Home Baked Goodness
Have you seen the enormous selection of bread that fills an entire row of the big grocery stores these days? The beautiful loaves of organic fat-free, gluten-free, free range, whole-wheat, flax, chia, nut, and seed bread, carefully wrapped in thin layers of plastic by loving machines? We used to buy that stuff… until an accidental discovery that an open loaf was still as fresh as spring rain, weeks after it was opened. Closer examination of the long list of ingredients revealed a long list of preservatives and chemicals
Next stop: the farmer’s market. The beautiful loaves of organic fat-free, gluten-free, free range, whole-wheat, flax, chia, nut, and seed bread smelled wonderful, fresh baked that morning. The owner of the family owned bakery would give us samples and chat amiably while we browsed his wares. And why wouldn’t he be happy, when a loaf of bread cost $6 – $8. But it was delicious and we knew what was in it
Winnie was working her way through a series of world-renowned cook books, and decided to take on a new challenge: home baked bread. She ordered the best selling bread baking book on Amazon, The Bread Baker’s Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread. Used, of course :)
Like a school girl waking up to Christmas morning, she danced with glee when it finally arrived. The book carefully lays out the delicate art of traditional bread making. All 12 stages, in exacting detail. 8 hours later, exhausted and covered in flour, we enjoyed the output of our own little sweatshop. Without question, it was quite good. But also something no sane person would choose to do on a daily or even weekly basis. Those $8 loaves of bread from the farmer’s market were starting to call us once again. A few weeks later, another unsuspecting patron bought an used book on Amazon
Some weeks later, we were nibbling on some appetizers at a dinner party. We were impressed enough with the bread to ask our host where they got it. “I made it! It is really easy!”, she said. 5 minutes later, our lives were changed forever when she introduced us to an amazing bread making recipe that was simple and hassle free. This basic recipe can be used to make baguette, boule, ciabatta, or even focaccia, and your hands only touch the dough for 5 minutes.
This post shares the entire recipe, as implemented by Winnie, with step-by-step photos. It is the official bread of Go Curry Cracker!
Ingredients:
Unbleached all-purpose flour – 6.5 cups
Active dry yeast – 2 packets (1.5 Tbsp)
Sea salt – 1.5 Tbsp
Lukewarm water – 3 cups
Equipment:
6L Plastic container with cover
Pizza stone or ceramic cookware (use the flat side) (If you don’t have a pizza stone, a regular cookie sheet is fine. The bread will just be less crusty)
Wooden spoon
Wooden cutting board
Boiler tray (a heavy duty pan)
Knife
Process:
Mix all of the ingredients in the 6L plastic container with a wooden spoon until there is no obvious dry powder (2 minutes)
Cover the bucket UNSEALED
Let dough rise for 2 hours at room temperature, until dough doubles in size
Dough is now ready for use. Can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 10 days
Preparation
Baking day:
Cover hands, wooden cutting board, and pizza stone lightly in flour
Grab and cut a baseball sized chunk of dough (cutting is important to not damage the gluten bonds)
Pull the surface of the dough gently from the top around to the bottom on all sides, shaping into a ball (1 minute)
Allow to rest on wooden cutting board for 40 minutes
20 minutes before baking, with pizza stone on middle rack and boiler tray on lower rack, pre-heat oven to 450 F.
Sprinkle some flour on the surface of dough and slash a 1/4″ deep cross on top with a knife
Carefully jerk the dough off the cutting board onto the pizza stone (do not touch dough)
Quickly pour 1 cup of hot water into the boiler tray and close over door
Bake for 30 minutes in steam bath, until nicely brown
Remove bread and allow to cool before cutting (unless you plan to eat the whole thing immediately, like us)
Enjoy!
Rise and Shaping
Baking (note ceramic cookware and boiler tray)
Final Products
Alternatives:
Once you have the basic recipe worked out, there are a million other options. We regularly mix a blend of rosemary and thyme into the basic recipe, but have also used olives, bacon and cheese, and more
Thanks to this life changing discovery, we are now able to eat great bread fresh out of the oven for less than $1 a loaf.
Who are the geniuses behind this amazing recipe? It is from a great book called The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking
, by Jeff Hertzberg MD and Zoe Francois
There is also a new book, called Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day: 100 New Recipes Featuring Whole Grains, Fruits, Vegetables, and Gluten-Free Ingredients
.
Both books include hundreds of recipes and alternatives. The recipe we have shared above is available freely online, so there is no need to purchase either book (although we have done so because we appreciate the incredible benefits we have received from their work.)
If you wish, get your own copy with the links below. Or for anybody in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, Winnie is teaching several friends how to make bread this Saturday, December 14th (2013). Feel free to contact us if you would like to stop by
The final products picture looks incredible!
I already passed this on to my wife (and her sister) and I imagine we’ll be enjoying some delicious bread in the coming days…
Excellent! Let us know how it works out Brad.
And yes, it does taste as good as it looks
I’d like to stop by, but I’m short a couple of plane tickets if you have any to spare.
When you say unbleached all purpose flour, is that the regular flour at the grocery store that comes in a 5 lb bag for like $2?
We have been making a basic bread recipe a lot with the $2 flour type. Our recipe is drier. Basically 3 cups flour, 1 cup water, 2 tablespoons oil, and 1 package of yeast with salt to taste (slightly water than your recipe). I’m relatively new to bread-baking though. Does the extra water in your recipe make it a little lighter and fluffier? Ours often ends up dense.
And I haven’t tried the steam bath. Hmmm… something to try this weekend.
I use the recipe above for pizza dough too. It turns out pretty nice.
It’s probably a little late for live attendance, but we could include you via video conference
I’m booked up. About to go to a friend’s house and cook honey glazed ham and mashed potatoes and gravy for all of us for dinner. To be served with store bought bread unfortunately. :)
The regular flour you are using is the right stuff.
The steam bath makes a huge difference. I suspect that it allows the crust to form more slowly, allowing the bread to rise more even in the oven, resulting in a lighter more airy texture.
Also when shaping the dough, be careful not to use too much flour on your hands or add too much flour on the dough. This flour prevents sticking, but it also absorbs moisture
Winnie
Thanks Winnie. I used to work at Jersey Mike’s and I would normally bake the bread in big rack ovens. I remember we had pans of water in the bottom of the proofing oven where the dough would rise. I can’t remember if they used pans of water in the bake oven. I’ll definitely have to try the steam bath though (once we get our new oven installed).
I think I’ll try a wetter dough like you have with 3.25 cups flour to 1.5 c water ratio (= 6.5 c flour to 3 c water, but adjusted for 1 loaf).
Have you tried your recipe for pizza dough?
It is great for pizza bread too. Last Christmas we had a pizza making session with all of our nieces and nephews. Kid tested and approved
Winnie,
I tried your recipe for pizza dough tonight. It was great! I think the extra liquid made the dough lighter and fluffier.
One of the pizzas was “Mexican” pizza. Refried beans, salsa, shredded pork carnitas, cheese, then pickled jalapenos, black olives and onions on top. Mmmmm
Great! Glad it worked for you. And it sounds delicious
Hey, thanks for the inspiration! I made bread for the first time tonight. Winnie’s photos were super helpful (as was the YouTube link), and the bread turned out great. It looks like you guys also used the tip of spreading the bread board with cornmeal. I didn’t have any on hand, so I did without, but I think it definitely would have helped in sliding the dough onto the baking surface.
Fantastic! Glad it worked for you. We brought some focaccia with caramelized onions to a dinner party last night and it was a huge success
We tried cornmeal, but since we almost never have cornmeal on hand we just use flour to prevent sticking and it works fine
I tried this recipe today, with 1 tbsp (instead of 1.5) sea salt coz I have the fine kind, not big crystals, and it was a success! Thanks for sharing your technique.
Will try other variations, especially want to find the right ratio with whole wheat.
Any ideas how to modify for high altitude? I’m in denver.
Modifications aren’t necessary
We made this bread in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico (altitude 6,107 ft)
I actually found this while searching for a jersey mike’s copycat bread (one of the commenters mentioned he used to work there and google picked up on that!)
Would this bread work for an all purpose sub style sandwich? It looks delicious!
certainly. Try it and let us know how it worked out
Hi Winnie
Do you think it’s possible to replace the plain flour with spelt flour do you know? Your bread looks amazing, thanks for sharing
I’m not sure, sorry. I know the book has a whole wheat version, but I can’t remember the details. It would be fun to experiment though!
Just tried this recipe this past weekend and we loved it! Amazing how easy it is and so glad not to have to knead. I have passed the recipe on to my friends (I hope they read your site too!). We will be using this one for a long time to come. Thanks again!
Definitely a winner. I have two hungry university kids coming home for thanksgiving soon. I am going to have this on hand in the refrigerator especially because one of them loves pepperoni bread. My pizza turned out great yesterday and I have enough for a loaf of bread today? thank you Winnie. I really enjoy reading about your adventures?
I love this recipe! I made the basic version you lay out and my family loved it. I then went to the library and checked out the Artisan bread book you recommended. I now make my own bagels for breakfast. Who would have thought I would pick up such great baking advice from my favorite FI blog :)
Nice!
But who would have ever thought this would be your favorite FI blog!? ;)
Thank you for the recipe!
I even found a pizza stone at a local Value Village.
Question …. Can I make a large loaf say with half of the dough?
Also my dough appears to be very wet and sticky …. Very bubbly but a little hard to handle.
Is the finished product supposed to be dense? I would assume so since this is a no kneed recipe.
My dough flattened out on the board while rising and did not appear ball shipped. Any suggestions.
Having fun with this.
Thank you!
We have not made any loaves bigger than a couple fists. A loaf that big will be more challenging to bake well, but there is no reason it wouldn’t work. We are typically aiming for a meal size portion because fresh baked bread is amazing, but will sometimes make more and freeze a few smaller loaves for future use.
You have to shape the ball yourself. Put a little flour on your hands to prevent sticking and pull into shape.
Finished product shouldn’t be super dense. You may have to experiment with more/less flour to get a consistency you like.
I keep coming back to this one. This post lead us to the book and has completely changed our weekly dinners. This one recipe alone is all you need!
We have this bread several times per week now, and it couldn’t be easier to make.
Hi there, looking forward to trying this! How do you modify this recipe it to make the other breads mentioned, baguette, boule, ciabatta, or focaccia?