Reviewed: Jul. 25, 2010

I followed directions for the bread except I only used 4.5 cups of flour. The dough was silky and beautiful! I rolled the bread into a flat rectangle so I could cut it into sandwich squares. It is a nice salty bread!

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Reviewer:

afkoehlers

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Walterboro, South Carolina, USA

Living In: Sumter, South Carolina, USA

Reviewed: May 31, 2010

We really liked this. I halved the recipe, started with 1 cup WW and just kept adding the AP flour 1/2 cup at a time until I had a nice workable dough. It was just shy of 3 1/2 cups total. I think this recipe is less about how much flour or water and more about the method. I have never started baking bread with a cold oven before, although I have put a pan of water in the oven and sprayed my bread if I want a crisp crust. This was just what it advertised itself to be a chewy crust and a light moist crumb. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

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Reviewer:

BigShotsMom

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Long Island, New York, USA

Living In: Long Beach, New York, USA

Reviewed: Feb. 3, 2010

This bread has a really good taste, I really thought it would be bland, but it's not. I kept adding in the flour 1 cup at a time and it didn't take anywhere near 8 cups, I think I only used 5 or something like that. I'm not sure what I did, but it didn't rise very well, no matter, I baked it anyway and my husband and I both enjoyed this addition to our Cuban meal...I will make this bread again! And get it right the next time...thanks for a great recipe!

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Reviewer:

witchywoman

Supporting Member (Click to learn more about Supporting Membership)

Cooking Level: Expert

Home Town: Forks, Washington, USA

Living In: Longview, Washington, USA

Reviewed: Dec. 1, 2009

I am a professional baker, and this bread was TERRIBLE! After reading the other reviews, I added an extra 1/2 T of both salt and sugar, but it was still horrible and way too salty. Like others, I baked it with a pan of water in the oven. I let it rise for over 12 hours (about 10 hrs for the first rise and 2 for the second) but it did not not double, and after baking it was extremely dense, heavy, salty, and gross. I kneaded it in the kitchenaide mixer for 7-8 minutes. I should have paid more attention to the other negative reviews - and you should too!

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Reviewer:

Amanda

Reviewed: Nov. 20, 2009

Very good. Takes some time to rise but during that time you can do whatever you want.

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Reviewer:

HHaWho

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Frankenmuth, Michigan, USA

Reviewed: Nov. 6, 2009

okay, i've had several versions of cuban bread, the best being james beard's from beard on bread, and I'm a baker, I saw this recipe(and having lost the beard recipe) decided to try it out, (should've known better by %ages) I made the dough and it looked like pasta dough. I believe it would have a hearty crust, but how the heck is it supposed to rise when it feels like a football? I think the amounts of flour and water need to be adjusted...

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Reviewer:

doughgirl

Reviewed: Sep. 29, 2009

Turned out amazing! I cut the recipe in half, which calls for 4 cups of flour. I could not get even 3 1/2 cups in; I tried and tried! The first 2 cups were bread flour, the third was whole wheat pastry flour, and the rest was all purpose. Nice crusty outside, soft on the inside, smelled and tasted wonderful! Next time I will make the whole recipe :)

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Reviewer:

ONIOND

Cooking Level: Expert

Living In: Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Reviewed: Jun. 27, 2009

Personally, I'm a fan of not tweaking a recipe. The first time I tried this one, the dough refused to come together. Too much flour, not enough water. Produced an extremely hard crust and a very dense grain. The second time, much of the same. Even tried cutting out a cup of flour. Still not enough. And one tablespoon of salt is just not enough for the large quantity this recipe makes. Cuban water bread is a poor man's bread. Pretty much just flour and water. The inside should be airier (is that a word, lol) and the crust should be pale and fairly thin. I will not be making this recipe again.

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Reviewer:

Lisa

Cooking Level: Expert

Living In: Orlando, Florida, USA

Reviewed: May 23, 2009

This is a good, basic bread. I halved the recipe. I should've put in a bit of ww flour but I forgot. It was too dry; I had to add 1/2 cup of water to help it become dough. I love the crisp crust--I did both what the recipe said, which was to brush with cold water twice, and what another reviewer said, which was to place a pan with water in the oven while baking. I forgot I had halved the recipe by the time I made the loaves to rise; I made two round loaves, forgetting the directions don't adjust when you change the amounts. I'm happy I made two though; perfect height and width for regular sandwiches, albeit a bit round. Thanks for the recipe!

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Reviewer:

pomplemousse

Cooking Level: Intermediate

Home Town: Pendleton, Oregon, USA

Living In: Dumfries, Virginia, USA

Reviewed: Feb. 4, 2009

I served this at a Taste of the Tropics themed dinner party where we tried to have each dish come from a different island. Everyone really enjoyed the bread and described it as rustic and dense, like the inside of a soft pretzel. I prefer a chewier kind of bread, but this was very good. I could barely knead in 7 cups of flour, there was no chance at getting in 8, and it still turned out great...and I think I got a good arm workout in the process!

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