A loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and thou

Bread is a wonderful thing. It is composed of four simple ingredients; they are fundamental ingredients in the kitchen and some of the most basic commodities (or life forms) on the planet. Bread has the capacity to bring great joy to many, great pain to some and spark fearsome debates. It has fed and nourished humankind for eons and I'm sure most humans today will have bread in some fashion before they go to sleep. It is almost as ubiquitous as water and its absence has kindled revolutions.

In my opinion, crafting your own bread is a fun and important skill. The flavour (and nutrition) from slow-fermented homemade bread fashioned from quality flour is unmatched at the grocery store. Make it for yourself and enjoy some well-deserved comfort or make two and share it with loved ones to spread good cheer in these trying times.

When it comes to making slow-fermented bread (sourdough is another adventure for another time) there are a litany of opinions and resources available. In the post today, I'll take you through my process for a simple overnight white bread. I am definitely not an expert here; I'm learning and practicing myself. I have had many guides but the first one and the one I continue to return to is Flour Water Salt Yeast by Ken Forkish. It provides great background on the process and detailed instructions. The recipes are basically foolproof.

Before we start, a couple of notes. You can skip these if you want, but...

• Good bread cannot come from bad flour. At a minimum, your flour should be freshly bought and labelled as "Best for Bread" or some other moniker. These breads have the higher protein that's required for good structure. If you want to go up in quality a bit, I have two options. Arva Flour Mill in Arva just outside London make traditionally stone-milled flours from local grains milled with water power. Check it out. They ship. Also, Flourist in Vancouver makes more specialty flours from prairie-grown grains. Also highly delicious. They ship but are often sold-out as they are in high demand.
• Any fine salt without additives is great.
• Active or instant yeast is also fine.
• You must use a scale. For a dish with only 4 ingredients, a few grams here or there will make a difference. Trust me. They're not that expensive and are an indispensable kitchen tool. I use mine everyday.
• Temperature is also important. If you have a thermometer, that's great. It'll make the bread more consistent.
• Bread takes time. Don't rush it. Enjoy it. You're stuck at home anyways. The timing of the different steps takes some experimentation and is dependent on the exact conditions in your kitchen. This goes doubly for letting it cool before cutting.
• I'll say it again later, but be prepared. Bread needs to be darker than you think it does. I still struggle. If you think it's done, give it 5 more minutes. You'll thank yourself. Undercooked bread is a disappointment.
• Bread takes practice. A lot. But it's delicious and the raw materials are cheap. And if the world ends in apocalypse, you'll have at least one skill keeping you in the tribe.

Great. On with the bread. This recipe is basically the White Bread with Poolish recipe from Flour Water Salt Yeast. I've adjusted the amounts a bit to fit what I find most people generally have in their kitchen and made allowance and edits to fit more common equipment. Future articles will give variations and adjustments. This post is going to be too long as it is...

This recipe starts the night before with what is called a poolish. A poolish (French term) is a pre-fermented portion of the total bread flour, water and yeast. The preferment gets the yeast going but this isn't really necessary. The extra fermentation time creates that "artisan" flavour that we look for in homemade bread. In addition, the longer yeast has to ferment, the more nutrients they create. So basically, being slower and more lazy with your bread baking will make it healthier. The other benefit of the pre-ferment and the slow process we'll be using is that it requires no kneading.

The poolish needs about 14 hours of rising time at a normal kitchen temperature. Aim to make it the night before around 6-8 pm (if your a normal person who gets up at a normal time). Put the following in a large bowl and mix either with your hand or with a wooden spoon until combined. Cover with plastic wrap and let ferment.

• 375g white flour
• 375g water at 80°F
• 0.3g instant dried yeast (~1/16 tsp)

  

The next morning, the poolish with be risen and bubbly and ready for the addition of the rest of the ingredients. 

In a larger bowl mix together the following minus the water.

• 375g white flour
• 185g water at 105°F
• 16g fine salt
• 2.25g (1/2 tsp) instant dried yeast

Once these are combined, pour the water around the edge of the poolish. This will loosen it from the bowl. Dump the poolish into the dry ingredients and get ready to mix. Mixing uses two motions, both with your hand. One is "the claw". Using your thumb and index finger like a lobster's claw, "cut" through the dough mass. After four or five cuts, switch to the "scoop and fold". Reach under the dough and get about one quarter of it with your fingers. Lift it up and fold it over the rest of the dough. Rotate the bowl a quarter turn and repeat 3 more times. Alternate cuts and folds until the dough is well mixed.

 

Quick tip, you can wet your hand with water to prevent sticking. Wet intermittently through the mixing (and folding to come) to keep your hand relatively clean. Be forewarned, your hands with get doughy. (Don't worry about the extra addition of a tiny bit of water).

Now comes the rising. This dough needs about 3 hours of rising before proofing (at a normal kitchen temperature of 70°F). 

Notice that there was no kneading? The folding in the mixing, along with the next actions, builds more then enough gluten strength to support the final loaf. During the first hour of rising, you're going to repeat the scoop and fold action three times (try after 20 minutes, 40 minutes and 60 minutes). It's preferential to do these during the first hour to allow the dough two undisturbed hours of rising before proofing. During each scooping and folding sessions, I usually do 8-12 folds.

 

Once the dough has increased 250% in size, its ready for shaping.

Flour around the edge of the dough in the bowl as well as flour your hands and the worksurface (you'll need a large area). Work the flour under the dough by sliding your hands between the bowl and dough all the way around. Then gently dump and scoop the dough onto the counter. 

Flour your hands again and begin to shape the loaf. The action is basically the same as the folding in the bowl. Get under about a quarter of the mass and gently lift it up and stretch a little. Then fold it onto the rest of the dough. Repeat 3 more times until you get a little package. Gently flip the proto-loaf over.

Prepare a vessel for proofing. There are many fancy specialized baskets for this, but I've found a super easy method is to line a bowl with parchment paper. This will also allow you to use the parchment as a sling to lift the bread into the cooking pot. Your bowl needs to be about the same size as the pot you'll use for cooking. I prefer to use a Dutch Oven, but any large pot with a lid will work. It needs to be around 9 inches in diameter and 7 inches deep. A little more or less won't make a difference. 

Before carefully placing your shaped loaf into the proofing bowl, lightly cup it with your well-floured hands and gently spin it on the counter. Think of the motion you'd use to spin a marble around the bottom of a bowl. This takes some practice. It ensures the top of the loaf is taught and makes for a nicer-looking loaf. Don't stress if yours isn't perfect, it doesn't affect the taste.

  

Cover loosely with plastic wrap (don't let it touch the dough, it'll stick) and let proof in the kitchen for about 1.25 hours. You'll know it's done when a gentle poke with your finger leaves a shallow dent that remains. This also takes some practice, so don't stray too far from the 1.25 hours until you get a better feeling. Baking bread involves a lot of intuition and feeling.

After about 45 minutes, put your pot in the oven and preheat it to 475°F. You want the pot and oven well-heated to make well-risen loaves, so don't skimp!

When the dough is done proofing, with oven mitts, carefully take the hot pot out of the oven. Using the parchment, gently lift the loaf out of the proofing bowl and place on the counter. Using a sharp knife, cut three 1/2 inch deep slits on the top of the loaf from the edge to the center. These allow the bread to rise fully in the oven. (Mine didn't work perfect in these examples, it's okay).

Gently place the loaf in the pot and then replace the lid and put it in the oven. I did two loaves at the same time to share!

Bake for 30 minutes with the lid on. After 30 minutes, remove the lid and bake until dark chestnut brown (usually about another 30 minutes, but check it after 20). Don't pull it out too soon! One of my loaves is a little under-done.

When done, remove the pot from the oven and remove the loaf by gently tipping the pot onto a oven-mitted hand. Let cool for 3 hours (2 minimum) before slicing. BTW, Jenn hates this but the gluten and starch in the bread will remain loose for quite a while and if you cut into the loaf too soon, you'll permanently ruin the texture.

Enjoy the fruits of a labour of love and the adoration of surrounding loved ones. Eat some bread so good you'll think about leaving your job to move to France to learn the art of bread baking. Welcome to the obsession that is homemade slow-fermented bread.