Homemade Bread
Fool-poof homemade bread for absolute beginners
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 cups bread flour 430g
- 2 tsp yeast
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 1/2 cups luke warm water
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl combine the warm water with yeast and a pinch of sugar. Let it rest for 10 minutes, or until it begins to foam and you can smell the yeast waking up.
- Add your flour and salt, gentry mix with a spatula until everything is moist. Shape the sticky dough into a ball and let it rest on the bowl.
- Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap or a clean cloth and let it rise at room temperature for at least 3 hours. For best results, let it rest in the refrigerator overnight. The longer it rests, the better the flavor (maximum 72 hours).
- Lightly dust a baking sheet with flour. Turn the dough onto the floured surface and shape into your desired form. You can make one large oval or circular bread, or divide it into pieces to make baguette sized loafs. Let them rest for 30 minutes in their final form before baking.
- Preheat the oven to 245°C (475°F).
- When ready to bake, score the loaves with three slashes using a sharp knife.
- Bake inside a Dutch Oven with the lid on. If you do not have a dutch oven, place a metal oven safe dish on the bottom rack. Once the bread is in the oven, quickly pour boiling water into the dish in order to trap the steam inside in the oven. This will make your bread crispier on the outside.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. If the crust is not rock hard when you “knock” on the bread, bake for longer.
- Allow the bread to cool for at least 5 minutes. Keep up to 10 days in the refrigerator.