Ginger Brew Bread

Intro: Ginger Brew Bread

Before we get started I'd like to make perfectly clear what it is we are making here. It is bread made with Reeds Ginger Brew. There is no beer (the alcoholic beverage) involved. This is also not the spice cake nor will it be suitable to make houses out of. It is a semi-sweet gingery flavored bread that is just as suitable to accompany a meal as it is to follow one as a dessert.

This is my adaptation of a very simple no-knead bread recipe. This bread can be made Vegan if you use a Ginger Beer (or Ginger Ale) that does not contain honey. If you choose to make this bread Vegan you will have to deviate slightly from the recipe because Reeds Ginger Brew contains honey.

A quick word of warning before we begin: This bread must be started the day before you intend to serve it because of the long wait time for the first rise.

STEP 1: 'Timing' or 'Why to Begin the Day Before'

Prep: 15-30 Minutes
First Rise: 14-18 Hours
Shape: 5-10 Minutes
Second Rise: 1-2 Hours
Bake: ~1 Hour

Total Active Time: 20-40 Minutes
Total Waiting Time: 16-21 Hours

STEP 2: 'Recipe' or 'What Goes In'

3 cups - Bread Flour
1-1/3 cups - Reeds Extra Ginger Brew
1/2 teaspoon - Dry/Active Yeast
1-1/4 teaspoon - Salt
1/2 cup diced - Crystallized/Candied Ginger
Flour or Cornmeal for dusting

Some notes on the ingredients:

Flour
Bread Flour vs All Purpose Flour - Bread flour is made from hard red "spring" wheat as opposed to AP flour which is made from softer "winter" wheat. Why is that important? Spring wheat contains more of the proteins that create gluten when mixed with water than Winter wheat. The higher protein content allows more water to be absorbed to form gluten and expand into a chewy loaf of bread. If you absolutely must you may use AP flour and I'm fairly sure your loaf will turn out fine if somewhat less satisfying.

If you prefer to measure flour by weight instead of volume (weight is more accurate; but for this recipe it isn't critical) you will want to use 14oz of flour


Ginger Beer
Reeds Ginger Brew - One of the strongest, most gingery Ginger Beers available commercially. Even if you consider it too strong to drink don't worry the flavor is dispersed throughout the loaf and will not be overwhelming in the final product. If you are a strict Vegan you will have to substitute a different Ginger Beer because Reeds contains honey. Search for the strongest Ginger Beer/Ale you can find and use that instead.

I realize that 1-1/3 cups of Ginger Beer is an odd amount considering that it is typically sold in 12oz bottles. Instead of adjusting all of the other ingredients I choose to drink the remaining ~1.5 oz myself.


Yeast
Please be aware that standard packets of yeast contain about 3 times as much yeast as is needed for this recipe. I find that buying a small jar of yeast and keeping it in the fridge is much more convenient if you plan to make bread on a regular basis.


Salt
Any salt will do. If you plan to use Kosher salt you should grind it up in a spice grinder first because the larger crystals may not dissolve quite as evenly.

Ginger
Measure after it is Diced.

Sometimes I have difficulty finding crystallized/candied ginger in the supermarket. It can be found in the bulk foods section of some larger grocers as well as many specialty grocers and Asian markets.

If you want a less sweet bread you might try drying your own fresh ginger and substituting that, though I've never tried it myself so can't speak to the results.

STEP 3: 'Tools' or 'What You Need'

Sharp Knife
Measuring Cup (preferably with 1-1/3 mark on it)
Large mixing bowl
Large Spoon
Tea towel (not terry cloth the dough will stick to it too easily)
Bowl Scraper or Flexible Spatula
Your clean & dry hands
Bread Board (a large cutting board will do quite nicely)
Extra flour or cornmeal for dusting
Cast Iron Dutch Oven
Heavy Duty Pot Holders (or several layers of lesser pot holders)
Kitchen Timer (or other timing device)
Cooling rack (optional)

Lots and lots of patience

STEP 4: 'Mix' or 'Bring It All Togther'

Begin by combining the Flour, Yeast and Salt in your bowl. Add the ginger (you remembered to chop it up right?) and stir until well mixed, it won't take long (less than a minute).

Add then Ginger Beer and mix until everything comes together and all of the flour is incorporated into a slightly-damp sticky ball (about 1 minute). You will likely have to use your hands to mix as it quickly becomes difficult to stir with the spoon.

The next step takes the longest by far: Cover the bowl with your tea towel and walk away. Leave it alone for 14-18 hours.

STEP 5: 'Shaping' or 'After the First Rise'

About 3-4 hours before you want to serve your bread it's time for the next step. You will notice that the top is slightly darker and kinda dry; this is exactly what we want to see at this point.

Lightly dust your breadboard with flour. Nearby layout your tea towel and lightly dust with either extra flour or cornmeal.

Using your spatula or your hands gently move your dough from the bowl onto the breadboard. Well okay you don't have to be that gentle just get it out.

Begin rounding your dough ball by pulling the edges up toward the top creating a seem or dip in the middle. Once it's fairly round turn it upside down (the seem or dip should now be down) onto the tea towel and gently cover the dough.

Let your dough rise for another 1-2 hours. After the first hour you should place your dutch oven in your oven and set it to pre-heat to 450 degrees.

You dough is done rising if you poke it and your finger mark stays instead of bouncing back.

STEP 6: 'Bake' or 'Where the Magic Happens'

After your dough is finished with it's second rise CAREFULLY remove the (very very hot) dutch oven from the oven and remove the lid. Lightly dust the inside of the dutch oven with either flour or corn meal.

Lift your bread and turn it oven into the dutch oven (now the seem/dip should be up again) being very careful not to touch the sides of the dutch oven with your hand.

Place the lid back on the dutch oven and slide it back into your oven. Set your timer for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes remove the lid of the dutch oven and continue baking for 15-30 minutes more until the crust is a dark golden brown.

Remove the dutch oven from the oven and with a wooden spoon or heat proof spatula move the bread onto your cooling rack.

This part is the hardest: Do not eat it yet! For one thing it is far too hot. Wait at least an hour after baking before eating/serving.

Please note it is normal for the bread to make cracking or hissing noises at first after you set it out to cool, this is steam escaping from inside the bread.

STEP 7: 'Eat' or 'The End'

All of your 'hard work' has paid off: it is time to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Ginger Beer bread makes an excellent (relatively) health dessert or it can be served as a semi-sweet side with the main course.

This bread is delicious by itself, with butter or margarine, or my personal favorite Ginger Spread by the ginger people. I've never tried it myself but I'll bet it makes one heck of a good Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich to (though the boule shape is not the most conducive for sandwiches)

Comments

[suayres]

You can buy lovely, TENDER (not the coarse, hairy stuff sold in groceries) crystallized baby ginger from Penzey's spices and herbs at www.penzeys.com --they're really nice folks and sell the freshest, spiciest spices and, um, herbiest herbs you could ask for, as well as some terrific spice and herb blends. But, back to the candied baby ginger: it has all the bite and kick of its big brother, just none of the coarse fiber.

[MysticHobo1982]

I agree that baby ginger is far superior. Reed's is the brand I use because it is available in a local grocery store. It is also available online at http://www.ReedsGingerBrew.com/ReedsCart_v2/show_item.asp?MainCat=9&Category=5&Item=37&page=1

[suayres]

I have to look around for Reed's--is it a Canadian brand? At one time, when I was in my teens (1960s), we lived near Washington DC, and there was a brand of ginger ale called "Tiger Brand", made by the Rock Creek Bottling Co. And that was some good, spicy-hot ginger ale. These days, all you can buy in the grocers is pretty namby-pamby stuff. There's Seagram's and Canada Dry, and a couple of smaller bottling companies, but, except for "mixers", Americans don't drink much ginger ale, little say ginger beer. I'm one of the exceptions--it's the only soft drink I consume. I've had ginger beer, and had to buy it from a liquor store even though it was a soft drink....go figure!

[MysticHobo1982]

Reed's is based in California I think. Their ginger brew is fairly strong and not overly sweet like most ginger ale. Their extra ginger brew is even stronger. Both are quite good. Their website has both a store locator and online ordering if you can't find it locally where you are.

[suayres]

Instead of the tea towel to transfer the dough to the Dutch oven, use a large sheet of baking parchment, which you use like a sling. Leave it in the oven, under the dough--not only will it keep your bread from sticking, you can extract the bread from the Dutch oven with it. Also, for working that sticky dough, there's a wonderful tool called a Danish bread whisk, you can find at King Arthur Flour's baking catalog/website at www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/ (item #5568)--I use mine every time I make bread, and wouldn't be without it

[maug46]

I love drinking Reeds extra ginger brew, it's right up there with Blenheim HOT and Cock and Bull as my favorites! I am going to try this recipe, does anybody know if after the dough is made and risen, can I just put it in a bread machine and set it to "bake only" or another alternative to a dutch oven? (I Don't have one) Great instructable!

[MysticHobo1982]

I don't know about a bread machine, I've never used one. You can bake it in a regular loaf pan and it will turn out fine, though the crust will not be as think and crusty.

[maug46]

I will try this. I actually forgot I did have a dutch oven in with the camping stuff but no lid so I used heavy duty aluminum foil for a cover for the 1st 30 minutes then proceeded as directed. IMHO the crust came out was too hard and the bread was a little heavy for my liking, so I am going to try using a stone loaf pan because the flavor was great and I want to try again. Thanks!

[Hrothgar42]

YUM!
But why turn it seam side up? Just curious.
btw- I've posted this comment x2 but it disappears, so my apologies if it shows up more than once!

[MysticHobo1982]

I suppose it doesn't have to be turned seam side up; but, that is the way that I've always done it because that is how the basic recipe that I based this bread on said to do it. It might allow for more even expansion and less cracking of the top crust but I haven't tried it so don't know for sure.

[Hrothgar42]

Fair enough1 Shall have to try both ways and see what happens!

[Hrothgar42]

Looks good!
One question, why rotate the seam back to the top at the end?
But dang, now I'm hungry!!

[Flintlock]

Very thorough descriptions and instructions!

Can't wait to see the finished product.

[Penolopy Bulnick]

Sounds tasty! Also, love the "bread in progress" sign.