Here's the thing, friends, bread is only water, leaven, flour and salt. It really is more the PROCESS than the ingredients that it important. But, nonetheless, I'll show you how it's done.
Ingredients:
- 900 grams white flour
- 100 grams whole wheat flour
- 200 grams leaven
- 750 grams water (700 to start, then add 50 later)
- 20 grams salt
To start, you do the float test of the leaven in water. If it floats in warm water, it's ready. Then, you measure out 700 grams of water, and mix into it the 200 grams of leaven with your hands.
Next goes in the flour. Your mix all of it with your hand, then once it combines to one mass, you let it sit for about half and hour.
This is a really crucial rest, because, it lets the flour absorb the water, then relax again.
Then, you add the extra 50 grams of water, and 20 grams of salt. After this, I usually find a warm space for the dough to do it's bulk fermentation. This is a four hour rise, and every half hour, I turn the dough .
To do this, I dip my hand in, and scoop up a part of the dough from the bottom, and fold it over the top. This creates air bubbles, which in tuen makes for light, fluffy bread.
During the bulk fermentation, the bacteria in the leaven eats at the carbohydrates in the flour, and produces lactic acid as a biproduct of anaerobic respiration (yogurt and beer are made in a similar way.) CO2 is another by product -- air bubbles! Good thing I payed attention in cell biology.
After the four hours, I pour the dough onto an UNFLOURED surface. I recently realized how important that is. I flour the top of the dough, and cut it into two pieces about the same size. I shape the dough with a bread spatula, which looks like a small metal rectangle with a wooden handle. I shape the dough into a round, pulling slightly out from under the loaf with the spatula.
This creates tension as part of the dough sticks to the unfloured table, and I kind of wrap the dough around itself.
Then comes the bench rest. I left it rest for about half an hour again, and I usually flour the top and cover the two pieces with a cloth to keep the draft off them.
After the bench rest, I take the cloth off, flour the top, and flip the dough over again. This time, I shape the for the final rise. I fold in both sides of the somewhat pancake-shaped dough, and then fold in the top and the bottom, and roll it over itself to make a neat little round loaf.
And then we put it in the fridge over night to rise! And when we return, kids, we'll wield the flames and the hearth. And put those babies in the oven.
I'm glad you posted this! If I ever have the urge to make myself some delicious bread, I'll just pull up this website from the internets and make it from this. And it's also simple enough so that I'm 95% sure I won't blow anything up. I think. Maybe.
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