Yesterday, I embarked on what is “yet another” attempt to bake some bread. I have an affinity with bread making, yet it has always remained a somewhat elusive task. If success in bread baking is merely defined as getting the bread to rise, I have had perhaps 75% success rate. I’ve tried sandwich bread, sour dough, bagels, rye, whole wheat, et. al., ad nauseum. Although I have made plenty that are just OK, and definently not worth the day long effort that it takes. Forget about making some that is as good or better than what you could get in the bakery section of a supermarket or Panera/St. Louis Bread Co.
Let’s rewind a few months. I bought an incredible book called the Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum which is a beautiful book chock full of bread recipes and detailed explanations. I read all the instructional parts almost immediately, but got a bit overwhelmed by where to start. I wanted to make a hearth style, artisan, free form bread. Chewy, crusty, delicious bread. Nothing beats it. I’ve tried several recipes, some
have turned out just fine, and I have failed in others.
Anyway, so I decided to make something basic, rustic, hearth style. The recipe entitled “Basic Hearth Bread” sounded just about right. The basics are pretty easy. Make a sponge of white flour, whole wheat flour, honey, yeast, and water. Cover that with a “feed” of flour and yeast. This ferments for between one and four hours, which creates a sour taste, not nearly as sour as sourdough, but adds a lot of nice flavor (since the ingredients are pretty basic). I let mine go for four full hours, cause that’s how I roll. I then mixed the “feed” flour in by hand and kneaded it until it came together, then let rest for twenty minutes. This allows the moisture to become more evenly distributed and some of the glutens to develop. I followed this by ten more minutes of hand kneading. Then into my Cambro storage container which is perfect for rising dough. It’s much easier to see if the dough has doubled in a straight-sided container. Rise (1hr) , punch down, rise (1hr), punch down, shape into loaves, rise (1hr). Then mist with water, slash with razor, into the oven. You can see pictures of the whole process below. The results were the first bread that I’ve ever made that I can say is as good or better than bakery bread. The crumb was dense and chewy, with a rustic, slight sour flavor. The crust is not too hard or thick, and the interior soft. It was a labor, but the first time I felt very satisfed after finishing…it’s a great feeling.
