Building Even Better Bread

Back in December, we posted a great recipe for making bread. We have not looked back since this posting. We have made the art of bread making a part of our 'routine' life! We ventured out and purchased a 50lb sack of flour and now have "quick containers" full of the weighed out amount of flour (15 1/4 oz bread flour), in order to make this task even easier. Note sometimes we have substituted some of the bread flour for wheat flour for healthier bread.

We were also loaned a very good book by Blair (Peta's coworker) and we have since learned so much more about building a better bread. Check out 'Crust and Crumb' if you ever get the chance.

NOTE: Ingredients are listed after the improvements that we made to the "No-Knead" bread that was featured in the NYT. It is a hearth bread with only four (4) ingredients: Yeast, Water, Salt and Flour. DO NOT FORGET THE SALT. It retards yeast growth and gives flavor.

So after many months of building our own bread, we wish to share with you some improvements on this recipe. The ingredients and amounts are still the same (see below), but now follow these steps to be even more successful and efficient.

• With the flour all weighed out - it is much simpler that scooping out 6.5 cups
• Using a mason jar, with 3 cups of water in it, place in a microwave for 2 minutes to get the water to 100 degrees. Our microwave is rated at 1.3KW (so you might want to test your microwave the first time, but once you know what to set it to - it really makes life easier).
• EDIT -- add the yeast to the water.
• EDIT -- add the salt to the flour.
• EDIT -- turn on the mixer at a low speed.
• EDIT -- add the wet to the dry ingredients.
• Mix with dough hook for about 6 minutes (so it is climbing up the hook)
• Let rise for the 3 hours (as usual)
• We don't recommend splitting into quarters (as the loaves are too small for normal sandwich eating). We recommend splitting the dough (after the 3 hours) in two (keeping one in an airtight container in the fridge - for up to two weeks).
• NOTE: For a really tall sandwich loaf don't split the dough at all - though just remember that once baked it really only stays "fresh" for about 5 days in a Ziploc bag.
• Once the dough has been split, place in a greased loaf tin and allow it to proof for 45 minutes to an hour. This allows the dough time to rise again in the tin giving the finished bread a more consistent crumb.
• Score the loaf (with a razor or really sharp knife) right before placing in the oven
• Cook at 455F for 37 minutes

Ingredients:
1 1/2 tablespoons yeast - re hydrated in 3 cups of 100F warm water
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
6 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour

Make bread making a part of your life too....
With the large sack of flour we have got the cost of this bread down to $0.70/loaf or $1.40 when the dough is not split into two loaves.
It takes 10 minutes to assemble all the ingredients and make the dough - need to allow 4 hours (plus cooking time) the first night and just 2 hours for the second loaf, so planning ahead is a good idea.
Enjoy!