Sourdough Cornmeal-Flour, Raisin & Saffron Boules. My continuing adventures in

Bread has been cooled, sliced and buttered with some leftover Irish butter - yum!

I did end up with 2 standard sized loaves of bread from this recipe. (Recipe is at post # 17951) I didn't have any directions for this bread, but guessed from the other bread recipes that I have been reading lately.

Proof the yeast with 1/4 cup of warm water and a bit of sugar for about 4 minutes.
Put all of the flours, butter, brown sugar and salt into Kitchenaid bowl and add the rest of the water along with the proofed yeast. (You may need a bit more to get the dough to come together.)
Let the machine knead the dough for about 5 minutes before adding the cranberries and walnuts ( I added about 1/3 cup of sunflower seeds).
Let the mixer knead the dough for another 12 minutes (the bowl jumped off the pegs twice!) and then hand knead the dough for another 5. (Just to be able to get your hands into the dough.)
Let the dough rise for about an hour and then punch it down, divide it into 2 and let it rest for 30 minutes before shaping it into 2 loaves.
Let the dough rise for another 40 minutes and then bake the loaves at 350 degrees for 35 minutes before tenting them with foil to keep them from browning too much.
The loaves needed another 15 minutes or so until they were done.

The bread sliced nicely and wasn't too dense. My coffee companions each had a slice of the bread and the ginger cake with mascarpone frosting that I had made in the morning. (The cake got more votes, but I was pretty proud of my bread!)

 
Absolutely get an instant read. I think you can even get one at the grocery store. So nice to be

able to tell a loaf's ready without voodoo or guesswork. Live "La Vida Loca" and drop $15 bucks.

185ºF gives you a finished loaf but I look for 200ºF to 205ºF for perfection.

 
Consider it done. Now I'm going to have to show my complete ignorance...

Is the E sized Le Creuset the 5 1/2 qt.??
I just want to be ready to roll when my starter arrives. (Will I need to give it a few days to recuperate from its journey?)

While I'm asking, what other supplies would you consider essential for a beginner's arsenal of tools for bread baking? Do you weigh your flour or do you "spoon and level"? Also, what is your opinion about instant, rapid rise, bread machine, active dry or cake yeast? Do you have a preference or as I assume, does it depend on a recipe and in that case, what would determine which you would use? Thanks for letting me pick your brain!

 
Thanks for the suggestion. So far I have appreciated having the dough

in the refrigerator and ready to go. A couple days ago I made soup for friends who are sick with a rotten cold. It was handy to be able to quickly bake a loaf of bread for them, too, while the soup was simmering. Of course, I also had to throw a second loaf in the oven for us. I have also kept it a bit longer than 2 weeks. And for the latest batch I substituted a couple cups of whole wheat flour, and it was just as good.

 
I have the Healthy Artisan Bread In 5 Minutes a Day book -- apparently the non-healty version is

better. I used the master recipe in the healthy bread version and the texture & flavor were bleh. Texture was spongy rather than bread-like and the flavor needed tons more salt.

I have heard the original "Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day" is much better.

Also, Harold Mcgee did a post in the NYT on wet bread doughs and recommended a couple good books on that topic.

 
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