Homemade Italian Bread

[wannabechef]

Hi everyone,

I've been toying with the idea of experimenting with machineless breadmaking. Like many, I adore bread, and a good hot loaf of Italian bread is one of my favorite things in life. Is it realisitic to make a homemade italian loaf at home, with a standard oven, etc? Is this a good bread for a beginner to start out with? And if not, what would be?

One of my other loves are onion rolls - stuffed to the max with onions and poppy seeds.

Does anyone have any good beginners recipes, or any tips or advice to share on this subject?

Thanks

~WB

[jackal10]

Check the eGCI course on Sourdough, and Dan Lepard's baking day for illustrated recipes.

Dan makes wonderful Pugeliese, Foccachio, etc

Any requests for follow up bread courses next year? Possibiliites might include

Ciabbata

Pannetone

Pumpernickel

Rye

Challa

Croissants

Hot cross buns...

What else?

[fresco]

Ciabbatta and rye for sure.

[alanamoana]

a good cookbook is the "il fornaio" baking book. it might not be perfect for beginners, but the recipes do work. you may need to start with some easier doughs to gain some confidence in dealing with dough, yeast, etc. for that, i'd recommend any book by beth hensperger...her books are easy to deal with and will get you started off on the right foot.

il fornaio is a restaurant chain started in california. they borrowed the name from an actual bakery in florence, italy (i think it's florence). they pride themselves on being authentically italian. the food isn't terrible, but their breads are great. their baker (don't think he's with the company any more) has won many awards in competition for his baking. i can (and have) easily eat an entire loaf of ciabatta right out of the oven .

[rickster]

I'd second the Hensperger books for a beginner. I'd also recommend Carol Field's The Italian Baker. You'll find out there's more than one type of Italian bread.

[cibatta mondatta]

I suggest two books: Maggie Glezer's Artisan Baking Across America, and Peter Reinhart's The Bread Maker's Apprentice. I credit Glezer with helping me 'over the fence' from a random-baking-wannabe to bring-it-on-baking-honcho . Both authors tout the benefits of pre-fermentation (that means starting the day before and letting things develop slowly. Glezer insists you use a scale and baker's percentages; Reinhart gives you standard measures as well as weights.

The other thing I suggest is some thermal mass in your oven. I do quite well with a 1.5" kiln shelf on the bottom rack (on which I actually bake the bread) and a conventional pizza stone on the top rack, all heated to 500 degress for an hour(!) before loading the dough. You can make do with a single pizza stone, but the more mass, the better. I've heard people doing well with fire bricks...

Careful, this can turn obsessive before you can say 'pain du levain'