day but when you need it you NEED it.