Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

Ratna Roy

3 years ago

3 cups lukewarm water (you can use cold water, but it will take the dough longer to rise. Just don’t use hot water or you may kill the yeast)

1 tablespoon granulated yeast (you can use any kind of yeast including instant, rapid rise, bread machine, active dry, or cake yeast)
2 teaspoons salt (adjust to suit your taste or eliminate it altogether)

6 1/2 cups (2‐pounds) unbleached all‐purpose flour (we tested recipes with Gold Medal and Pillsbury flour)
Mixing the dough:
In a 5 or 6-quart bowl or lidded food storage container, dump in the water and add the yeast and salt. Because we are mixing in the flour so quickly it doesn’t matter that the salt and yeast are thrown in together.
Dump in the flour all at once and stir with a long-handled wooden spoon (or a Danish Dough hook or whisk, which is one of the tools that makes the job so much easier!).
Stir it until all of the flour is incorporated into the dough, as you can see it will be a wet rough dough.
Put the lid on the container, but do not snap it shut. You want the gases from the yeast to escape.
Allow the dough to sit at room temperature for about 2 hours to rise. When you first mix the dough it will not occupy much of the container. But, after the initial2-hour rise, it will pretty much fill it. (If you have decreased the yeast you will have to let go longer than 2 hours.)

DO NOT PUNCH DOWN THE DOUGH!

The dough will be flat on the top and some of the bubbles may even appear to be popping. (If you intend to refrigerate the dough after this stage it can be placed in the refrigerator even if the dough is not perfectly flat. The yeast will continue to work even in the refrigerator.)The dough can be used right after the initial 2-hour rise, but it is much easier to handle when it is chilled. It is intended for refrigeration and uses over the next two weeks, ready for your time. The flavor will deepen over that time, developing sourdough characteristics.
The next day when you pull the dough out of the refrigerator you will notice that it has collapsed and this is normal for our dough. It will never rise again in the container.
Dust the surface of the dough with a little flour, just enough to prevent it from sticking to your hands when you reach in to pull a piece out. You should notice that the dough has a lot of stretches once it has rested. (If your dough breaks off instead of stretching like this your dough is probably too dry and you can just add a few tablespoons of water and let it sit again until the dough absorbs the additional water.)
Let the dough rest for at least 40 minutes, (although letting it for 60 or even 90 minutes will give you a more open hole structure in the interior of the loaf. This may also improve the look of
your loaf and prevent it from splitting on the bottom. ) You will notice that the loaf does not rise much during this rest, it may just spread sideways, this is normal for our dough.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and cut the loaf with 1/4‐inch slashes using a serrated knife. (If your
slashes are too shallow you will end up with an oddly shaped loaf and also prevent it from splitting on the bottom.)

Slide the loaf into the oven onto the preheated stone (the one I’m using is the cast iron) and add a cup of hot water to the broiler tray. Bake the bread for 30‐35 minutes or until a deep brown color. As the bread bakes you should notice a nice oven spring in the dough. This is where the dough rises. To insure that you get the best results it is crucial to have an oven thermometer to make sure your oven is accurate.
For more information (pictures!) and additional recipes, please visit www.artisanbreadinfive.com

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