Pat McCollem said...
February 10, 2008 at 4:51 pm

My family is really enjoying the breads from your cookbook. I am a diabetic however and on Weight Watchers and I have a few questions about portion size and nutrion breakdown. How many people would a one pound loaf usually serve? What would the average calories be and the dietary fiber percentage. I realize that the recipes are vastly different depending on how much of each type of flour is in each recipe. I’d just like an average, if that’s at all possible. Have tried 4 of the recipes at the beginning of the book and plan to make a fifth tonight. Have yet to make one that we didn’t like.

Thanks for any light you can shed on the questions I asked.

Pat McCollem

Bubbles LaTour said...
February 10, 2008 at 8:48 pm

The recipe on Lynne Rosetto Kasper’s site has 1-1/2 TEAspoons and I’ve wondered if that is a proofreading error or a deliberate change. My first batch was from that site’s recipe. I’ve found in subsequent batches that a tablespoon of kosher salt (Morton’s) is a nice amount for us.

zoe said...
February 10, 2008 at 9:20 pm

Hi Bubbles,

Wow, that does seem to be an error! Although some people may find it to be just right for their palate???

Thanks, Zoë

Dana Perkins said...
March 3, 2008 at 7:12 am

I found the cornstarch glaze right in front of my face so forget my other email.

Venusia said...
April 2, 2008 at 5:53 pm

Hi,
I bought your book, made pizza and boule with the first batch, then got ambitious and made a double batch yesterday. Today, realised that in my excitement I forgot the salt! Do you think I can knead it in, or should I resign myself to just adding it to the cornmeal on the peel and serving it with salty butter, cheese and sauces?

jeff said...
April 2, 2008 at 8:48 pm

Venusia: Oh no! I did this once with yeast, and I made a slurry of yeast and water, mixed it into the dough and then used a little flour to bring it back to correct consistency. You could try that with salt– it’s probably the kind of thing I would try, worst that would happen is that it would be unevenly salted. Big deal, it’s only food and we can have more tomorrow.

Or, try your idea. You know, there’s an Italian no-salt tradition from Tuscany, where supposedly in the Middle Ages they were trying to beat some new salt tax and invented this whole new bread tradition based on salt-free dough. If you go that way, be aware that the dough will seem hyperactive (rising more than usual)— it will work fine though, but the taste will be bland. Your various salt-innundating ideas may work though. Jeff

Monet said...
April 16, 2008 at 1:54 pm

Had an excellent bread in a restaurant that had a very salty crust, probably course salt sprinkled on it before baking? I’m going to try this next but were wondering if you have tried anything like this. As an aside, great publicity for you in the April 18 issue of The Week!
Monet

zoe said...
April 16, 2008 at 7:41 pm

Hi Monet,

Yes, I’ve made breads with a salt crust. I did a bagel with a mix of sesame seeds and course sea salt that was wonderful.

Let us know how it comes out!

My brother told me about the article in The Week, but we haven’t seen it yet.

Thanks, Zoë

Michele Mick said...
July 9, 2008 at 3:45 pm

I am a psychologist losing my hearing to Meniere’s Disease. Like those with congestive heart failure, those of us with Meniere’s Disease must strive to live a low sodium lifestyle. I try to consume no more than 1000 mg of salt a day. The biggest loss has been bread. Searching for salt-free recipes, I recently stumbled across a website touting your “no knead” pizza crust. I got your book the same weekend. I have had no success at making low sodium bread in my bread machine and never expected to attempt to make bread without a machine. However, you made bread-making sound so easy that I decided to conduct an experiment. I made a half-batch of your master recipe. Then, based upon learning that salt inhibits the action of yeast, I made another half-batch in which I reduced the yeast by half and only used 1/16 of a teaspoon of coarse sea salt. This process yielded two loaves similar in all respects but taste. For the first time in a long time, I was able to enjoy eating something very similar to regular bread. For me, it’s not about artisan bread or homemade bread. It’s just about bread. Thank you for making this possible.

I plan to continue working to improve my “crumb” and to infuse my bread with taste. I was wondering if you would consider developing and making available an algorithm for decreasing the sodium in your bread recipes. If you take up this challenge, I urge you to mention low sodium bread on your website to that others like myself might find their way to you and to the possibility of bread again.

With gratitude,

Michele Mick

jeff said...
July 9, 2008 at 7:08 pm

Michele:

Thanks for all your comments and enthusiasm, I really appreciate it. Our second book will directly address this question. We’ve been testing our loaves without salt, and the short answer to your questions is that all of our recipes work just fine with zero salt, let alone 1/16 tsp. As you’ve noticed, the only thing that changes is the flavor; salt really brings up and heightens the relatively bland flavor of wheat. So if people like the flavor well enough with zero salt, that’s what they should go with. But some people just don’t enjoy eating salt-free bread, and there’s nothing to do about that!

If it’s too bland, start adding back a little salt, 1/16 of a tsp at a time (if your health condition can tolerate it). And of course, talk with your doctor before you add back any salt.

One thing– salt-free doesn’t work well at high altitudes (like Denver CO). Without salt inhibition, it just over-rises and then falls back into a dense lump. See our high-altitude suggestions at http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=144.

But that’s basically it; that’s the algorithm. Let us know how you make out with this. Jeff

Geoff Kennedy said...
December 5, 2008 at 5:34 pm

Like Michele I am trying to stay on a low sodium diet and have been trying various methods to make salt free bread. I have had little luck with bread machines, but have had better luck with other no-knead recipes. Your method, however is the best by far. The tang the dough develops makes up for some of the lack of salt. You deserve a Nobel prize, (right after the guy who invented the screwdriver with the interchangeable bits). Thanks, and I look forward to your next book.
Geoff

jeff said...
December 5, 2008 at 7:42 pm

Geoff: Thank you so much!!! Tang is in! Umami makes up for a wealth of sins (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umami). Nobel prize? Well, I’d hoped I’d win it for medicine, but that’s looking unlikely (www.medformatics.com). Jeff

Catherine said...
February 3, 2009 at 3:36 pm

To Michele Mick,
I too have Meniere’s and need to have the same low level of salt in my diet. I make the basic dough with a scant (slightly less than full) 1/2 TB of light salt, then decrease the yeast to 1 TB and that works quite well. I reduce the yeast because the salt inhibits yeast growth, so when the salt level is lower, the yeast grows more vigorously. I have also done it with 1 1/2 TB yeast and that works too. These changes result in breads that have 1/6 the sodium of the original recipes and still taste good to my palate, which as adjusted over 3 years to a low salt diet. By the way, the very low salt diet worked great for me; my hearing has greatly improved.

Walter said...
February 22, 2009 at 7:46 pm

To Catherine and Michelle:

Another Meniere’s sufferer here.

I’ve been making low(er) sodium bread for a couple of years now in a bread machine. I recently started making no-knead bread and found the tricks I learned with the bread machine transfer rather well.

What works for me is to reduce the salt called for in the recipe by 1/3 and then instead of using salt, use 50% salt and 50% NO SALT – a sodium free product from French’s (the mustard people). NO SALT contains potassium chloride and is a bit tricky to use. The secret I have found is to never go beyond a 50/50 mixture. Otherwise, you risk getting a metallic taste. At 50/50 it is hard to tell the difference.

Most recipes call for way too much salt anyway. I have found that you can normally reduced the amount called for in the recipe by 1/3 without compromising flavor. Then you cut the sodium by another 50%.
The end result is great tasting bread with about 1/3 the sodium.

I had good luck with the following modification to the ‘Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day’ basic recipe:
6.5 C flour
3 C liquid (I use 1/3 beer)
1 teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon NO SALT
1/2 to 3/4 TEASPOON instant yeast.

Let rise for 12+ hours at room temperature, then refrigerate. At baking time you will need to allow 2-3 hours to rise again after forming loaf.

This is a hybrid recipe which combines some of the techniques of the original New York Times recipe. The longer initial fermentation time helps with the flavor.

The sodium content works out to about 600 mg. per 1 lb. loaf.

You may be able to reduce the salt / NO SALT even more by adding other flavor enhancers. Just don’t use more NO SALT than salt.

Some things you can add to enhance the flavor:
Add 1.5 Tbsp sugar.
Add 1/4 tsp onion powder.
Add 2 Tbsp of wheat germ plus 1 Tbsp vital wheat gluten.
Add 1 Tbsp of cider vinegar.

I am able to keep my Meniere’s symptoms in check by keeping my sodium intake around 1000 mg. per day. It sounds like it would be easy to do given the USDA guidelines of 2400 mg. sodium per day for an adult, but it isn’t. I would be willing to bet that most people consume more than double the recommended sodium on most days.

For those of you wondering… Meniere’s is a condition of the inner ear. Sodium causes excess fluid buildup which leads to dizziness, vertigo, loss of hearing and tinnitus (ringing in the ears). It isn’t much fun, but at least it is not contagious.

jeff said...
February 23, 2009 at 1:13 pm

Thanks… we’re going to experiment with the potassium-based salt for the next book.

Mary Ann Groves said...
April 17, 2009 at 8:27 am

I made my first batch of bread and found that the amount of salt was far to much for our taste. Reducing the salt to less than half of the recipe called for was a much better idea for us. I imagine that all of the recipes will have to be far less salt than called for.
I was very pleased with the ease of mixing and shaping and baking the loaves though and this will become a main stay in our home, just less salty! Thanks for your help here in this fourm.
Mary Ann from Knoxville, Tennessee

jeff said...
April 17, 2009 at 12:01 pm

Mary Ann: glad you found this page, you can definitely decrease the salt in our recipes.

Gilia said...
April 30, 2009 at 9:22 pm

Wonderfull…

beth said...
November 25, 2009 at 6:42 pm

Right now, as I have four batches of dough resting for tomorrow’s Thanksgiving feast(s), I’m realizing that I mistakenly used table salt rather than Morton’s Kosher.

Yikes. That’s a hefty shift in the ratio. If anyone sees this in time, will it be too salty to serve? Should I re-mix all my doughs? And I was so excited to be sharing your lovely recipe with my family!

Sincerely,
Salty in Wisconsin

jeff said...
November 26, 2009 at 8:09 am

Beth: It depends. Did you use the salt volume from the first book (1 1/2 T), or from the second book (1 T)? I’m guessing if it’s our saltier stuff, this may be too much. If from the new book, bet you’re OK. Only way to know for sure: bake a little roll right now and taste it— only re-mix if you don’t like the result. Jeff

soleilnyc said...
January 28, 2010 at 9:13 pm

Congratulations on the new FAQ tab, I totally found what I was looking for! I realized upon baking that my bread wasn’t salty enough, even though I doubled all the quantities to a T (not sure if it’s because I used a starter or because I added some of the dough from before). I will try that salt slurry method and see how it turns out! Any tips on how to get it incorporated without ruining the bubbles?

jeff said...
January 28, 2010 at 9:55 pm

Soleil: Sounds like you are trying to add more salt to an already-mixed batch. That’s a little chancy, depending on the age of the batch. I’ve done stuff like this with slurries in the first couple of days. To counter the problem, you can add a little more flour and water so that the yeast will have something new to munch on and create a little extra carbon dioxide. Jeff

Regina W said...
February 6, 2010 at 4:31 pm

Hi! I just made my first batch of dough and baked a loaf today. It tasted really good, but was slightly too salty. Is there any way that I can make the dough less salty without throwing it out? Thank you so much for helping us!

jeff said...
February 6, 2010 at 5:21 pm

Regina: Take a look at our FAQs page for decreasing salt. As for this batch, you can use it as the basis for a new batch, in which you can radically decrease the salt. If you want to decrease it by almost half, use no salt at all in the new batch. Otherwise, something in-between.

Add the liquid to the existing batch, and mix it around. Then add the rest of the ingredients. If you’re using vital wheat gluten, be sure to mix that with the dry ingredients first. Jeff

ST said...
February 17, 2010 at 3:16 pm

This is mortifying, I wish you all had a method of direct contact, but here goes…

Tuesday, I mixed a half batch of your basic recipe, let it sit overnight, and then baked a small ball of dough on Wednesday. When I tried to eat it, I got awful gas. It was immediate, just while eating the bread, and happened three times (I spaced out eating bits of it, to try to determine if it was only due to the bread). Do you know what might be causing this? I still have some dough in the fridge, which I’d rather try to doctor than throw out completely (organic flour ain’t cheap).

I used cold water from the tap, let it sit on the counter for 3 hrs, then refrigerated overnight. The bread was incredibly salty, so I may have not have measured the salt right. It was kosher sea salt, and I used Red Star active dry yeast.

jeff said...
February 17, 2010 at 5:54 pm

ST: Well, salt shouldn’t do this. If it was the whole grain basic recipe, and you’re not used to whole grains, that could be the explanation. But if it was just white flour, I really don’t have any ideas. Maybe you’re not usually a bread-eater? Some people complain of this with any wheat product, but you didn’t say that.

Could decrease the salt but I don’t imagine that’s the explanation … Jeff

ST said...
February 18, 2010 at 10:17 am

It’s not the whole grain recipe, just the basic boule recipe from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, made with organic white flour. And I’m definitely a bread-eater.

It was also incredibly sticky, nearly impossible to form, and very different from the shaping video I saw afterward. Is it possible to add more flour to the dough at this point?

zoe said...
February 18, 2010 at 11:21 am

Hi ST,

You can add more flour to the dough. It is easiest to do this in a stand mixer. Once it is mixed in let it sit for a couple of hours to allow the flour to absorb the water before you try to use it.

Thanks, Zoë

Liz said...
February 20, 2010 at 12:49 pm

I’m wondering if I can use Redmond Real Salt in place of the kosher salt called for in your recipes…
http://www.realsalt.com/
I currently have their granular salt on hand & use it for all of our salt needs.
Thanks! Liz

zoe said...
February 20, 2010 at 1:54 pm

Hi Liz,

You can use any kind of salt, you will just have to make adjustments depending on how coarse the salt is.

Thanks, Zoë

Carter said...
July 5, 2010 at 9:06 am

Would it also be a violation of copyright for someone to make bread from your recipes and then sell them? Supposing a group of church youth wanted to have a bake sale and they wanted to sell some of the limpa that comes from your book–that’s disallowed too, right?

Carter said...
July 5, 2010 at 9:07 am

Slashing–is it really necessary to slash the loaf? What does that accomplish? I have trouble getting the cornstarch washed loaves to accept a slash with my bread knife–it wants to stick….

jeff said...
July 5, 2010 at 10:50 am

Carter: Copyright only protects written and visual content in books and on the web, not the baked results that people might sell– so this is no problem, people are doing it all over the country. We’d love it if you’d mention our books and website to people who enjoy the bread, but you’re not obligated. See our post about this under the FAQs section, click on the tab above– that addresses what you CAN’T do. Jeff

jeff said...
July 5, 2010 at 10:51 am

Carter: About slashing– we find it makes for a more evenly-risen loaf, without odd shaping. If that doesn’t mean anything to you, not a problem.

In loaf pans, it’s less important to slash– the pan prevents most of the odd shaping. Jeff

Mandy said...
July 7, 2010 at 7:41 am

Thank you to the low sodium posters and Meniere’s folks, my husband is just starting on this path and I am trying to adjust my bread for him.
Any more tips would be greatly appreciated.