Directions: |
Directions:In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.
Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Place a sheet of parchment paper in the bread proofing basket. Place dough inside, seam down. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack. |
Personal
Notes: |
Personal
Notes: I prefer mixing the dough in a glass bowl as the dough fermentation is better as glass can hold the room temperature better. Place mixed dough in a warm spot in the kitchen, preferably not on cold tile but maybe use a wood cutting board to let it sit on. I use a small digital food scale to measure the flour, you can also convert to a dry measuring cup, but weighing is more accurate. I usually set the dough up in the afternoon, next day I use a scraper and get the sticky dough out onto my counter which has a good amount of flour on it. I then gently fold the dough until its not sticky, forming a round. The round of dough is then placed back into a bowl or a proofing basket to rise for 1.5-2 hours. Bake as directed in recipe.
Let bread cool sufficiently before enjoying!
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