I realize this recipe can be found on hundreds if not thousands of blogs across the internet BUT if you haven't tried this yet you have to give it a go! It's super easy and tasty, not to mention a very very cheap way to enjoy delicious bakery-fresh tasting bread. Compliments to the book Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. I suggest picking up a copy because it also details how to make herb bread, olive bread, whole wheat sandwich bread, pita and so much more!
Artisan Bread – The Master Recipe
~Makes four one pound loaves
Ingredients:
3 cups lukewarm water (around 100F)
1 ½ tbsp. granulated yeast
1 ½ tbsp. coarse salt
6 ½ cups unsifted, unbleached, all-purpose white flour (scoop & sweep measure)
OR 4 1/2 cups white, 2 cups whole wheat works well too
Directions:
Using lukewarm water will rise the dough to the right point in about 2-3 hours. Add yeast and salt to the water. Use a 5 quart lidded (but not air tight) plastic food grade container to store and refrigerate your dough. Pour the water, yeast and salt mixture into your container and add in all the flour at once. Kneading the dough is unnecessary. Combine with a wooden spoon or very wet hands by pressing together until the mixture is uniform. You’re finished when everything is uniformly moist with no dry patches. This step is done in a matter of minutes and will yield a dough that is wet and loose enough to conform to the shape of its container.
Cover with a lid (not airtight) and allow to rise at room temperature, approximately 2 hours. Longer rising time (about 5 hours) will not harm the result. You can use a portion of the dough anytime after this period. Fully refrigerated wet dough is less sticky and easier to work with than dough at room temperature. It is best to refrigerate the dough overnight (or for at least 3 hours) before shaping a loaf. You’ll find that even one days storage will improve the flavour and texture of your dough. Dough will keep for up to 14 days and will change in flavour as it ages.
On Baking Day you will need:
Wooden cutting board or pizza peel
Baking stone
Serrated knife
Bread knife
Corn meal or flour
Oven thermometer (optional)
Baking sheet for steam
1 cup hot tap water
wire cooling rack
Arrange the oven racks on the two lowest settings. Place the baking stone on the top rack and the broiler tray at the bottom. Prepare your wooden cutting board or pizza peel by dusting with corn meal or flour (this recipe calls for flour) to prevent sticking when you slide it into the oven.
Sprinkle the surface of your refrigerated dough with flour. Pull up and cut off a 1 pound (grapefruit sized) piece using a serrated knife. Hold the mass in your hands and use a little more flour as needed so it won’t stick to your hands. Don’t knead, just “cloak” and shape a loaf by gently stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all four sides, rotating the ball a quarter turn as you go. Most of the dusting flour will fall off, it is not intended to be worked into the dough. The bottom of the loaf may appear to be a collection of bunched ends, but it will flatten out and adhere during resting and baking. The correctly shaped final product will be smooth and cohesive. The entire process should not take more than 30-60 seconds.
Rest the loaf and let it rise for about 40 minutes on the flour covered pizza peel or wooden cutting board. It does not need to be covered during the rest period.
Twenty minutes before baking preheat the oven to 450F.
Dust and slash: Dust your loaf liberally with flour which will allow the slashing knife to pass without sticking. Slash a ¼ inch deep cross, scallop or tic tac toe pattern into the top using a serrated knife.
After a 20 minute preheat, you’re ready to bake. With a quick forward jerking motion of the wrist, slide the loaf off the pizza peel onto the preheated baking stone. Quickly but carefully pour about one cup of hot tap water into the broiler tray and close the oven door to trap the steam.
Bake for about 40 minutes or until the crust is nicely browned and firm to the touch. Because you’ve used wet dough, there is little risk of drying out the interior, despite the dark crust. When you remove the loaf from the oven it will audibly crackle or “sing” when initially exposed to room temperature air. Allow to cool completely, preferably on a wire rack before slicing.
When your dough bucket is finally empty, don’t wash it! Immediately remix a new batch in the same container. This will give your new batch a head start on sourdough flavour. Just scrape down the sides and it will hydrate and incorporate into the new dough.
