The Family Baker
Basic Artisan Bread Recipe
You can half or double this recipe with the same results
Hard White Wheat Grain—2 lbs, 3 oz which equals 5 1/4 cups of grain which equals 8 1/2 cups of freshly milled flour. If you are using store bought flour the amount should still be 2 lbs, 3 oz of flour which should be around 7 1/2 cups.
4 teaspoons of SAF yeast
1 Tablespoon of RealSalt
1/4 cup of Vital Wheat Gluten
2 Tablespoons of Dough Enhancer (optional)
Whisk those dry ingredients together and then add
4 cups of warm water
1/4 cups of oil (optional)
1/4 cup of honey or Sucanat (optional)
Whisk together the dry ingredients in your plastic container, add the wet ingredients and mix with spoon then use wets hands to ensure there’s no flour lumps. This whole process takes less than 15 minutes.
Put the lid on container but do not seal. We don’t want it to be airtight.
Let rest for 2 hours on counter.
You can use it then or put it in the refrigerator, still a loose seal, to use later. Tip: it’s easier to handle after refrigeration.
On Baking Day
When ready to bake, generously sprinkle pizza peel with cornmeal.
Have some flour handy and dust top of dough with flour and pull out a chunk of dough roughly the size of a grapefruit. Dust the ball slightly and quickly shape the dough into a ball by stretching the surface around to the bottom.
Elongate the ball if you desire.
Let rest for 90 minutes (only 40 minutes if you are using unrefrigerated dough you just made).
About 30 minutes before you bake, preheat the oven to 450 and place the baking stone on the middle rack to preheat and put the empty broiler pan on the bottom rack.
Just before baking, spray water on top of the loaf, sprinkle on some goodies like seeds, nuts, cheeses, etc, then slash with serrated knife.
With a quick forward motion, slide the loaf off of the peel and onto the hot stone. Add one cup of water into the broiler pan (never use a glass casserole dish and be careful not to spill any water onto your glass door!).
Close the oven door and bake for 20 to 30 minutes (depending on your oven) or until the crust is brown and firm to touch.
Cool on a cooling rack before slicing into it.
When storing it, you don't want to put it in a plastic bag - that defeats the crusty crust! You can store in a paper bag before slicing but after you sliced into it, leave it on the cutting board cut side down.
