The thing that makes bread good is glutens. Glutens are developed two ways: by kneading, or with time. This recipe uses the "time" method, meaning that you mix this dough in a large mixing bowl, then walk away. Over time I have eliminated and simplified as I am prone to do, but here is the original recipe if you are curious. I'm giving you the ingredients for a double batch, because this bread is GOOD. It is a crusty, somewhat dense loaf that is great for sandwiches or dipping in oil and vinegar (our favorite).
6 cups bread flour (bread flour is flour that is higher in glutens to start with than all-purpose flour. Do yourself and your bread a favor and buy some. Also, I've used a 50/50 combination of white and wheat flour and still had a good result.)
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon yeast (not a typo. One half of one teaspoon yeast.)
3 5/8 cups of water
Mix dry ingredients together with a fork in a large mixing bowl. Add water and mix until blended- I usually wind up just using my hands. The dough will be sticky and rough looking. Cover bowl with saran wrap and let it sit 12-18 hours.
Spray two loaf pans with cooking spray then dust with cornmeal. Place half of dough in each loaf pan. It really doesn't matter what it looks like, plus the dough will still be sticky, so don't stress trying to make it smooth. Re-cover with saran wrap and let rise for 2 or 3 hours.
Preheat oven to 400. Bake loaves for 30 minutes (My whole wheat loaves only took 26 last night.). They should sound hollow when you tap or knock on them. Remove loaves from pans to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment