Bubba wrote:

> Not much of a baker...used several bread machines with good luck but
> this weekend I'm going to do my first "real" bread. Have chosen one
> of Beard's recipes for a French "style" freeformed bread. I don't
> have baking tiles but I do have a cast iron skillet about the size of
> New Jersey. How would this fare in place of the baking tiles? Also,
> I've made handmade pasta....how will the "texture" of the dough (when
> being kneaded) compare?

I'll (more or less modestly) suggest you try the recipes on my web
site. I have a pretty painless introduction to baking that uses several
of James Beard's recipes. Around here you'll find a fair amount of
disagreement about James Beard as a baker and teacher of bakers. I
still like him and respect him.

Anyway, try the introduction at
http://www.sourdoughhome.com/bakingintro.html It's helped quite a few
people, and I've gotten a number of "thank you" notes for the pages.

Mike