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Baking bread at 5000 feet

post #1 of 3
10/16/11 at 8:53pm
Thread Starter 

Recently I tried to bake bread for the first time. I just moved to Colorado and I hear that altitude can be a factor in getting bread to rise.  The bread that I made did not rise well at all. It tasted good but was really dense.  I was wondering if anyone had tips to get the bread to rise easier. Or any really good bread recipes? I posted the recipe and pictures on my blog at FoodieBecomesHer.com. Feel free to give any feedback here on on the blog directly. Thank you in advance for your help :)

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post #2 of 3
10/17/11 at 4:16pm

(1) Here's some advice on bread at altitude:  http://www.summitcolorado.com/summit-county/high-altitude-bread-making.php  You should be fine in Colorado -- it's cakes that really need adjustment.  The recipe you post has a lot of honey in it, though: I might scale that back.

 

(2) If you look around on this forum you'll see a lot of advice on recipes and books for starting out.  Peter Reinhart's _Bread Baker's Apprentice_ has a large following here.  I like Bernard Clayton Jr's books and Carol Field's _Italian Baker_.  There are more.  

 

(3) You might take a look at the fourth minute of http://vimeo.com/27352685 to get a sense of what a well-behaved dough looks like.  A video search of youtube etc. for "bread," "kneading" etc. should get you more.  The pictures you post look under-kneaded: you want to work the dough until it is smooth and elastic.  I think that video shows the "windowpane test," which has also been eloquently described from time to time on this forum.

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post #3 of 3
10/22/11 at 5:03pm
Thread Starter 

Thanks so much for the great advice. I am going to try again in the next couple days. I will let you know how it turns out. :)

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