Thanks for this! So helpful...I just got the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day book, and I've been kind of afraid to try it, because, well...they're all, "It's easy, no kneading! You only have to shape the dough into a ball!" and I am *terrified* of that step. (I had a very bad experience with some brioche dough...otherwise known as the dough that tried to swallow my arm.)

Question, though: at one point while you are shaping, there seems to be a cut. So about how long does this process actually take, to go from loose to taut?

ChristinaG - the whole process really just takes a few minutes. Just keep tucking and turning until the top is super smooth. Use a generous amount of flour your first time - sprinkle the dough and your hands, and keep some extra close by if you need it. If the bottom won't stay closed because of the flour, get your fingers wet and pinch it closed. Good luck!

I like to let my rounds rise in a colander that's been lined with a flour covered tea towel. After shaping, I stick in in the colander seam-side up. When the bread is ready to go in the oven, I just turn the whole thing over on the baking sheet.
The colander helps the bread keep that nice round shape. For whatever reason, rounds tend to get all oval and flat if I let them rise on the counter all by themselves.

I'm sorry, but I find several of the latest "How-to's" rather insulting as if we are grade schoolers. There are several ways to accomplish the same end result and to make the reader feel that the "how-to" way is the only way just imposes hurdles to the learning process. Cooking is about creativity and finding our own methods that work for us. There should be no rules or "this is the way" limitations on cooking. Rules kill the fun of playing in the kitchen.

Seriously, this is the third of these vids I'm watching, and I must repeat: the quality of the video work is truly disastrous. The camera moves way too much (invest in a tripod!), the light levels change (what is this, a 13-year-old's attempt at working the family camcorder?), and you need to figure out your sound better, which comes out distant probably because your mike is either not strong enough/too far, though you'd probably benefit in having a mike on the subject in the video.

Yours is a professional site. These videos are anything but professional.

OH FUN! I appreciate the video - I am SO intimidate by making bread so I REALLY appreciate the tutorial... Now, if only I had the great counter top :)

THANK YOU

Boy, people can sure get grumpy on here! I think the videos are a great addition! I'm a filmmaker and I just chalked up the bit of shakiness and light flicker to an artistic choice. If that's not the case and you want to make improvements, my services are always available :)

The only thing that bothers me a little bit about this video is the sound-- I highly recommend investing in a little lavalier mic kit-- Senheiser has a good one. It'll improve the quality immensely!! It can be used with professional cameras as well as most modern camcorders.

This is a great tutorial! I've heard this method described before but I've never had the chance to see it done, so thank you!

Thanks for the feedback on the videos! @apttherapyuser - wow! @curbappeal thanks for the input. I am using a Nikon D90, which is a great DSLR that happens to take video. So the audio input is limited to mono and you can't use an external mic. (The D90 also has unique potential AND unique drawbacks as a video camera, all of which I am still working to master.) But we do not have the resources to invest in full-on pro equipment; there's a big step between pro photo and pro video gear. I used to work on a pro video team and am very aware of what that takes. All that to say, these videos are not released in order; the newer ones are done with a much better tripod.

We definitely strive for "professional" quality here, but overall video will probably always be a side thing for us, and we would like to at least try to sketch in a few things by video without it sidetracking from the main things we do. If they aren't good enough quality for you, that's OK, but we'll keep trying to get better. Thanks!

apttherapyuser - don't be Debbie Downer.

faith - thank you so much for posting videos like this. I'm glad you invested in a tripod, but other than that, I love these quick how-tos that are appearing on the site! They give me JUST the information I need!

Thank you very much for the video! I too have been wanting to make artisan breads but haven't felt too confident about trying to free-form the rounds.

Wow, people are so rude! I loved this video, "professional" looking or not. I found both of the dough shaping videos very helpful. Thanks!

I was going to comment on the quality of the video, but I see others have already beaten me to the punch, in both a rude way and a nice way.

I can tell the image quality is good, my first issue I noticed was the sound, but I see you already said you can't plug in a mic input. My second issue was the auto focus seems to be on. Can you at least set the focus so it doesn't change? Same with exposure, it appears to be auto-exposure and keeps adjusting when the instructors arm goes under the light, and gets brighter. So if you could at least set the focus and exposure, that would help!

Otherwise I found these very informative and helpful! Keep them coming. Oh, and I like that they are short. Because I've seen some that are 3-5 minutes. And I'm not sitting there that long! Approximately 1 minute seems to work well.

Oh, I guess I should mention I work in television for a living. :) So I really do have a professional opinion on this.