Crusty Bread
With a lovely crispy crust and soft and bubbly on the inside. Enjoy on it's own, for breakfast or as a sandwich.
Ingredients
- 7g sachet dried yeast
- 438ml warm water (43C to 56C) - see Tips
- 525g plus 1 tbsp plain flour
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp polenta or plain flour
- olive oil and cling film to cover bowl
- tin foil for baking
Instructions
- In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water (see Notes). Using a rubber spatula, stir in 525g flour and the salt to form a soft, sticky dough. Do not knead. Cover with lightly greased cling film and let it rise at room temperature for 1 hour.
- Stir down the dough (it will be sticky). Turn it onto a floured surface and with floured hands pat it into a 22cm square. Fold the square into thirds, forming a 22cm x 7cm rectangle. Fold the rectangle into thirds, forming a 7cm square. Place it in a large greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover again and let it rise at room temperature until almost doubled, about 1 hour.
- Punch down the dough and repeat the folding process. Return the dough to the bowl; refrigerate, covered, overnight.
- Grease the bottom of a disposable foil roasting pan (see Notes) with sides at least 8cm; dust the pan with the polenta. Turn the dough onto a floured surface. Knead gently 6 to 8 times, then shape into a 15cm round or 20 to 25cm rectangle loaf. Place it into the prepared pan and dust the top with the remaining 1 tbsp of flour. Cover the pan with lightly greased cling film and let it rise at room temperature until the dough expands, about 1 hour 15 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 260C. Using a sharp knife, make 1 slash across top of the loaf if you make it a round one, or 3 slashes if you make it a rectangle shape. Cover the pan tightly with tin foil. Bake the loaf on the lowest oven shelf for 25 minutes.
- Reduce the oven setting to 230C. Remove the foil and bake the bread until it is a deep golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove the loaf to a wire rack to cool.
Notes
- NOTE: the last proving step is overnight in the fridge (see Step 3).
- The temperature for the warm water is higher than lukewarm water (37C), so I used my Thermapen to check it.
- Instead of a disposable foil roasting pan, I used a large roasting tin and lined it with 3 layers of tin foil.
- Rather than shaping it into a round loaf, we made it more rectangle shaped.
- Click into the Taste of Home link to watch the video and to see options for adding additional ingredients/flavourings.
- I have converted the ingredient quantities from cups to grams.