Baking a loaf of bread can seem both intimidating and like an awful lot of work. Don't worry - it's really quite simple once you get the hang of it! In this tutorial, we've broken it down into teeny-tiny steps to walk you through the whole process of making a traditional artisan-style loaf of bread.
What You Need
Water - 3 cups total
Yeast - 1 teaspoon total
Flour - 6-7 cups total
Salt - 1 Tablespoon
Equipment
Large Mixing Bowl
Spoon
Baking Pans (optional)
Baking Stone (optional)
Instructions
1. Make a Poolish (Optional) - In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup of water, 1/2 teaspoon of yeast, and 3/4 cups of all-purpose flour. Mix it for a few minutes, until it forms an elastic and smooth batter. Cover and let this sit for 2-10 hours. It will look like the picture above when it's ready.
Skip this step if you don't have time, but it's an easy way to add flavor and good texture to your bread. It's also a little insurance to make sure the dough rises! If you skip it, just add the ingredients into the main dough.
2. Measure the Water - Measure 2 1/2 cups (or 20 ounces) of water into a large bowl.
3. Measure the Yeast - Add a half teaspoon of yeast to the water.
4. Let the yeast sit in the water until it has dissolved. Don't be concerned if you don't see any bubbles at this point.
5. Add the Poolish - If you made a poolish, add it into the bowl now.
6. Stir the water, yeast, and poolish together until the poolish is dissolved into the water. You might see some bubbles and foam, but don't be concerned if you don't.
7. Add the Flour Add 1 cup of flour.
8. Stir until a thick batter is formed.
9. Stir in 1 tablespoon of kosher salt. Salt can inhibit the growth of the yeast, so it's good to add a cup of flour first to give the yeast a little protection and then add the salt.
10. Add 4 more cups of flour and stir until the dough is too stiff to stir anymore. It's ok if there's still some loose flour left in the bowl that hasn't been incorporated into the batter.
11. At this point the dough will look shaggy and be very sticky.
12. Knead the Dough Sprinkle a little flour on your work surface and scrape your dough on top. Begin kneading, adding up to another cup of flour if the dough is very sticky. (We'll have a video of how to knead bread dough for you later today!)
13. The dough is finished kneading and ready to rise when it springs back when you poke it, if it holds its shape in your hands, or if you can form a "window pane" without it breaking (as in the picture above)
14. Put it in a large oiled bowl and let the dough rise until doubled in size, 1-2 hours.
15. Shape the Loaves - Sprinkle a little flour on your work surface and turn the risen dough out on top. Divide the dough into two pieces and shape the dough into round loaves or sandwich loaves as desired. Let these loaves rise until they've nearly doubled in size, about 1 hour. (We'll also have videos of this process up later today.)
16. Bake the Loaves - Preheat the oven to 450°. Quickly cut a few slashes 1/2-inch deep into the tops of the loaves with a serrated knife and place them in the oven. Round loaves should be baked on a baking stone while sandwich loaves in baking tins can be baked right on the oven rack.
17. Bake for 30-40 minutes until the loaves have developed some color on the crust, sound hollow when tapped on the bottom, and the inside registers 190° on an instant-read thermometer. Let the loaves cool before slicing into them.
Additional Notes:
• This recipe we followed in this tutorial is adapted from the "Country-Style Hearth Loaf" from Bread Alone by Daniel Leader and Judith Blahnik. This is a great book for anyone wanting to get into bread baking. (Buy It! $25 on Amazon.com)
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(Images: Emma Christensen and Faith Durand)
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Do you know how the flour is measured in this recipe? That makes a huge difference to the finished process. Some cookbooks call for the "dip, scoop, and level" method, some want you to fluff the flour first, others want you to sprinkle the flour into the measuring cup. Result: a "cup" of flour that weighs anywhere from 4.5-6 oz. This much variance can seriously mess up an otherwise good loaf of bread.
Also, it might seem less authentic, but my KitchenAid stand mixer is my best friend when making bread. Kneading can be relaxing, but if you can't or don't want to, there's no shame in letting the KA do its job...
I agree, using volumetric measurements for baking is a recipe for trouble. That aside, a common problem for beginners is making the dough too dry. When kneading by hand, people often assume that sticky dough needs more flour. They keep adding flour, until the dough feels easy to knead, but by that point it's too dry already. Underhydrated dough will produce bread with a tight crumb and little oven spring. Using a stand mixer to knead allows one to avoid the temptation to add more flour and to observe gluten development in the dough. Once you know what the dough is supposed to feel like, then you can knead by hand and adjust hydration as needed. If you are kneading by hand and the dough feels sticky, let it rest for 5-10 minutes, then resume kneading. You'll be amazed at how much more elastic the dough can become with a little rest and no additional flour.
I'm kind of surprised that there is no bench-proofing in this recipe (but not in the bad way). Either way, though, this is very similar to the method I used to bake bread, only I use a standing mixer and, like the above commenters, I measure by mass instead of volume.
Personally, I find an excellent mixture for sandwich bread to be two pounds of flour at a ratio of 40% whole wheat and 60% bread flour. Whole wheat flour needs a bit more kneading, though, so I put the standing mixer on 6 and let it go for about 12-15 minutes, until it reaches the elastic state you mentioned.
Oh wait, I just realized there is a bench proofing step in there. My apologies.
Leader's original recipe calls for 4 ounces of flour in the poolish and 26-31 ounces in the dough itself.
However, when making bread at home (just for me), I hardly ever weigh out the flour. Instead, I go by how the dough feels. There's leeway in every recipe (as Leader's range indicates), plus the amount of flour needed will change depending on the humidity and the temperature.
I know that in my kitchen somewhere around 5 cups when the dough is tacky but workable is usually just right!
EmmaC, my comment is directed at beginners who may not have a good feel for what the dough is supposed to feel like. With sufficient experience, you may be able to wing it better than most people. And yes, you may need to adjust hydration because of environmental conditions, but all of that comes with knowing what to look for in the dough.
EmmaC, that makes sense if you're used to making bread and can go by feel -- but for a beginner, it can be so hard to tell when things are right. I'm sort of an intermediate-level bread baker but still have lots of trouble with artisan loaves because I haven't found that perfect consistency yet! At least the experiments are usually edible...
It seems like Leader's cup of flour weighs about 5 1/3 oz -- so probably measured by fluffing the flour in its container, dipping out a cup, and leveling. That's definitely helpful to know! I've got my usual sandwich bread rising and almost ready for the oven, but when it's gone, I'll definitely try this yummy-looking boule. Thanks!
@ bubble and Octavia82 - Definitely a good point re: beginners!
My next kitchen purchase is going to be a scale. It just seems like when dealing with dry ingredients, especially flour, you should always measure by weight, not volume.
If you have flour that's been sitting in a jar for a few weeks and hasn't been touched, it's going to be dense, so you'll end up pulling out more then you'd need.
Wow, what an important distinction of volume vs. weight (and it is really important when you live where it is humid). That makes a lot of sense.
I also like the advice about 'sticky dough' and not adding too much flour to dry it out (I usually add just enough to keep it from sticking to the counter so I guess that is a good balance trick to remember?). I will look into both of these and see how it goes.
Thanks, y'all! This is one of the few places where the comments are just as good as the articles....!
I recently completely FAILED at making bread for the first time: http://www.nycnomnom.com/post/323497394/failed-bread-and-tuna-noodle-casserole
I think it had to do with the ratios being all wrong in the recipe... but I'm still terrified to try again!
Success! I made this bread tonight using a stand mixer with kneading function (essential for raiding and baking at the same time ;).
I made the poolish last night, and I think that it really improved the flavour. The end texture was a bit moist and chewy, and I'm not really sure why. It rose well and had a nice crust... maybe it was a little under done?
I made the no-knead bread featured here in my stock pot at the same time, and it was much lighter and drier. In both cases, my dough seemed drier than other accounts, perhaps because where I live (Edmonton) has no humidity. I wouldn't have thought it would make that much of a difference!
Either way, a great experience, and awesome bread- thanks so much for the tutorial!
Question: I am a beginner and I kneaded it until it poked back. I then tried the "window pane" and it ripped. So I needed it some more and tried again and it ripped again. This continued several more times and finally I was tired of kneading- what should I have done- kept kneading until I could do the "window pane" test or was it okay since it poked back up?
Oh my goodness, I finally made this and it's fabulous!! This is the first time any of my "artisan" breads have ever come out properly and it tastes so good. I let my poolish stand for longer than specified (probably about 13 hours? I wasn't really counting) and it gave it a great flavor. Mine was also fairly moist and chewy, like virtualjess's, but I like it that way so I'm happy.
@chocolatemilkrocks, if you come back to this thread -- there was just an article in the NYT about how kneading doesn't really do that much to help bread. Honestly, I don't usually check my doughs, I just let them knead in the stand mixer for awhile and then let them rise. Don't worry too much, just go with it!
So this recipe was my first ever attempt at making bread. I actually had to try it twice since the first go I think I didn't let the poolish sit long enough, and then added too much flour during the kneading and it never became elasticky. I tried letting it rise anyway but it just sat there, lifeless and heavy.
My second attempt was quite successful -- I got two edible loaves! They are a bit dense, but taste really good.
I do have a question, though. In steps 2-4 it just says to add 1/2 tsp yeast to 2.5 cups of water and let it dissolve, but in my first try it never dissolved fully. I read around a bit and the consensus seemed to be that you need to add the yeast to warm water (110-115F) in order for it to dissolve or activate or whatever. Is that not necessary for this recipe due to the poolish? I used warm water for my 2nd attempt anyway, and it seemed to work better.
Where did you get your apron? It's too cute.
Can I put this on a regular cookie sheet if I don't have a Baker's Stone?
Can I just add the comment (in line with some other comments I saw) that this recipe is not the most reliable, from a baker's point of view. Hydration is low (50% or even lower, i estimate) and won't get you good dough. Also I completely agree with the advice to weigh all ingredients, including water, to get reliability in the ratios, especially hydration. Lastly, I would question a second rise of an hour once the loaves have been shaped. 20 - 30 minutes is usually enough, an hour leads to over risen dough. Also slashing is best not done with a serrated knife and about 15 minutes into the final rise. Because I make large quantities of dough in my bakery and don't own a kneader I work by letting the dough autolyse for an hour and then 3x stretch and fold at 10 minute intervals. This gives me a reliable dough time and time again. Kneading is not really necessary. Instead of a poolish, some old dough, left over from a previous batch's baking can be used to add flavor and texture to the bread. I often have people for workshops, whose bread is not coming out the right way, and usually this can be traced back to recipes such as these, that were obviously not written or conceived by bakers.