Artisanal Bread Loaves

Yes, I'm well aware that I have several "bread" recipes on this blog, but MORE bread is a good thing, right?

"If thou tastest a crust of bread, thou tastest all the stars and all the heavens. Bread is the king of the table and all else is merely the court that surrounds the king. With bread all sorrows are less” – Sancho Panza speaking to Dapple, (his donkey) in Don Quixote. I mean, how awesome is a trio of unique artisanal loaves with your own custom flavor profiles?  Let's do this!

You Will Need:

• 780g of All Purpose Flour
• 720g of Warm Water (110 degrees)
• 1.5 Tbsp Active Dry Yeast
• 1 Tbsp Sugar
• 4 Tsp Salt

You have a kitchen scale, right?  I mean, you can get them on Amazon for less than $10, seriously.  If this recipe does nothing else but convince you that you need one, then I'll consider my work "Done" here!  Get it done!!

So, your jar of yeast has been on the shelf forever and you're not sure if the little yeasty buggers are still alive.  Well, let's try to revive them!  Pour the water, sugar, salt, and yeast into your biggest bowl and whisk them vigorously.  WAKE UP, YEASTIES!  Now, walk away for ten minutes and pray for the revival... If your kitchen already smells like bread, and your mixture starts to bubble and look like an unsettled carbonated beverage, you know you're ready to proceed to the next step!

Measure EXACTLY 780g of flour and carefully dump it into the bowl.  Use a stiff spatula or wooden spoon and stir to mix well.  The dough will look "soggy."  It will be sticky and goopy!  When you stop mixing, it will sort of "settle" into the bottom of the bowl and spread out like a loose batch of jelly.  This is good!  If you've measured the weight of everything exactly, you shouldn't have to play the "is my dough too wet or too dry" game!  If it looks like a giant bowl of wet oatmeal, then you've done your job perfectly!  Moving on...

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and park it in the warmest spot of your kitchen.  Maybe beneath the "under the counter" lights you like to brag about, or on top of the refrigerator?  Leave the dough there for two hours.  It will triple in size!  No kidding, it will grow like the blob and scare you a little when two hours has elapsed!  It will also be bubbly and gooey and it will jiggle if you shake the bowl.

Ok, so far things have been clean and easy and you're asking yourself, "Why doesn't EVERYONE make their own bread??"  Well, here's where things get "Sticky."  Literally... If you've followed the directions exactly, the giant blob of gooey dough before you will break down into 3 smaller blobs that each weigh exactly 520g.  Dip your hands into a bin of flour.  Seriously, get a LOT of flour on your hands to help prevent sticking.  Reach in a grab a hunk of dough and drop it onto your kitchen scale (I covered my scale with plastic wrap to help keep the goop from sticking to it).  When you have a nice 520g blob, pick it up with your floury hands and tuck the edges under itself to form a nice ball.  

Place the ball of dough into the corner of a cookie sheet with a non-stick Silpat on it.  It will settle and spread a bit, but that's to be expected.  Repeat this two more times so that all three dough balls are arranged evenly around your cookie sheet.  Leave them alone for 45 minutes.  They'll stop "oozing" and start "rising!"  They may even run into each other a little.  Don't sweat it, it's going to be OK!

 

 

 

During the 45 minutes, turn your attention to the oven.  Slide one of the oven racks into the bottom-most slot and place a 9x9 metal cake pan there.  Place a second rack in the middle of the oven.  Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees!!  Why the cake pan?  Well, at "Go Time" you'll pour one cup of hot water into the pan to add steam to the baking process.  It's important!  Do not skip this step....

When 45 minutes have elapsed, have a look at your bread.  The loaves have grown!  This is when you would add the flavoring of your choice.  For this round of baking, we chose to sprinkle one with Sea-Salt, one with Garlic Salt, and one with Italian Herbs.  When you're done sprinkling, use a very sharp knife, and cut a cross or a nice hatch mark into the tops of the loaves.  They'll be so pretty when they come out of the oven!

This next (and last) step is crucial... You must be FAST like a bunny, so you don't lose too much heat when you open the door.  It helps to have an assistant.  Open the door and pour 1 Cup of HOT water (the hottest your tap can produce, or a cup of "near boiling" water from a tea kettle) into the cake pan, quickly slide your bread loaves onto the middle rack and close the door!  Set a timer for 30 minutes.  The 30 minute timer is a guideline... you'll want to keep an eye on things and yank them out when they have a nice golden brown color.

The loaves should have a nice firm outer texture that "crackles" when you "break" them.  The inside (professional bakers call the soft inside of a bread loaf, the "crumb"), should have a nice even texture.  The loaves should feel heavy for their size.  It should taste AMAZING!  If there's a single loaf of bread that you want to paint with some good quality butter as soon as it gets sliced out of the oven, this is the bread for you!

I should note that as great as this bread is, it will only last a couple of days.  Homemade bread rarely has preservatives, and I like it that way!  Just place the loaves into a zip-top bag when they're cool, and enjoy them while you can!