Basic Bread Recipes

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and 1/2 teaspoon sugar in warm water; let stand until bubbles form on surface. Whisk together remaining 3 tablespoons sugar, salt and 3 cups flour. Stir oil into yeast mixture; pour into flour mixture and beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, to form a soft dough. , Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 8-10 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, 1-1/2 to 2 hours., Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide dough in half. Shape each into a loaf. Place in 2 greased 9x5-in. loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, 1 to 1-1/2 hours., Bake at 375° until golden brown and bread sounds hollow when tapped or has reached an internal temperature of 200°, 30-35 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

Steps:

• Combine 5 ounces of the flour, 1/4 teaspoon of the yeast, all of the honey, and all of the bottled water in a straight-sided container; cover loosely and refrigerate for 8 to 12 hours.
• Place the remaining 11 ounces of flour, remaining yeast, and all the salt into the bowl of a stand mixer, and add the pre-ferment from the refrigerator. Using the dough hook attachment, knead the mixture on low for 2 to 3 minutes just until it comes together. Cover the dough in the bowl with a kitchen towel and allow to rest for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, knead the dough on medium speed for 5 to 10 minutes or until you are able to gently pull the dough into a thin sheet that light will pass through. The dough will be sticky, but not so sticky that you can't handle it.
• While the dough is kneading, pour half of the hot water into a shallow pan and place on the bottom rack of your oven.
• Grease the inside of a large straight-sided container with the vegetable oil. Place the dough ball into the container and set on the rack above the pan of water. Allow to rise until doubled in size, approximately 1 to 2 hours.
• Once the dough has doubled in size, turn it onto a counter top, lightly dust your hands with flour, and press the dough out with your knuckles; then fold 1 side in towards the middle of the mass and then the other, as if you were making a tri-fold wallet. Repeat the folding a second time. Cover the dough with a kitchen towel and allow to rest for another 10 minutes.
• Flatten dough again with your knuckles and then fold the dough in onto itself, like you are shaping something that looks like a jellyfish. Turn the dough over and squeeze the bottom together so that the top surface of the dough is smooth. Place the dough back onto the counter and begin to roll gently between your hands. Do not grab the dough but allow it to move gently back and forth between your hands, moving in a circular motion. Move the dough ball to a pizza peel or the bottom of a sheet pan that has been sprinkled with the cornmeal. Cover with the kitchen towel and allow to bench proof for 1 hour, or until you poke the dough and it quickly fills back in where you poked it.
• Place an unglazed terra cotta dish upside down into the oven and heat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Combine the 1/3 cup of water and the cornstarch in a small bowl. Uncover the dough and brush the surface with this mixture. Gently slash the top surface of the dough ball in several places, approximately 1/3 to 1/2-inch deep. Add more of the hot water to the shallow pan if it has evaporated. Slide the bread onto the terra cotta dish in the oven and bake for 50 to 60 minutes. Once the bread has reached an internal temperature of 205 to 210 degrees F, remove to a cooling rack and allow to sit for 30 minutes before slicing.

Steps:

• Saltolyse
• Mix the flour, salt, and 390g of the water. Cover and let the dough hydrate for 20-60 minutes. Longer is okay too.
• Yeast Prep and Mixing
• Combine the instant yeast, a pinch of sugar, and 35g water and let it sit for about 5 minutes. You can use 100-110F water if you want to further boost its activity. This step isn't necessary for making instant yeast work well, but I find the yeast mixes in more evenly when it's hydrated.
• Pour the bloomed yeast over the saltolysed dough. Squish it into the dough with your hand, and knead and slap and fold the dough until it's fully incorporated.
• Note the level of the dough in your bowl or make an aliquot jar with a small piece of the dough, marking the level with a rubberband.
• Cover the dough and let it rest 20 minutes.
• Gluten Development and First Rise
• Laminate the dough on a clean, damp surface. Be gentle but expect some tearing as you stretch the dough out because it's early in the development of gluten.
• Fold up the dough, return it to the bowl, cover, and let it rest another 20 minutes.
• Laminate the dough a second time, then let it continue rising in the covered bowl until it has roughly doubled. In warm summer months, this is about 20 more minutes or an hour total since mixing in the yeast. In a cold kitchen, this could be two hours since mixing the yeast, and in that scenario, you might want to add in a round of coil folding 20 minutes after the second lamination.
• Preheat, Pre-Shaping, Shaping, and Final Proof
• In warm seasons, begin preheating the oven and baking vessel to 500F as soon as the dough is finished with the first rise. In cold seasons, you might wait to preheat until after the shaping the dough.
• Scrape the dough out of the bowl onto a well floured countertop and pre-shape it into a tight ball. Cover with your bowl and let it rest for 15-20 minutes.
• Shape the dough to suit the shape of your proofing basket and baking vessel.
• Place the dough seam-side up in your floured proofing basket.
• Cover and let rise again for 15-30 minutes depending on your room temperature.
• Baking
• Flip the dough out of the proofing basket and onto a sheet of parchment paper or onto the base of your hot baking vessel. Score the dough, then cover and return the vessel to the oven.
• If your baking vessel is a ceramic cloche, bake at:
• 500°F for 20 minutes, lid on
• 450°F for 10-15 minutes, lid off
• If your baking vessel is cast iron, bake at:
• 500°F for 15 minutes, lid on. At the 15-minute mark, place a baking sheet directly under the cast iron on the same shelf. This will prevent the base of the bread from burning.
• 450°F for 5 minutes, lid on
• 450°F for 10-15 minutes, lid off
• When baking is complete, the bread should have an internal temperature over 205F and it should sound hollow when you knock on the bottom of the loaf.
• Let the bread cool for at least a couple of hours before you slice it.

Steps:

• Mix 500g strong white flour, 2 tsp salt and a 7g sachet of fast-action yeast in a large bowl.
• Make a well in the centre, then add 3 tbsp olive oil and 300ml water, and mix well. If the dough seems a little stiff, add another 1-2 tbsp water and mix well.
• Tip onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for around 10 mins.
• Once the dough is satin-smooth, place it in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with cling film. Leave to rise for 1 hour until doubled in size or place in the fridge overnight.
• Line a baking tray with baking parchment. Knock back the dough (punch the air out and pull the dough in on itself) then gently mould the dough into a ball.
• Place it on the baking parchment to prove for a further hour until doubled in size.
• Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7.
• Dust the loaf with some extra flour and cut a cross about 6cm long into the top of the loaf with a sharp knife.
• Bake for 25-30 mins until golden brown and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped underneath. Cool on a wire rack.