The Weekly Feast – Bread

Bread is often called the “staff of life,” and that’s because a man can survive on bread and water. We think of this, in today’s world of Wonderbread and fake food, as a cruel punishment. In medieval times, bread and water was fairly standard fare for a person. In the 1750s, bread was 60% of the average colonist’s daily food intake. Today, that would be considered outrageous and possibly dangerous. Then, the wheat was whole, and even when finely ground (very doable along the many rivers in water-powered mills), it contained all of the natural protein and fat of the kernel.

This recipe is one that I’ve developed on my own. It’s a blend of several recipes that I’ve worked on over the years. It combines a pain de mie recipe, a no-knead recipe that I love, and the “beginner’s loaf”  from a book of Chris’s, Bread Alone. It’s the culmination of about 20 years of practice, learning, failures, successes, and surprises as I learned enough about bread baking to casually consider teaching myself to use a wood fired beehive oven at the Fort.

This is not an easy recipe. It is a simple recipe, however. The beginner bread recipe I mention above is the best place to go for instructions on how to bake bread. If you do what the authors tell you, you will eventually make amazing loaves of bread, every time. It will take a few years of practice, though, and you will probably make up new swear words as you go along. This recipe here, is not as difficult as the beginner loaf, but will not teach you as much about baking as you make it. I heartily encourage you to make it entirely by hand at least a half dozen to a dozen times before indulging in the use of a MixMaster or other bread making machine. Getting your hands onto fresh dough is good for you mentally, and the resulting bread will feed you physically and spiritually. There’s definitely something “more than human” about creating a loaf of bread.

Allyson’s Weekly Bread Loaf

Ingredients:

• 2-1/4 cups warm water
• 1 tbsp dry active yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp salt
• 2 cups bread flour
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• semolina flour OR corn meal (for scoring the bread)
• no-stick spray OR parchment paper

In a large bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together the water, yeast, sugar, olive oil, salt, and the 2 cups of bread flour. Use a whisk or wooden spoon to mix together well. The water should be slightly warmer than skin temperature, but not hot. Allow the batter to sit until slightly bubbly (about 5 to 20 minutes, depending on the temperature and moisture of the room).

Using either a stand mixer with a bread hook, or a wooden spoon, add in the remaining four cups of flour (2 cups whole wheat and 2 cups all purpose) a quarter cup at a time, mixing well as you go. The last cup or so should be added in very slowly, as sprinkles of a tablespoon or so at a time, and you may not use all of it. Mix with your wooden spoon until you just can’t anymore, and then knead by hand in the bowl.

If you’re using the stand mixer and bread hook, add in a quarter cup of flour at a time until the dough forms into a tight ball. If the dough is still very wet and sticking a lot to the bottom of the bowl, add in more flour a tablespoon at a time.

Once the bulk of the flour has been added, take the bread out of the bowl and begin kneading it on a kneading board or formica counter top. Describing kneading in text is not easy, so I’ll refer you to my absolute favorite dough kneader: the Tasteless Baker. Go watch it. No, really. You’ll be glad you did, even if you never make the bread.

Your finished dough will take anywhere from 5 minutes (with the stand mixer) to 20 minutes (by hand) to form up. The finished dough should have a slightly tacky feel to it, and if you grasp it or stick a finger gently into the mass, it should spring back almost immediately. Place the finished dough back into a lightly oiled bowl (you can use the mixing bowl if you like, provided there isn’t a lot of loose flour in it). Let the dough rise until doubled in size, anywhere from 1 hour to 4 hours.

If your house is very cold (because you use A/C, or because you’re trying this in the dead of winter), use a big box over the top of your bowl. I have a plant mat (a low heat mat that is meant to encourage root growth in seedlings) that I place under a cooling rack, and then I put my bowl of dough on top of that. I cover the dough bowl with a plastic grocery bag, but you can also use saran wrap, wax paper, tin foil, or any number of other coverings. The optimal temperature for rising this kind of dough is between 68 and 72 degrees Fahrenheit.

When the dough has risen, uncover it and punch it down. Pull it free of the sides of the bowl and place it on a clean, flat surface. Formica countertops work wonderfully, or a warmed granite board will also work. Knead the dough for a few seconds, and then cut it in half. Set half aside, covered. I usually place it on a lightly floured surface and flip the bowl over it to keep it moist.

Using a rolling pin, roll out your dough until it is about a quarter to half inch thick, even, and about the width of the loaf pan you’ll be baking in. Fold over the edge nearest you to provide a straight line across, use the rolling pin over the dough a little to make sure it’s got no major bubbles, and then begin to actually hand roll the dough toward you, from the top edge. Press gently with fingers and palms as you roll, so that you don’t leave any air bubbles inside between the layers. Once you have the roll complete, pinch the seam (which should be fairly straight, thanks to the fold you did earlier) to seal it shut. Seal shut the ends of the roll as well, firmly. Place the loaf into a greased or parchment lined loaf pan with the seam down and cover. Repeat with the second loaf.

I prefer to bake these loaves in ceramic or stone containers, as I think it makes for a better crust. However, you can use regular loaf pans, or even form rounds and bake them in cast iron pots. For rounds, simply make a ball out of half of the dough by scooping under it with the sides of your hands, and turning it. Make sure to pinch together the bottom, so that it doesn’t come apart when rising the second time. Place rounds onto parchment paper inside the container you’ll be cooking them in, and cover.

Allow the loaves to rise until about doubled in size, which will be about the same amount of time it took to double the first time. You can cover them with a box again if your home is cold.

When the loaves are the right size, preheat your oven to 375F. Have a small metal bowl in the bottom of the oven, preheating along with the oven. When it’s at temperature, bring your loaves to the oven. Add two or three ice cubes to the small metal bowl right before putting your bread in. The steam they produce will make for a nice, chewy crust.

Each loaf should be scored, or cut, before baking. This prevents it from ripping during the rising process. Rounds generally get three or five slashes from the center outward, but you can be as creative as you like. Loaves get scored down the length or across the width, depending on your preference. Use a very sharp razor blade on the dough, after dusting the top of it liberally with semolina flour (this lets the knife cut the dough more smoothly, making it much prettier). The semolina flour can be brushed off after baking!

Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes, give or take (check after 25 minutes, and then at five minute intervals after). The loaf should sound hollow when tapped, and the color should be brown or golden.

​Allow to cool on racks for at least 30 minutes before cutting. Bread continues to bake after coming out of the oven!

Notes:

This recipe makes a nice bread for toasting and sandwiches. If you’ve kneaded it long enough and used at least 1/3 of a good quality bread flour (which has high gluten content), you will get a springy, soft, delicious center that doesn’t crumble. If it’s crumbly, you may not have had enough water in it, or too much flour (same thing, really), or you could have baked it a bit long. You also may not have kneaded it long enough. Experiment, and make minor changes.

I highly recommend a notebook to keep notes on all your bread baking adventures. As you play with bread, you’ll begin to make small changes. You’ll understand the term “knead until silky smooth” even though I did not use that term in this recipe (I hated that term when I was learning baking, because you cannot possibly understand it until you’ve done it). Each change should be logged, because eventually you’ll end up with a brand new recipe that is yours, and yours alone. Then you can share it with others, as I’ve done with this! Also, you may change your recipe, and then decide to go back to a previous one for whatever reason. That’s much easier when you can look it up.