5 Minute Artisan Bread
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I have been waiting to get the copy of the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes from the library and I finally got it. Of course, during the 3 weeks I had it, I only got to one of the recipes. This 5 minute artisan bread recipe is for the basic boule. It’s great because you make the dough and then keep it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
They also say in the book the longer in the fridge the better and to not wash the container after you use up the dough and put more dough in it. It actually makes better bread to add more dough to the unwashed container. I used the basic recipe and made 1 boule and then used the remaining dough to bake 2 large pizzas.
I just rolled the dough out and put it on my pizza stone, then baked the pizza for about 10 minutes at 450. They have several master recipes in the book with different option for each master dough. You really need to check this book out. I have added it to my wish list of cook books to buy. Don’t let the long list of instructions scare you away. They are just very detailed instructions so anyone can make it.
Here is what you need to make the
5 Minute Artisan Bread
- WATER
- GRANULATED YEAST
- KOSHER SALT OR OTHER COARSE SALT
- UNBLEACHED, ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR
5 Minute Artisan Bread
Real Mom Kitchen
Ingredients
- 3 cups lukewarm water
- 1 ½ Tbsp granulated yeast 1.5 packets
- 1 ½ Tbsp kosher salt or other coarse salt
- 6 ½ cups flour unsifted, unbleached, all-purpose (not strong)
Instructions
- Preparing Dough for Storage: Warm the water slightly. It should feel just a little warmer than body temperature. Warm water will rise the dough to the right point for storage in about 2 hours. With cold water it will need 3-4 hours.
- Add the yeast to the water in a 5 quart bowl or, preferably, in a resealable, lidded (not airtight) plastic food container or food-grade bucket. Don't worry about getting it all to dissolve.
- Mix in the flour - kneading is unnecessary. Add all of the flour at once, measuring it in with dry-ingredient measuring cups, by gently scooping up the flour, then sweeping the top level with a knife or spatula. Don't press down into the flour as you scoop or you'll throw off the measurement. Mix with a wooden spoon, a high-capacity food processor (14 cups or larger) fitted with the dough attachment, or a heavy duty stand mixer fitted with the dough hook until the mixture is uniform. If you're hand mixing and it becomes too difficult to incorporate all the flour with the spoon, you can reach into your mixing vessel with very wet hands and press the mixture together. Don't knead, it isn't necessary. You're finished when everything is uniformly moist, without dry patches. It takes a few minutes, and will yield a dough that is wet and loose enough to conform to the shape of its container.
- Allow to rise. Cover with lid (not airtight or it could explode the lid off). Allow the mixture to rise at room temperature until it begins to collapse (or at least flattens on the top), approx 2 hours, depending on room temperature, and initial water temperature Longer rising times, up to 5 hours, won't harm the result.
- You can use a portion of the dough any time after this period. Fully refrigerated dough is less sticky and easier to work with than dough at room temperature.
- On Baking Day: prepare your loaf tin, tray, or whatever you're baking it in/on. Sprinkle the surface of your refrigerated dough with four. Pull up and cut of a grapefruit-size piece of dough (c 1 lb), using a serrated knife.
- Hold the mass of dough in your hands and add a little more flour as needed so it won't stick to your hands. Gently stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all 4 sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go. Most of the dusting flour will fall off - that's fine, it isn't meant to be incorporated. The bottom of the loaf may appear to be a collection of bunched ends, but it will sort itself out during resting and baking.
- The correctly shaped final product will be smooth and cohesive. The entire process should take no more than 30 - 60 seconds.
- Rest the loaf and let it rise in the form, on the tray/pizza peel, for about 40 minutes Depending on the age of the dough, you may not see much rise during this period. That's fine, more rising will occur during baking.
- Twenty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 450°F Place an empty broiler tray for holding water on any other shelf that won't interfere with the rising bread.
- Dust and Slash. Dust the top of the loaf liberally with flour, which will allow the slashing knife to pass without sticking. Slash a quarter inch deep cross, diagonal lines, or tic-tac-toe pattern on top using a serrated knife.
- After a 20 min preheat you're ready to bake, even though the oven thermometer won't be at full temperature yet. Put your loaf in the oven. Pour about 1 cup of hot water (from the tap) into the broiler tray and close the oven to trap the steam.
- Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the crust is nicely browned and firm to the touch.
- Store the rest of the dough in the fridge in your lidded (not airtight) container and use it over the next 14 days. The flavor and texture improves, becoming like sourdough. Even 24 hours of storage improves the flavor.
- This is the standard bread. There are loads of variations - both savory and sweet - in the book. Makes 4 (1 lb) loaves.
