For a long time, I was steering clear of bread altogether. I jumped on the bandwagon that wheat was the devil and stayed that way until just recently.
I was on Pinterest when I came across a posting about making artisan bread.
The idea that it was no-knead really appealed to me (despite the fact that I usually let my stand mixer do the work). It was a large batch of dough that can be kept in the fridge and used up over the course of two weeks.
Preparing the Dough
6 cups lukewarm water
3 Tbsp active dry yeast
3 Tbsp kosher or flake salt (note: not all salts interchange equally)
13 cups all-purpose flour (I use unbleached)
*This recipe can be easily halved
Mix the water, yeast and salt in a large bin. You want something at least 8 quarts to give the dough rising room. .
Add the flour and stir it in with spoon. Do not knead, just work until there are no more dry spots. You may need to add a little more water. The dough should be wet and sticky.
Leave it out on the counter for 2 hours to rise and then put it in the fridge. You can use the dough right away but it is easier to work with after a night in the fridge.
Baking the Bread
About an hour before you want to bake it, take the container of dough out of the fridge. Lightly flour the top so your fingers don't stick and grab a grapefruit sized piece of the dough.
Smooth the dough out pulling the uneven edges to the underside of the loaf making a nice, even ball. Place onto a cutting board lightly dusted with corn meal. Allow to sit 1 hour. Do not worry if it doesn't rise much. Cut across the top a couple of times so it will rise evenly without cracking the crust.
Put a cast iron pan or pizza stone in the cold oven and a pan in the bottom rack for putting water in. (do not use glass/Pyrex, It will explode when you add cold water to it. Ask me how I know...)
Preheat the oven to 450F. When it is hot, quickly slide the loaf onto the hot pan. Then quickly pour a cup of water into the bottom pan and close the door. This will create steam that will allow the loaf to rise.
Bake for 35 minutes then remove from oven. When you tap on the bottom of the loaf it should sound hollow. Allow it to cool for as long as you can handle, and then enjoy!
Making Pizza
Preheat oven to 450F. If you are using a pizza stone, put it in the oven and let it heat with the oven.
Sprinkle some flour over the top of the dough and pull out a grapefruit sized portion of dough. Begin to stretch the dough from the inside out into a big circle. There are great tutorials online but however you get it to the shape you desire is perfect! No critics here! Lay it out on a pizza pan, cast iron pan or a cutting board lightly covered in corn meal.
Top with your favorite pizza toppings. (You can fold it in half and seal the edges to make a calzone). If you have it on a pan already then pop it in the oven as it is. If you are using a pizza stone, slide it gently onto the hot stone. Allow to bake 12-15 minutes until hot and bubbly.
Take out and allow to cool for 5 minutes so it is easier to cut. Cut into pieces and enjoy!
I hope you enjoy this recipe too! There are so many other variations on the internet and I am dying to try a bunch of them! Let me know how yours worked out!
Making homemade bread this way is the best. 13 cups of flour is a little too much to fit into the frige so I make smaller amounts. Leaving it overnight also gives it more flavor.
ReplyDeleteFor the water pan I use a foil pie plate. Cheap and without it the bread isn't the same.
The only hard part is deciding how to eat it: plain, with butter or honey or jam? Yum.