Friday, January 27, 2023

New "Let Time Do The Work" Bread recipe

 THIS IS A 2023 UPDATE TO PRIOR VERSIONS OF
MIKE'S "LET TIME DO THE WORK" 
BREAD RECIPES POSTED HERE

The ingredients in this sample loaf were weighed on a digital kitchen scale:

16 oz filtered, tepid water

1 tsp Fleishmann's Active Dry Yeast

20 oz King Arthur Bread flour

1 tbs Morton's Kosher salt

Additional 1-2 tbs flour and 1 tbs corn meal for the counter

Here are the steps, including timing and temperatures:

8:15pm Add the 4 ingredients to a 4 qt plastic container, in the order given above.

8:17pm Stir with spoon about 20 turns, until the mixture is shaggy, as shown.

8:20pm Cover the container loosely and place in a quiet place to ferment/rise until at least it is at least 3 qts volume. That can range from 4-12 hours at your convenience. 

(In this case we left it overnight, about 7.5 hours at a room temperature of about 62-65° F)

Here it is almost finished rising (proofing) and is about ready to handle:










OVERNIGHT

6:00am Sprinkle 2-3 tbs of flour and 1 tbs of corn meal on a clean counter. Work the dough out of the container gently and tip it out onto the counter.

(This 4-photo sequence is from a different loaf when I had a photographer handy)


6:05am Form the dough into an oval or tubular shape. A flat bench scraper can help at this stage 

(I used a plastic divider from my refrigerator door until finally I got a scraper as a gift)

Stretch the tube and fold the ends over themselves, forming a ball. 

Set the open ends down on the counter, with the folded part up, and allow to rest 5-10 minutes. 

6:15am Repeat the shaping and folding. This process builds up tension in the dough which results in more lift to the loaf as it bakes, but may give also the loaf a slightly oval shape. 

6:20am Place the dough into an oiled bowl or floured banneton. Clean up all the flour on the counter with the scraper and sprinkle it on top of the dough.

(A Banneton is a basket made of coiled rattan; it may have a canvas insert as shown here on the left) 

Put the dough in a quiet, draft-free place for the second rise. I normally use my second oven for this, and I use the plain basket as a cover for the one holding the dough.

7:00am Place the cast iron Dutch oven and its cover into the oven. Heat oven to 450° F for 20 minutes.

7:20am When the dough has risen sufficiently (60-90 minutes) and the top appears taut, prepare to roll the dough ...

into another identical bowl to get the loose, seam side UP and the taut side DOWN. 

7:22am Remove the cast iron Dutch oven pan from the 450° F oven and place on a heat-resistant surface (I use my cooktop burner surface or 3-4 hot pads).  Remove the lid and place it nearby on a heat-resistant surface.

7:23am Gently roll the dough into the heated cast iron Dutch oven so the taut side is UP. Shake the pot gently to center the dough in the bottom 

(I failed to do that with this sample and the loaf is slightly out of round)

7:24am Immediately place the hot lid onto the Dutch oven pan, and return it to the heated oven. 

(It is possible to score the top with a razor blade or cut it with kitchen shears to get an impressive crack, but the technique is troublesome to perfect and a bit dangerous, so I normally don't do it.)

Set a timer for 15 minutes. 

7:40am When the time goes off, remove the lid from the Dutch oven -- the loaf should resemble this:



Turn the oven temperature down to 385° F. Close door and set timer for 20 minutes.

8:00am When timer goes off, the loaf will have been in the oven 35-40 minutes. It should be browning and rigid. 


Carefully tip the loaf out of the Dutch oven and place the loaf back on the rack. Set timer for another 20 minutes.

8:30am Check the loaf. Give it a few more minutes until it is darker, harder and lighter (you can tell by lifting it or sliding it on the rack). 

If you remove the loaf too soon, the inside will be sticky and fail to dry out. 

Remove from the oven and turn the oven OFF.



8:40am Place the loaf on a rack which is raised a few inches at least from the surface under it. The objective now is to let the moisture escape from the loaf as it cools. Leave it there 10-15 minutes.

(Don't put it on a wood table as I did for the photo)


8:50am Put the loaf back in the oven and leave the door slightly open. The additional warmth from the oven will continue drying out the loaf gradually. 

If you close the oven door, the loaf will become soft and soggy from moisure which cannot escape.


10:00am The bread is cool and ready to cut. It should crackle and throw off lots of crumbs when you cut into the crust. The top should be crunchy and the center chewy. Add butter and jam if you wish.

The loaf will soften through the course of the day or so that you have before it gets tough. Good eating!








Friday, June 1, 2018

Let Time Do the Work Bread

This is my favorite bread recipe. I have been baking it for over 15 years, and have refined the process so it's as easy as possible and tasty.

NOTE: I have been asked many times - no it's not gluten-free and no it's not whole wheat. Those types of bread require entirely different formula and process. 

Here's a visual I have on my refrigerator to explain how bread is created!

This will make one large loaf or two small ones


Here is the equipment that I use


Here are the ingredients - I prefer Kosher salt as it's consistent in saltiness


Put luke-warm water in the bowl and sprinkle yeast on top 


Just dump in the flour and add the Salt last - don't forget it or leave it out


Stir with a spoon about 25 turns. It will look like this


Now cover with a damp towel and step away from the bowl 
Leave it for 4-18 hours as your schedule permits
It should look like this


Pour it out of the container onto a floured counter


Gently shape it into a ball or roll


Put into a greased bread pan or round bowl (your choice)


Cover again carefully and leave about 75-90 minutes to rise
The top should be taut and stretching against the top surface


You have to watch it - if it goes too high or looks flabby, it will fall during baking
These are TOO high, they have over-risen


Preheat oven to 450 F for 15 minutes
Put the bread in the oven and turn down the heat to 380-400 F
Bake for 55-65 minutes - as long as you dare!
It should look like this


Best of luck - keep practicing; baking IS Rocket Science


I also bake bread like this















I love to bake bread

OLIVE BREADSTICKS

My wife and I watched the Great British Bakeoff master class on television. I liked what I saw, so I chose an olive breadstick as my first trial, to see if I could replicate it. Here's my American version:

Make dough for 32-36 sticks: 

1200g bread flour
  800 ml water
    20g salt
    20g yeast 



Mix in large glass bowl for 10 mins using mixer with dough hook 


Pour in 4 tablespoons of olive oil


Gently add in 400g small pitted green olives


Divide into two batches and proof for 1 hr in shallow rectangular plastic bin


When doubled or more in size, gently pour out on generously floured board


Stretch into a rectangle without pressing down on the dough


Cut strips one olive wide about 8-10" long (a bit crooked is ok for the artisanal look)


Place on parchment paper covered baking sheet - about 6-8 on each baking sheet 


Bake at 425° F for 15-18 minutes


Cool on a rack


Serve as you wish








New "Let Time Do The Work" Bread recipe

 THIS IS A 2023 UPDATE TO PRIOR VERSIONS OF MIKE'S "LET TIME DO THE WORK"  BREAD RECIPES POSTED HERE The ingredients in this s...