My neighbor Carol told me to chill about proofing bread and she was right

I was over at her place last weekend and she saw me stressing over my dough not doubling fast enough. She just laughed and said "you know, bread doesn't care if you're watching it, put it in the fridge overnight." She walked me through her simple no knead recipe and I tried it that night. Came out the next morning with the best crust I've ever gotten. Anyone else have someone show you a method way simpler than all the online guides?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_ben3d agoMost Upvoted

That thing about "bread doesn't care if you're watching it" is gold. My buddy John used to spend hours kneading and checking his sourdough, then his grandma told him to just mix it and forget it overnight. He did it and his bread's never been better.

sean_park83d ago

Yeah that "bread doesn't care if you're watching it" thing really hit me. I was one of those people who thought you had to do all the fancy folds and timings to get good bread. I read all the blogs and watched the videos and stressed about every little thing. But my neighbor saw me fussing with my dough one day and just handed me a bowl with flour water salt and yeast mixed together. She said leave it alone for 18 hours and come back. I honestly thought she was crazy but I tried it and the loaf came out perfect with the most open crumb Ive ever had. Now I barely touch my dough and somehow it turns out better than when I was micromanaging everything. Its embarrassing to admit I let all that complicated stuff get in my head for so long.