Category: Overnight Rise

Week 106: Couronne Bordelaise

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If Pain de Campaigne (Week 59) is the king of breads, then the Couronne Bordelaise is most definitely the queen. It’s easier to make than it looks so give it a try! Professionals use a special basket to shape the crown, but you can make one at home with a 9″ cake pan and very small heat-proof bowl/ramekin.

Day 1: Make dough

  • 340g bread flour
  • 40g whole wheat flour
  • 4g sugar
  • 7g salt
  • 1/4 tsp yeast
  • 300g room temperature water
  • 15g olive oil
  • (additional ingredients below)
  1. In a large bowl, whisk flours with sugar, salt and yeast to combine.
  2. Add water and olive oil and mix thouroughly, so there are no dry bits left. You can use your hands, a dough whisk, or the handle of a wooden spoon.
  3. Scrape sides down to clean it off and incorporate all the dough into one place. It’s very wet and sticky, so that’s fine.
  4. Cover, and let rest overnight.
2 Tbsp flour
Flatten, and put some flour on top
Fold and roll kneading
Shape into a ball

Next Day

  1. Scrape dough out of bowl into a very well floured surface, about 2 level tablespoons worth.
  2. Knead to incorporate flour into the dough so that it’s not as sticky and easier to work with, using a bench scraper if it starts sticking to the counter.
  3. Seperate dough into into seven pieces, six weighing 110g and one a bit larger, weighing 124. (Total weight should be around 784g.)
  4. Shape pieces into a ball by flattening them out, then folding the edges up over towards the middle. Turn over and shape into a ball. (See video page for a visual)
  5. Cover the six smaller ones so they don’t dry out.
  6. Flatten the larger ball and roll out to an 9″ disc. Dust with flour if necessary if it is sticking to the countertop.
  7. Brush outer edge with oil so that it won’t stick to the dough balls
7 pieces of dough
Press out to flatten
Lift sides and fold over
Turn over and shape
Roll out to 9″
Brush edge with olive oil
  1. Prepare the cake pan:
    • Place a heat proof glass bowl/small ramekin in the center of the cake pan.
    • Coat a tea towel with flour and rub it in.
    • Drape the tea towel over the ramekin, into the cake pan.
  2. Drape the dough disc over the ramekin as evenly as possible. You want a good amount of dough to be on the bottom so that it covers well the dough balls.
  3. Place the dough balls around in a ring evenly spaced, seam side up.
  4. Cut across the top of the dough that is stretch over the ramekin, then cut 2 more lines to create 6 triangles.
  5. Fold the triangles back over onto the dough balls.
  6. Cover and let rest about 30 – 60 minutes until dough balls have expanded and puffed.
  7. Meanwhile preheat oven to 450 degrees.
I missed one – make sure you cut 6 triangles!

Bake

egg white, salt, herbs de provence, sesame seeds

  1. Beat the egg white with 1 Tbsp water and a pinch of salt
  2. Place parchment paper over the dough, then the baking sheet (I use a10-1/2″ iron skillet) and flip. Remove the tea towel and ramekin.
  3. Brush tops with the egg white wash, then sprinkle with the herbs de provence and sesame seeds
  4. Bake for about 30 minutes, until golden brown, and 190 degrees inside.

This video shows how to shape the crown once you’ve made the dough

Week 103: Do Nothing Sourdough

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Move over no-knead bread, there’s a new sheriff in town: Yohan Ferrant, developer of the do-nothing method.

Back in November of 2006, The New York Times published The Secret of Great Bread: Let Time Do the Work by Mark Bittman, celebrating Jim Lahey’s “no-knead” method. It was modified here with new measurements and then, in May 2021, Kenji Lopez-Alt’s version, Updated No-Knead Bread Recipe was published along with a really informative article, How The No-Knead Bread Recipe Changed Baking.

There hasn’t been as much fan-fare around Yohan Ferrant’s do-nothing method, and I couldn’t find an original posting from him, just a lot of chatter about it on baking blogs. So, I checked out his Instagram feed, and finally came across a reel of him demonstrating how to make it. I’m listing the ingredients, but not a lot of detailed instructions, because, well, there aren’t any! Just mix, rest and bake!

Instagram link here.

Place a bowl on your scale and add ingredients in the order listed below.

  • 6g salt
  • 255g water
  • 90g sourdough starter (levain)
  • 350g flour (I used 325g bread flour + 25g whole wheat flour)

Mix with the handle of a wooden spoon, scrape sides down, flatten with wet fingertips, then cover and let rest for 12 ~ 24 hours, or until doubled in size and bubbly on top. The temperature of the room makes a difference, if it is 70 degrees, or thereabouts, it should take about 14 hours.

I like to put the dough into a straight-sided container, because then it is easier to tell when it has doubled in size.

9:00 AM
7:00 PM
11:00 PM

Shape dough by lifting a side, stretching it out a bit and folding it over. Flip it, then round it into a ball. I let mine rest overnight in the fridge, because I was ready for bed.

.He puts his directly in the baking receptacle , then straight into a pre-heated oven. Bake at 450 for 20 minutes, then 20 more uncovered.

Week 97: Pan co’Santi

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ITALY: Just when I think I’ve settled on my favorite loaf, another one comes along that moves it down to second place. This Italian sweet(ish) bread is tradionally made around All Saints’ Day during October and November. It’s packed with raisins and walnuts (the Saints) and flavored with cinnamon, black pepper and red wine. Serve it with a green salad, some cheese, a vin santo, and call it dinner!

Step 1: Make dough

  • 400 g bread flour
  • 25g sugar
  • 7g salt
  • 2g cinammon
  • 3/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon yeast
  • 125g raisins
  • 150g chopped walnuts (they taste better if you toast them, but it’s optional)
  • 125g water
  • 75g red wine (like a Cabernet Sauvignon)
  • 50g  extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 egg yolk for brushing on surface just prior to baking
  1. In a med-large bowl, measure the flour, sugar, salt, spices and yeast together and whisk well to combine.
  2. Add the raisins and mix with the whisk, breaking up any clumps
  3. Measure the water, wine and oil into a separate container and stir to mix.
  4. Add to the flour.
  5. Mix with one hand until a soft, but fairly stiff dough forms. You don’t want any dry bits of flour. If it doesn’t come together fairly quickly, after about a minute, then make sure you’ve poured in everything from the container that had the water/wine/oil, and add just 1 Tbsp of water. That should do the trick. Don’t worry about any bits of flour stuck in the walnuts, it’ll get absorbed.
  6. Scrape off any bits that are on your hand into the bowl. Pat it down so the surface is fairly flat, i.e. not a ball.
  7. Cover and let rest at room temperature overnight, 12 – 16 hours.

Step 2: Shape and proof

  1. Next day, remove dough from bowl and do some stretch & fold kneading. It’s a tight dough, so it won’t stretch a whole lot.
  2. Flip it over and let rest 2 hours in a warm place
  3. Remove the dough ball onto an oiled countertop.
  4. Stretch the sides out, then fold over into the middle. Turn over and shape into a ball. Place on a baking sheet, cover and let rest another 1 hour.
  5. Preheat oven to 350°F.

Step 3: Bake

  1. Brush with a beaten egg yolk, then score with a cross.
  2. Bake 50 minutes until dark brown and glossy.
  3. Remove the bread from the oven and let it cool thoroughly. It’s best if you can wait a day before opening.

Week 96: 100% Whole Wheat Boule

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It’s a challenge to make 100% whole-grain bread. Whole wheat and rye flours do not have the same gluten content as white (all purpose or bread) flour, so the doughs don’t tend to rise as high, resulting in a heavy, dense loaf. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but isn’t always what I’m looking for. I found a method for making a 100% whole wheat sandwich loaf (Week 21: 100% Whole Wheat) that’s soft and squishy, but it requires a lot of kneading.

I found hundreds of recipes for 100% whole wheat, no-knead bread, and they are identical but for one thing. They all call for the same amount of flour, water and salt, but that’s where the similarities ended: the yeast measurements range from 1/4 teaspoon all the way up to 2.

I started with the one that had the most yeast (2 teaspoons), hoping that would make for a nice rise. Turns ot the amount of yeast doesn’t really effect how high the dough rises so much as it effects how long it takes for the dough to rise. The bread was ready in a day, had a nice rise, but not a lot of flavor. Next, I tried a version with just a 1/4 tsp yeast, and extended the rise time from overnight to 4 days: 12 hours at room temperature, then 2~3 days in the fridge. The rise was acheived, and the bread was more complex.

The takeaway? If a recipe calls for an overnight rise, and more than 1/2 tsp of yeast, don’t make it. If you use too much yeast, the protiens can’t keep up during the long rise time and it looses the bubbles and ability to rise.

Ingredients

  • 1/4 tsp yeast
  • 3 Tbsp brown sugar
  • 1-3/4 cups water + 1/4 cup orange juice, at 95 degrees
  • 3 Tbsp melted butter
  • 480g whole wheat flour (bolt it, then save to dust on top of bread before scoring)

Day 1 Saturday

  1. Measure yeast, brown sugar, water/orange juice into a large bowl. Stir to combine.
  2. Add melted butter and stir.
  3. Add flour, then mix with the handle of a wooden spoon until it is all incorporated.
  4. Clean off the the sides of the bowl with a bowl scraper, and then mix the dough by scopping a side from the bottom and lifting it up over the top. Rotate around the bowl until it’s well mixed and dough is becoming a little smoother.
  5. Cover and let rest at room temperature overnight for 12 hours.

Day 2 Sunday

  • 1-1/2 tsp salt
  1. Next day, sprinkle the salt over the top of the dough.
  2. Push the salt into the dough with wet fingertips, then put your fingers under a portion of the dough, lift it, then fold it over the top. Go around the bowl so that the salt is in now fully covered with the dough.
  3. Squeeze dough with your fingers and thumb to finish mixing in the salt, until you no longer feel any granuals, or for about 30 seconds.
  4. Cover and let rest 15 minutes.
  1. You’re now going to do a series of “bowl folds” and resting periods. Write down the start time of this process, and each time you do a bowl fold so that you don’t lose track. (View the Stretch and Fold video under the heading “Kneading During Proofing” on the Video page for a visual.)
    • With wet fingertips, separate a side portion of dough away from the bowl.
    • Holding it with fingers and thumb, lift and stretch it up a few inches, then fold it over to the opposite side.
    • Go all around the bowl until you get to where you started. By the end of a round it shold be a little tighter, and harder to stretch as much.
    • With both hands, use fingers to lift entire dough up and flip over.
    • Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
    • Repeat this for a total of 4 bowl folds and 4 stretch and folds, 2 hours rest time total.
  1. Now it’s time for one envelope fold.
    1. Remove dough from bowl onto a lightly oiled surface.
    2. Press into a rectangle
    3. Fold right side over, halfway, then the left side over that.
    4. Fold the top down, then the bottom up over that.
    5. Return to bowl, seam side down.
  2. Cover and let rest for 2~3 days, this time in the fridge.

Last Day

  1. Remove dough from fridge, and use your bowl scraper to gently scrape the dough from the bowl onto a lightly floured countertop,
  2. Pick up a side and pull it over to the middle. Continue all the way around. You’ve now got a circle of dough with flour on both sides, and no flour in the middle.
  1. Turn over and shape into a ball, tightening the top as you go, on an unfloured surface. See “High-hydration Boule and Batard” instructions on the Video page.
  2. Place in proofing basket lined with a floured cloth, smooth side down.
  3. Cover and let rest for about 1-2 hours, until it is room temperature and has risen a bit.
  4. Cut a sling out of parchment paper (see photo below) to fit the container.
  5. Place aheavy-duty oven-proof pot with lid inside the oven and preheat to 475 degrees.
  6. Remove pot from over, lift dough inside, cover and bake at 450 (turn temperatre down) for 20 minutes.
  7. Remove lid and bake at 400 (turn temperature down) for 25-30 minutes.
Parchment paper bread sling

Delayed Salt Method: Delayed salt allows natural, or biological, development of a part of the amino acids in gluten, called cystein, to occur, which can’t happen in the presence of salt. It’s a very simple way to improve your breadmaking, no matter how you choose to make bread. It’s particularly useful when making bread by hand, but is also commonly used when a mixer is employed.

Week 89: Honey Buttered Oat Sourdough

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This recipe comes our way via Gina Tan, who runs a bakery out of her home in Singapore, “Baking With Gina“. Lucky for us she also has many bread recipes on her blog here. This one is unique and delicious, as I’m sure they all are. The instructions are a little vague, so I’ve written them down with more detail in case you’re new to baking. Here’s the original recipe, if not.

This bake is a 3-day affair, if you count feeding your sourdough the night before. Resting periods while dough goes through it’s various proofing stages is 6 hours, and then there’s an overnight rest in the fridge.

Sourdough Loaf
Sourdough Crumb

Step 1: Feed starter the night before. You’ll need 50g of active starter for the bread.

Step 2: Prepare oats

  • 10g unsalted butter
  • 35g oats
  • 75g milk
  • 45g water
  • 15g honey
  1. Melt butter, add oats, and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often. The oats will get nice and brown – but you don’t want them to burn.
  2. Turn off heat, and let cool for just a little bit. If you add the liquid when the pan is super hot, it’ll all evaporate before having a chance to cook the oats.
  3. Add the milk, water and honey. Stir to combine and cook on low heat until thickened and oats are cooked.
  4. Turn off heat and transfer to a bowl. Cover until ready to use so it doesn’t dry out.
Toast the oats in butter
Oats mixed with milk, water and honey

Step 3: Make dough

  • 200g bread flour
  • 25g all-purpose flour
  • 25g semolina flour
  • 175g water
  1. Measure flours into a med-large bowl and whisk to combine.
  2. Add water then mix with the handle of a wooden spoon until there are no dry bits left.
  3. Scrape sides down.
  4. Cover and let rest 90 minutes
  • 50g starter
  1. Add starter to the dough and with a wet hand, squeeze dough with your fingers and thumb to mix. You don’t want to squeeze the dough through your fingers, or use your entire hand, just your fingers. When dough starts to stick to your fingers, wet them again.
  2. Scrape dough off sides, cover and let rest 30 minutes.
  • 5g salt
  • oat mixture
  1. Add salt and oats, and mix to combine. If you have a rectangular container, transfer dough to that for the rest of the resting/kneading steps.
  2. Cover, and let rest 30 minutes. Total resting time so far is 1 hour.

Step 4: Knead and Proof

  1. Stretch and fold*, cover and rest 30 minutes
  2. Lamination**, cover and rest for 30 minutes
  3. Coil folds***, cover and rest for 30 minutes.
    • 2nd coil fold and 30 minute rest
    • 3rd coil fold and 30 minute rest
    • 4th coil fold
  4. Cover and let rest for 1 hour. Total resting time is 6 hours.

Step 5: Shape and proof overnight

  1. Shape the dough, then place in a lined & floured container for 20 minutes.
  2. Cover then place in fridge for an overnight rest.

(Next day) Step 6: Bake

  1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees, and place a Dutch oven with lid instead to heat up along with the oven.
  2. Score top of loaf.
  3. Bake, covered, at 475 for 20 minutes
  4. Uncover and bake at 450 for 20 minutes
  5. Cool completely before slicing.

*Gluten development: Stretch & Fold

**Gluten development: Laminating

***Gluten development: Coil Fold

Week 86: Tartine’s Country Loaf

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I went straight to the source to learn how to make a San Francisco sourdough, Tartine’s iconic Country Loaf. This bread has only three ingredients: flour, water and salt, and although I’ve baked a loaf a week, for the last 86 weeks, it still amazes me how something so simple can taste so good. The recipe is published on their website here, and it’s a good place to start if you don’t already have a sourdough starter (levain) going.

I actually found the first couple of steps a little confusing, and only wanted to make one loaf. So, I simplified the method for starting off, cut the recipe in half, and am sharing some steps that helped me but weren’t in the original instructions. And maybe it’s sacrilege, but I used a stand mixer. Think about it: the bakers in Tartine are using large professional mixers, so why can’t we?

San Francisco sourdough has a unique taste that we might not be able to replicate 100% outside of the region (turns out it’s because of local bug poop, not the local bacteria), but this is a close second.

Note: Many bakers, me inclued, prefer to use a square or rectangular container for dough resting. Most people use plastic, but I find that the light plastic lifts when you lift the dough, so I’ve switched to glass. For this amount of dough, an 8 x 8 square of 9 x 13 rectangle works.

Step 1: Feed your starter so it is ripe and ready to go. I always feed mine the night before and leave it out on the counter. If it’s really warm (over 72 degrees), it could over-ripen, so it might be better to feed it first thing in the morning so that you can monitor it.

Step 2: Make dough

  • 350g warm water (about 90 degrees)
  • 100 grams active sourdough
  1. Measure water into the bowl of a stand mixer. It’s important to use warm water, which helps to achieve a nice sour taste.
  2. Add starter. If it floats in the water, it’s good! (If you mix your starter, so that it deflates, then it won’t float in the water. So, just spoon it out, and drop it in the water until you have 100g worth.)
  3. Mix with a whisk to combine well.
  • 450g bread flour
  • 50g whole wheat flour
  1. Add the flours to the water and mix on low speed (#1) for 2 minutes, scraping down sides with a rubber spatula to get the flour thoroughly incorporated.
  2. Lift hook out, scrape dough bits off and add them to the bowl.
  3. Cover with tea towel and let rest in a warm place for 45 minutes.
  4. Rinse the dough hook off so it’s ready for the next step.
  • 10g salt
  • 25g warm water
  1. Add the water and salt then mix on low (#1) speed for 2 minutes.
  2. Stop to scrape the dough off the hook and the sides of the bowl to incorporate it all.
  3. Up the speed to med-low (#4) and mix for 2 more minutes.

Step 3: Proofing/Kneading

  1. Add a little oil to your container, enough to cover the bottom so the dough doesn’t stick.
  2. Empty the dough into the container, scraping sides of the bowl to get it all.

The dough is going to rest/proof for 2 hours while you peridically give it a few stretches to strengthen the gluten. See Tip #3: Kneading while Proofing on the Video page for tips on the stretch and fold method of kneading.

  1. Cover and rest for 30 minutes, then do a round of stretch and folds. You could do coil folds if you prefer, or 2 stretch and folds and 2 coil folds. I’m not very good at those.
    • Repeat this step 3 more times, for a total of 4 stretches and four 30-minute rests (2 hours resting time).
  2. Cover and rest for 1 hour. It should be nice and swollen by the time it’s ready to shape.

Step 4: Shaping

  1. Dust coutertop with flour.
  2. Tip the container over to release the dough onto the floured countertop.
  3. Shape (see video instruction below)
    • Lift the side closest to you, the bottom, and stretch it out and up, then fold it over on the dough.
    • Do the same with the right and left sides, pulling them out, then folding over onto the dough.
    • Then pull the top side up and out, and fold it down ontopof the ther folds.
    • Do a few “bakers stitching” down the middle.
    • Starting from the top, roll dough down to the end.
    • Leave as is for a batard, or shape into a boule.
    • Flip
    • Cup hands around dough and slide on countertop to make the surface even tighter.
  4. Place in a flour lined bannetton, seam side up.
  5. Cover and let proof in refridgerator overnight.
  • Rice flour

Step 5: Bake (next day)

  1. About 30 minutes before baking, place a Dutch oven with lid (or any heat-proof container) in the oven and heat it to 500 degrees.
  2. Once heated, remove dough from fridge, and cover with a parchment paper sling, then invert.
  3. Lift basket off of the dough.
  4. Dust tops with rice flour (stays white) and score with a sharp knife/razor blade.
  5. Remove hot container from oven, and place dough inside. Cover, then place in oven and reduce temperature to 450 degrees.
  6. Bake 20 minutes, then remove lid and bake for 20 more.
  7. Remove from pot then place in turned off oven to cool with the door open.

Below is a video of Chad Robertson, owner of Tartine Bakery in San Francisco, giving a class in Denmark. A little sourdough porn for ya.

Week 84: Rye Sourdough (35%)

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I’ve been working on making 100% rye bread, but have yet to make one that I thought was any good. And then it occurred to me that maybe I just don’t like bread made with only rye flour. I decided to nix that goal, and make a rye/wheat version. This loaf is only 35% rye, but the addition of the caraway seeds and barley malt syrup gives it a great flavor and I’m really happy with it.

I found this on the Foodgeek’s YouTube channel. He is one of my favorite bakers, and I highly recommend checking out his channel if you’re serious about learning how to bake good bread. He’s also got two great tutorials on scoring, so I’ve linked those as well.

I’ve listed the amounts of all the ingredients so you can have them at the ready and follow along with him in while watching the video that’s linked below. He makes two loaves; I’ve listed what you need for one and two. Because you need to activate your sourdough the night before, and the loaves have a final rest overnight in the fridge, this takes 3 days total.

1 LoafIngredients2 Loaves
260gBread Flour520g
180gWhite Rye Flour360g
40gDark Rye Flour80g
268gWater536g
80gStarter160g
10gMalt Syrup20g
8gSalt16g
5gCaraway Seeds10g

Tips:

  1. I only had white rye, so used whole wheat in place of the dark rye.
  2. I did not have bread flour, so measured out all purpose flour, took away 2 tablespoons and then added 2 tablespoons of vital wheat gluten.
  3. I used my stand mixer with the paddle attachment to mix the dough.
  4. I lightly oiled my countertop before shaping the dough. He doesn’t use flour to keep his dough from sticking, but I think his countertop is made from a material that is more of a non-stick surface. Mine is wood, so it needs flour, oil, or water. I didn’t want to be adding flour to the dough, so I used oil.
  5. I did 4 stretch and folds (with 30 minute rests after each one) just like he does. But then I did 2 coil folds after that, so my total rest period was an hour longer. See Video page for links to both methods.
  6. 20 grams of malt syrup is about 1 tablespoon, as is 10g caraway seeds.
  7. I mixed seame seeds in with the caraways seeds, mostly for looks.
  8. I forgot to add the seeds before placing the shaped dough in the proffing basket. If you need to add them after the dough’s been proofed, lightly spray the loaf with water, then add seeds, then score.

Week 83: Nutmeg Apple Bread

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This makes a nice change from cinnamon raisin bread. It’s based on King Arthur Baking’s version here, and I’ve made a few adjustments, and added some suggestions to avoid some of the problems I encountered when I made it first time around.

Continue reading “Week 83: Nutmeg Apple Bread” →

Week 81: Signature Loaf

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This is the perfect go-to bread for any occasion. It’s easy enough to be a weekly bake, and makes an impressive contribution to a shared meal. It’s got multiple grains and seeds for flavor, milk and butter for texture, and the overnight fermentation gives both the flavor and the texture an additional boost. If you’re looking for a single grain loaf, with a similar result, check out Week 62’s Low-Knead Bread. You won’t be disappointed!

Step 1: Make pre-ferment (overnight rest)

  • 340g room temp water
  • 3g yeast
  • 180g bread flour
  • 50g rye flour
  1. Mix the sponge ingredients with the handle of a wooden spoon until flour is thoroughly combined with the water.
  2. Cover, and let rest at room temperature, covered, for at least 4 hours, but preferabley overnight.

Step 2: Make dough (2 hour rest)

  • 12g salt
  • 4g sugar
  • 180g bread flour
  • 90g whole wheat flour
  • 30g dry whole milk powder
  • 30g softened butter (2 Tbsp)
  • 1 Tbsp each sesame, flax, hemp and chia seeds
  • 1/4 cup multi-grain cereal mix
  1. Combine the flours, sugar, salt and sesame seeds/multi-grain cereal mix into the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk to combine.
  2. Empty the biga into the bowl, scraping the sides tof the biga bowl to get it all.
  3. Mix until incorporated, with the handle of a wooden spoon, (or your hand, squeezing the dough between your fingers).
  4. Once it’s all mixed together, place bowl in machine, and knead with dough hook for 5 minutes on speed #2, adding the butter, one little chunck at a time.
  5. Stop to scrape down the sides and the dough hook. Make sure there’s no dry bits on the bottom.
  6. Knead for 5 more minutes, still on #2, until it is sticking to itself more than the bowl. It won’t totally clean off the sides of the bowl and be all stuck on the hook like some doughs.
  1. Scrape down sides with a bowl scraper, cover and let rest for 15 minutes.
  2. Turn out until a lightly oiled surface. Flatten out a bit, then fold sides over on itself towards the middle to form a circle. Turn over and shape into a ball.
  1. Place the dough in a greased bowl, seam side down, cover and let rest 30 minutes.
  2. Turn out until a lightly oiled surface. Flatten out a bit, Do two envelope folds/ First fold top third down, then bottom third over that. Then fold the left third over, and the right third over that.
  1. Return dough to the greased bowl, cover and let rise in a warm place 1-2 hours (if you kitchen is colder than 72 degrees, warm up an EMPTY microwave, then store it there), until doubled in size.

Step 3: Shape dough (1 hour rest)

  1. Turn the dough out onto a lightly oiled countertop, and gently press into a square.
  2. Flatten out a bit, then fold sides over on itself towards the middle to form a circle. Turn over and shape into a ball.
  3. Cup it with your hands and rotate, pulling the sides down a bit to make the surface taut.
  4. Then slide a bit to make the surface taut. See video for shaping dough on the Tips page.
  5. Lightly dust the surface, and smooth with your hand.
  6. Place dough ball, seam side down, into a lined banetton (or a bowl lined with a tea towel) that’s been dusted with flour. Pinch seams together to tighten.
  1. Cover and let rise for about 30 minutes to an hour. It will continue to rise in the oven, so this second rise does not need to be for as long as the first. Better to be slightly under-proofed, than over-proofed.
  2. Meanwhile, preheat over to 475 degrees, with a Dutch oven inside, and have at the ready a parchment paper sling.

Step 4: Bake dough

  1. Place a the parchment sling on top of the basket/bowl, and flip it over.
  2. Remove bowl from dough, scape off any excessive amounts of flour, and score.
  3. Remove pan from oven, and place dough inside. Cover and put in oven.
  4. Turn oven down to 450 degrees.
  5. Bake about 30 minutes, uncover and back 5 more, until crust is dark golden, and internal temperature is 190-200 degrees.
  6. Remove from pot, then place in turned off oven with door open so it can cool down in a dry place.
  7. Cool completely before slicing.

Week 79: Old Fashioned Country Loaf

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This is a large, heavy loaf that will satisfy you for a few days, and it makes a great contribution for a weekend getaway with friends and family. You can throw the ingredients together in the evening before bedtime, then bake it the next day, or start it it first thing in the morning, then bake in the evening. Made with whole grains (white, whole wheat and rye), it is definitely a bread to make again and again.

  • 480g bread flour
  • 1/4 c vital wheat gluten
  • 135g old-fashioned rolled oats
  • 75g whole wheat flour
  • 40g rye flour
  • 10g sugar
  • 12g salt
  • 1/2 tsp yeast
  • 5 Tbsp (70g) butter, softened
  • 510g water

Step 1: (Day 1) Make dough

  1. Place all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment.
  2. Mix to incorporate on the lowest speed, scraping down the sides to get the dry bits in, then mix for one minute on the fastest speed (it’s very fast!).
  3. Cover bowl and set aside to rise on the countertop for at least 8 hours, or up to 12.
Dough can rest in the mixing bowl
Overnight rise

Step 2 (Next day): Knead and shape

  1. Remove to a lightly floured work surface
  2. Sprinkle flour around the circle, then lift sides and scape the flour under.
  3. Pull sides out a bit to form a rectangle.
  4. Gently life the ride side, stretch it out a bit, then fold it over to the center.
  5. Repeat with the left side.
  6. Stretch the top end up and out a bit, then roll down. You don’t want to squish the air out, but you want it to be stable.
  7. Pull out the top end to fold over the side then tuck it under. See “How to shape a batard” video on the Tips page.
Dust around the circle with flour, then lift sides and scrape the flour under
Right side envelope fold
Left side envelope fold. Start the rolling at the top.
To cover the spiral, stretch out some of the top portion…
and fold it down over the spiral. Tuck it under the ball.
  1. Create a taught surface by cupping the dough with your hands and rotating it around while tucking under the sides.
  2. Flour a lined banatonne and place the dough in, seam side up. (I made the first version, pictured below, in a round basket, but the second time around I used an oval shape for easier slicing.
  3. Let rise 1~2 hours, or overnight in the fridge.
  • Cut a sling out of parchment paper. It’s a heavy dough, so I do a double sling.
  • Lay the sling down on top of the dough, then put a cutting board on top of that.
  • Flip, then remove the basket
  • very heavy very large need a sturdy sling
  • Baking times for Dutch ovens:
    • Use a cookie sheet on the bottom rack to deflect heat
    • If you don’t put it in cold, then bake at 475 for 25 minutes, take off top, and bake at 425 for 15 minutes more, or until it reaches 205 degrees.
    • From the fridge: Bake at 425 for 35 minutes covered, then 10 – 15 uncovered.
  • If kitchen really hot overnight: ferment it three hours and them put it in the fridge overnight.
  • Day of: Ferment 8 hours
  • Or you could increase the yeast a bit. This would shorten the rise time, and have only a slight affect on flavor and texture. I think if you use 1 teaspoon yeast (instead of 1/2 teaspoon) the first rise could be shortened to 4-5 hours. The second rise will also go quicker as well.
  • This recipe should fill two standard loaf pans, (8 1/2″ x 4 1/2″) and bake for 30-40 minutes or until the interior registers 190°F on an instant thermometer. Annabelle@KAF  375 degrees tent foil over the top during the first part of baking
  • make this in my 4.5 qt cast iron dutch oven. I let it rise for 12 hours at room temperature. then work it on a floured board and transfer it to a bowl lined with floured parchment paper for one hour. I preheat the oven to 450 degrees for about an hour. At the half hour mark I place the Dutch oven in the oven to preheat. Be careful pulling it outRead more about review stating I make this
  • as it is very hot. I transfer the dough to the dutch oven place the lid back on and bake for 25 minutes. I then remove the lid and bake an additional 12 minutes. I came up with these times though trial and error along with advice from King Arthur helpline. it comes lightly brown and crusty
  •  baked it in a 10″ dutch oven (50 min with lid on and 15 min with lid off — perfect!). I let it rise the first time about 18 hours at room temp
  • Or you could increase the yeast a bit. This would shorten the rise time, and have only a slight affect on flavor and texture. I think if you use 1 teaspoon yeast (instead of 1/2 teaspoon) the first rise could be shortened to 4-5 hours. The second rise will also go quicker as well.
  • 1 Tbs (15g) less water, halved the sugar, added to a preheated empty pot instead of cold start (parchment “sling” works great). The second time dough was easier to handle and bread had much betterRead more about review stating So good and so
  • oven spring, with an airier crumb.
  • The second thing you can try is to preheat your Dutch oven base (if the manufacturer says that’s OK) with the oven

https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/no-knead-oat-bread-recipe

 oven once it came to 205. This is a hit with the whole family and will definitely make again!