Healthy Home-made Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes – Couldn’t be easier

A few years ago we started making our own bread. One reason for this is that we are eating more and more organic foods and growing our own vegies so making our own bread was just one more step towards knowing what we are eating. Commercial bread is full of additives and preservatives. However, we know exactly what goes into our bread.

The bread recipe we use is from the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking recipe book by Jeff Her€ber and Zoe Francois, which is available in both hard copy and kindle. We have both, but I like to work from the Kindle app on the iPad .

The book has around 100 recipes so that you can make different kinds of bread but we generally make the basic dough mix which makes enough for four 1 pound loaves. Although you can double or halve the recipe to suit your family’s requirements, we find that the standard recipe works well for two to four people.

It may look like a lot of steps but it’s not really. Once you have made your first loaf yo will see just how easy it is to make and it’s delicious.

Master Recipe for 5 Minute Artisan Bread:

Ingredients:

Master Recipe for 5 Minute Artisan Bread:

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Ingredients

  

• 3 cups lukewarm water
• 1½ tbs granulated yeast equivalent to 2 packets.I no longer use packet yeast but loose yeast granuals
• 1½ tbs Kosher salt or other coarse salt
• 6½ cups flour unsifted, unbleached, all-purpose (not strong)

Instructions

 

• Bread Making Ingredients
  
• Preparing the Dough for Storage
• Warm the water slightly. It should feel just a little warmer than body temperature. Warm water will rise the dough to the right point for storage in about 2 hours. With cold water it will need 3-4 hours.
• Add the yeast to the water in a 5 quart bowl or, preferably, in a resealable, lidded (not airtight) plastic food container or food-grade bucket. I use a large Tupperware rectangular modular mate contain.
  
• Don’t worry about getting all the yeast to dissolve.
• Yeast Added to the Warm Water
  
• Measure the flour by gently scooping it with the measuring cup, then sweeping the top level with a knife or spatula. Don’t press down into the flour as you scoop or you’ll throw off the measurement. Use Scoop & Sweep Method
  
• Stir the flour and salt into the yeast mixture – kneading is unnecessary.
  
• Mixing the bread dough
  
• Mix with a wooden spoon, a high-capacity food processor (14 cups or larger) fitted with the dough attachment, or a heavy duty stand mixer fitted with the dough hook until the mixture is uniform. I have used both my KitchenAid and my Cuisinart hand mixer for this and both work admirably.
• If you’re hand mixing and it becomes too difficult to incorporate all the flour with the spoon, you can reach into your mixing vessel with very wet hands and press the mixture together. Don’t knead, it isn’t necessary. You know the dough is ready when everything is uniformly moist, without any dry patches. It takes a few minutes, and will yield a dough that is wet and loose enough to conform to the shape of its container.
• Put the dough aside to allow it to rise. Cover with lid (I just sit the lid on top of the container and don’t seal it otherwise it could explode from the trapped gases). Allow the mixture to rise at room temperature until it begins to collapse (or at least flattens on the top), approx 2 hours, depending on room temperature, and initial water temperature. It doesn’t really matter how long it takes as longer rising times, up to 5 hours, won’t harm the result.
  
• You can use a portion of the dough any time after this period. Fully refrigerated dough is less sticky and easier to work with than dough at room temperature.
• On Baking Day:
• You can bake this bread in a prepared loaf tin, tray, or whatever you’ choose to bake it in or on. I simply use a Pizza Stone . Sprinkle the surface of your refrigerated dough with four. Pull up and cut of a grapefruit-size piece of dough (approximately 1 lb), using a serrated knife.
• Hold the dough in your hands and add a little more flour as needed so it doesn’t stick to your hands. Gently stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all 4 sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go. Most of the dusting flour will fall off – that’s fine, it isn’t meant to be incorporated. The bottom of the loaf may appear to be a collection of bunched ends, but it will sort itself out during resting and baking.
• Stretch the bread dough by pulling it out and folding it underneath itself. Do this a few times.
  
• The correctly shaped final product will be smooth and cohesive. The entire process should take no more than 30-60 seconds.
• Form the bread into a roll
  
• Rest the loaf and let it rise in the form, on the tray/pizza peel, for about 40 minutes. I use a small round board sprinkled with Polenta, which I find helps stops the dough sticking and helps it to easily come free when transferring it to the pizza plate.Depending on the age of the dough, you may not see much rise during this period. That’s fine, more rising will occur during baking.
• Twenty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 450°F Place an empty broiler tray for holding water on any other shelf that won’t interfere with the rising bread.
• Dust and Slash. Dust the top of the loaf liberally with flour, which will allow the slashing knife to pass without sticking. Slash a quarter inch deep cross, diagonal lines, or tic-tac-toe pattern on top using a serrated knife.
• Bread dough floured and slashed
  
• After a 20 min preheat you’re ready to bake, even though the oven thermometer won’t be at full temperature yet. Put your loaf in the oven. Pour about 1 cup of hot water (from the tap) into the broiler tray and close the oven to trap the steam.
• Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the crust is nicely browned and firm to the touch.
  
• Eat with your favorite topping – yummo