The GT Italian Bread Recipe

[@paintnknitter]

Thank you for this video. Can I half the ingredients to make one loaf?

[@cookingenthusiasts9478]

Absolutely. Will work just as well 👍

[@foofghtr]

My boss Dan was born 1912, you should have had the opportunity to watch him hand roll 150 breads a night. He taught me 90% of his trade, hand rounding weighed cut dough into perfect balls two at a time is a skill in itself. Italian bakers work on wooden butcher blocks to roll bread because wood takes a beating for decades and cleans up from flour and corn meal easily. The old timers slammed the dough onto the block and worked the dough to be rolled. All I need to do as a helper as a kid was put them on the board straight and all seams down. That’s key. I made $3 an hour under the table lmao Keep up the good work. Here in Philly our tap water is key to how our bread is unique. NJ for example can’t make our bread even if they use the same ingredients, their water sucks.😊

[@cookingenthusiasts9478]

@@foofghtr Thank you so much for sharing your story. Would’ve loved to have learned about bread and dough much earlier on in life, because even at this day and age, dough teaches me so much every single time I work with it. As unusual as it may or may not sound, there are definitely days I have believed with changes in temperature and humidity, all we have to really do is ‘listen’ to the dough. Which is to say observe more closely how it is responding to each activity. It truly takes on a life of its own as it develops and comes into existence. There were great days when both hands and arms cooperated with me before my strokes, where having both hands on the dough was so beneficial. Everything you need to know is right there at your fingertips. Now in these times after, I am continually developing ways to allow the dough to come together either in the machine or by way of poolish, preferment, or autolyse. There is so much I have not learned and don’t know about dough because I have worked largely alone at home, in m free time, and now I’m relatively homebound due to the disabilities and challenges. But when I have good days or good hours, I try as best I can to work with dough to learn what can be learned. Had I known how much I would enjoy working with dough, I definitely would have sought out a mentor much earlier, lol. I envy yourself and others who’ve had the opportunity to learn from a young age, bread making and working with dough. Like anything else, no matter how much we learn, there comes a point where we understand the cumulative of our knowledge will always pale against the vastness of what we have yet to learn. Appreciate your sharing immensely 🙏

[@MaureenAnneCThompson]

That looks so so delicious

[@ariainman6691]

I have MADE BREAD for many years. THIS IS THE MOST COMPLET VIDEO ON REAL ITALIAN BREAD.....THANK YOU FOR SHARING. FANTASTIC.

[@cookingenthusiasts9478]

Thank you so very kindly, Aria. I enjoyed developing this recipe and video, and my family really enjoys the bread. It comes together nicely and has great flavor and texture. 🙏🌺

[@cammyvanderbilt9140]

Beautifully executed! I’m salivating ♥️

[@cookingenthusiasts9478]

@@cammyvanderbilt9140 thank you so very kindly. I've since been experimenting with Poolish preferments for some of my recipes, and as of September 1, 2024 have been growing a new Sourdough. I plan to incorporate Sourdough starter into more recipes, and share updated video recipes when I've developed them worthy of a share. Appreciate your kindness, Thank You, and Blessings to you and yours, Cammy🙏😊

[@TheEvie202]

Beautiful loaves! God bless your hands! Love the oven mitts! Greetings from New York City!👍🏼🇵🇷🗽❤

[@cookingenthusiasts9478]

Thank you so very kindly! In 2020 we learned I have been suffering from decades of micro strokes which have been increasing in severity and have caused physical damage. As a result my right arm and leg are having difficulties, which are progressing in the level of challenges. This is resulting in continued changes in the way I have to handle and work with dough and develop recipes. It is constantly changing but, I am determined to keep finding ways to make dough work with me. It’s frustrating because I don’t always have good days, and because dough doesn’t wait for my hands to cooperate better, I sometimes have to either make rolls or pitch the dough entirely. So, I greatly appreciate your kind words and Thank You for sharing them. Trying to adapt my recipes and techniques as these changes slow me further has been interesting to say the least, but I am trying my best to remain useful and continue sharing what I learn as I adapt along my journey. Thank You and God Bless You🙏🌺❤️

[@speranza8494]

Bread looks amazing just like I remember it at Turano's....thank you for this!

[@cookingenthusiasts9478]

I appreciate your vote of approval, and Thank You for the kind words! Hoping you get to make and share this recipe at home 👍

[@aliceantonelli6087]

In 1962 I worked on Roosevelt Rd just across the street from Turano's. For lunch I would go across the street and get a slice of pizza. It was like my grandma made. On a tray like bread with gravy n mozzarella. I did get fat. When I worked at Pepsi at Chicago & Cicero, I would go to Gonnella for a 2 lb loaf that just came out of the oven at midnight. Rode the Chicago ave bus to Menard. My husband had the butter out at room temperature & cold milk. We were in Heaven. About 4-5 months later I had to quit the job because we were both getting really fat. That was in 1968. I grew up at Adams & Cicero, so we had Carm's Beef later we had Margie's. I am going to be 80 this year & live in FL. I miss Chicago food, but I am not fat. LOL

[@cookingenthusiasts9478]

Great memories, Alice, thank you for sharing them! Gonnella and Turano made lots of memories for many Chicagoland and Midwestern families. I relocated to Arizona after 50 years in the Chicagoland area, and we have found a few places owned and or operated by Chicagoland transplants for things like pizza, Italian beef, and Italian sausage sandwiches. But I also want to make them at home, and nothing here comes close to Gonnella or Turano traditional rustic loaf, sandwich, or sub style breads. So I began experimenting with my bread recipes to see if I could come close. This recipe is as close as I can come in a home oven. I really enjoy making these loaves and have started making recipes for smaller sandwich rolls for homemade Italian beef and sausage style sandwiches. Hope to share those video recipes soon 🙏🌺

[@speranza8494]

All my favorite places that I would shop at. Thank you for the memories and for cookingenthusiasts for creating this video!

[@Nellis202]

Wow ! Just wow . The final product absolutely justified all that time and effort. It really all comes down to passion, and I’m passionate about making this recipe. ❤😊❤

[@cookingenthusiasts9478]

Thank you so very kindly! The unbleached, hard winter wheat flours in the 11 to 12 percent range work best, and I consistently get great results with King Arthur All Purpose Flour, Ceresota All Purpose Flour and Harvest King Flour, which is an All Purpose. This recipe loves the Harvest King Flour! Which is to say there is no adjusting with extra flour or water, and there have been doughs which are ready to work after just two rises with the Harvest King Flour. Currently I am undergoing a very lengthy treatment and have not been cooking or baking since Fall of 2022. Hoping to resolve some issues and be able to get back in the kitchen to keep in motion. If you have any questions at all, please reach out and I will respond and help as best I can. Typically can reply within a few hours. Would like to know how the recipe works for you 👍💯🙏

[@foofghtr]

I made Italian bread here in Philadelphia for the Gentile family Italian bread bakery for 7 years. Age 11 to 18 years old. Dan Sr made his hand made breads in his basement bakery. Long Italian and Round Italian, sliced and unsliced for both. His dough was 300 pounds a night. 100 pounds Kyrol flour, 100 pounds All Trump flour, 100 pounds water. 5 pounds of yeast, and mid mix once fist full of salt. We finished cooking around 10pm, Dan Sr did all that himself. In the summers I went back at Midnight to slice the breads with my friend Bob. Dan always told us what amounts to slice and we got it done. In the Am Dan Sr delivered his product to all the stores, and bars that ordered his product daily. All stale products were returned to him and he stored them all and made bread crumbs with them later on and sold that product. He also cooked pigs in his oven because he could, Italians call it porchetta.. Ain’t no better roast pork sandwich better than it cut right out of the pig fresh. In our area no breads are cooked with flour on the loaves bottoms. We used corn meal for the cooking process.

[@cookingenthusiasts9478]

A labor of love, and it’s great to read about how you helped Dan Sr, and the Gentile Family produce great bread and food products. I see so many great recipes exemplified in photos of bread made all over the world. There’s so much that has been passed down through generations of baker’s and baker’s families, and anytime we get the chance to see or work with these wonderful folks is a blessing to have the chance to learn. Many years ago when I was working 3 or 4 jobs, and doing well financially, I offered one of my clients who owned and operated a pizzeria, to work for him for free, if he’d show me how to make pizza. He asked me how much I loved pizza, and I answered it was the very first food I ate as a kid that wasn’t made in our home. He then declined my offer and said he grew up working for his father’s Pizza place and that at one time, he too LOVED pizza as much as I described. But given all that he had, in all the years he’d been working in and around pizza, you couldn’t pay him to eat pizza these days. That… and it would have been against his insurance and legal business agreements to have me working without pay. He actually made a lot of sense and as much as I wanted him to teach me anyway, I decided I would have to learn on my own. I’ve had so many mentors and so much help, and a whole lot of trial and error. I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished, but I still really want so much to learn someday from a real professional, and just be part of a real legacy. Very happy for you that you’ve achieved wonderful experiences with great people and you’re grateful for having had your experiences 🙏👍😎

[@alanbrenner269]

I made this bread using your recipe and it came together very well. However, for my taste, the second time I made it, I doubled the salt and only used 9.5 grams of sugar. Anyway, I grately appreciate your time and effort.

[@cookingenthusiasts9478]

@@alanbrenner269 excellent feedback, and very happy to read the recipe worked for you. Yes, I too at times make adjustments to different recipes depending on tastes and intended use. 😊🙏💯

[@Fred-zc8lt]

I like your thinking Alan. I was too generous with the dusting segment. I just made this tonight, it is the best Italian recipe, my 10th. But less dusting will be my first change, your salt suggestion will my second

[@leosrule5691]

There is a famous bakery (DiCamillo's) in my city which has been around since the 1800's. Their bread is legendary and people are willing to pay twice the amount of 'regular' bread cost to have this bread. Yours looked exactly like it!! I have watched literally hundreds of bread making videos in search of THIS ONE. I was left crippled after failed back surgery (not paralysed but severly impaired from standing longer than 20 min before needing to lay down to quell pain). I am unable to grocery shop and must rely on others to bring me supplies. I order what i can through Amazon so i am able to have flour for which to make bread when I need to. I bought a bread machine but that was a huge waste of money (makes horrible, dense bread). Where others see your process as "too lengthy and involved", i see as pure perfection in how to handle a moist dough without a harsh effort on the back and arms/hands. I have seen other videos requiring a huge process and still others requiring barely any process (dutch oven round loaves). I have painfully tried many of them with always a failed result: bread dense and only good for the garbage can or crumbled for later use in meatball making. And such a waste of ingredients as well as my time and endurance of severe pain. But i am very eager to try your recipe and process as it seems the bread is perfection to what i have been wanting to make (like DiCamillo's) AND the process will not kill me to do it. I THANK YOU SO MUCH for sharing your time and knowledge with me ❤️❤️❤️❤️ ps... I would love to buy that bread pan, where could i find it??

[@leosrule5691]

How can I buy that bread pan??

[@cookingenthusiasts9478]

Thank you so much for your kind words. I purchased these pans more than 20 years ago at a Midwest Shopping Mall chain that has since ceased operations. I found a similar pan on Amazon and have included the link. I thank you for sharing your story and wish you well in your continuing journey to continue doing the things you enjoy, and that bring you happiness. I am currently undergoing some physical therapy struggles, but hoping to share an updated video recipe with some easier methods I have since come across as my challenges continue. Please keep in touch and keep in motion as much as possible.🙏 LINK FOR SIMILAR PAN www.amazon.com/ICO-Baguette-Pan-Nonstick-Ceramic-Reinforced/dp/B09Z45L4GW/ref=sr_1_30?crid=CNYBZCTRHPCT&keywords=aluminum+baguette+loaf+pan&qid=1698701005&s=home-garden&sprefix=aluminum+baguette+loaf+pan%2Cgarden%2C491&sr=1-30

[@leosrule5691]

@@cookingenthusiasts9478 ♥️ you are truly an angel. Ty.

[@cookingenthusiasts9478]

the pan linked is a very nice design as it is actually a STEEL material pan, which will develop a very deep patina and become progressively more non-stick with repeated use. This is actually a BETTER material than my aluminum construction pan. @@leosrule5691

[@cookingenthusiasts9478]

@@leosrule5691♥♥♥ As are you ♥♥♥

[@charleshunt3199]

what brand is that bread pan?

[@cookingenthusiasts9478]

@@charleshunt3199 thanks for asking Charles. Unfortunately, it was purchased nearly 20 years ago at a large enclosed Mall baking shop of all places. I have had requests if I've seen similar pans available and these from Amazon are similar and worth considering... a.co/d/3UbArc5 a.co/d/1GvT5Jx * a.co/d/3Jhul5b If I were to have to replace these, the one closest in size and design is indicated by an * and the only difference is it is perforated, and does not have a hanging tab.👍

[@cammyvanderbilt9140]

All God’s Blessing♥️

[@cookingenthusiasts9478]

@@cammyvanderbilt9140 Bless you, and Continuing Blessings to you 🙏😊

[@fanaticforager6610]

Handy insight ✍🏼 & Glove Mitts Melisså ✨👌🏼😅 24:05

[@cookingenthusiasts9478]

Thank you kindly, FanaticForager. Appreciate your comments and support, and love the oven mitts from niece Melissa 💯😎🙏

[@shahzaibhassan209]

What, if i add wholegrain flour?

[@cookingenthusiasts9478]

I developed the recipe using all purpose or bread flour with a protein content of between 11.7% and 12.3%. If you are experienced replacing a percentage of the recipe with wholegrain flour, then you may try at a percentage you feel confident with. Wholegrain flour will change the recipe texture, flavor and potentially affect bake and or proofing times. I have not used any other wholegrain flour in addition to or in combination with the white flour used, to offer for comparison. So the only suggestion I can give is to experiment with a percentage you feel confident replacing with a wholegrain flour.

[@kevinu.k.7042]

Hi Italian bread (loaves) do not contain either sugar, or oil. Though some small Italian bakers and chefs do use a little liquid malt to speed up fermentation. You are using double the required amount of yeast. When dough relaxes and falls from the hook the dough has been over mixed and the gluten structure has been ripped. When the gluten network has been torn like this it cannot recover as the sulphur sulphur bonds, which give a strong elastic structure, cannot reform. This is confirmed here by the slack dough at the shaping stage with poor elasticity. The poor and close structure of the final bread was inevitable. I do hope this helps a little. I can see from your dough handling you are not so experienced so there is no malice and I with you the very best on your bread baking journey.

[@cookingenthusiasts9478]

@@kevinu.k.7042 I greatly appreciate the observations and feedback. You've given great points for me to research and better understand. I've been developing this and other recipes at home, without the benefit of formal training, and unfortunately decades of silent strokes and neurological issues have complicated things further in creating new challenges with hands that don't quite cooperate the way I need them to. So I appreciate your experience here in helping point me where I need to further work and develop knowledge and skill. I thank you for taking time to offer sound and welcome advice🙏😊

[@kevinu.k.7042]

@@cookingenthusiasts9478 You are welcome. A good bread book would help enormously. KZbin as a very bad place to learn bread baking. There are very few channels which know what they are on about. I wish you the best with your bread baking.

[@georgejones3526]

This would be a lot easier to follow if you would just shove the camera lens down into the dough.

[@denisebambola1091]

Recipe goes too fast

[@aurorahdale1306]

Rewatch. Good thing you can stop when needed. Enjoy. God bless you