I've been baking bread all week like a crazy woman and today was just more of the same. Pictured is the loaf I made with white flour fresh out of the oven. I'll try to run you through this very easy, delightful process:
Pictured above is bread dough using whole wheat flour and below (I tried to get these damn pictures to show up side by side but Blogger didn't want to grant me such a privilege) is dough with regular all-purpose flour. This is what the dough looks like after rising for eight hours. For each batch, I mixed 3 cups flour, about 2 teaspoons kosher salt, about 1 teaspoon dry instant yeast, and 1 and a 1/3 cups lukewarm water. Once the ingredients are mixed, cover the bowl with plastic wrap. They should sit until the dough doubles in size, so in this case, about eight hours. I managed to completely rearrange my bedroom during this time, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend this.
After the first rise (described above in the bowls), remove the dough from the bowl and place it on a floured surface. Also, flour a towel or cloth napkin (like the ones pictured). Fold the dough a few times to shape it and cover it with flour. Then place it in the floured towel and wrap loosely. The wrapped dough should sit for about 2 hours (I watched an episode of The Tudors). At about 1-1.5 hours into the second rise, preheat the oven to 475 degrees and also place a large oven-proof pot in the oven. I used my relatively new dutch oven (was told that it's best for baking bread) that I found at the Brooklyn Kitchen for $42.50!!
Once the oven is preheated and it has been about two hours (or the dough has clearly risen), unwrap the towel and carefully place the dough in the pot or dutch oven covered (you don't have to cover it, but I have bad luck with oven smoke and smoke alarms and the lid seems to prevent this). After about 30 minutes (your house/apartment/closet/shack will start to smell like BREAD), remove the bread from the oven. It should pop right out! Let it cool. Eat. Eat. Eat.
I've been baking bread all week like a crazy woman and today was just more of the same. Pictured is the loaf I made with white flour fresh out of the oven. I'll try to run you through this very easy, delightful process:
Pictured above is bread dough using whole wheat flour and below (I tried to get these damn pictures to show up side by side but Blogger didn't want to grant me such a privilege) is dough with regular all-purpose flour. This is what the dough looks like after rising for eight hours. For each batch, I mixed 3 cups flour, about 2 teaspoons kosher salt, about 1 teaspoon dry instant yeast, and 1 and a 1/3 cups lukewarm water. Once the ingredients are mixed, cover the bowl with plastic wrap. They should sit until the dough doubles in size, so in this case, about eight hours. I managed to completely rearrange my bedroom during this time, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend this.
After the first rise (described above in the bowls), remove the dough from the bowl and place it on a floured surface. Also, flour a towel or cloth napkin (like the ones pictured). Fold the dough a few times to shape it and cover it with flour. Then place it in the floured towel and wrap loosely. The wrapped dough should sit for about 2 hours (I watched an episode of The Tudors). At about 1-1.5 hours into the second rise, preheat the oven to 475 degrees and also place a large oven-proof pot in the oven. I used my relatively new dutch oven (was told that it's best for baking bread) that I found at the Brooklyn Kitchen for $42.50!!
Once the oven is preheated and it has been about two hours (or the dough has clearly risen), unwrap the towel and carefully place the dough in the pot or dutch oven covered (you don't have to cover it, but I have bad luck with oven smoke and smoke alarms and the lid seems to prevent this). After about 30 minutes (your house/apartment/closet/shack will start to smell like BREAD), remove the bread from the oven. It should pop right out! Let it cool. Eat. Eat. Eat.
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