This recipe is ideal for those who have just started with natural yeast and need to learn the basics but still want to make real bread with all the essential steps.
Ingredients
- 500 g of bread flour (100 %)
- 100 g of natural yeast (ready = about 4 hours after feeding if maintained at 26-28 °C) (20 %)
- 290 g of water room temperature or a bit colder (58 %)
- 7.5 g of salt (1.5 %)
Instructions
Kneading
Mix flour with natural yeast and knead adding water a little at a time. When all the water is incorporated keep kneading and your dough will start gain structure. Add salt last and knead a bit more. When the dough looks smooth and lucid, cover and leave the dough to rest for about 30 minutes.
Folds & First Fermentation
Spread gently the dough and fold as a letter and let it rest for 30 minutes. Repeat 2 more times. After the last fold, put the dough in a lightly oiled container with straight walls, cover, and leave it to rise until it has doubled in volume at 26-28 °C.
Shape & Second Fermentation
When the dough is doubled (don’t overproof), transfer the dough on the counter and degas it. It should be rather spread and flat, shape it by bringing together opposite edges of the dough until it resembles a ball. Transfer the dough to a proofing basket or a pasta colander lined with parchment paper and sprinkled with flour (or semolina). Transfer the dough keeping the side you close up. Let it proof again until it has doubled (or almost).
Baking
Turn on you oven at 250 °C (500 °F), put a oven-prof pan full of water, cover the ceiling of your oven with a tray, and heat up another oven tray for the dough. When ready, take out the tray and overturn your dough onto the hot tray and perform a cut across the dough with a blade. I really recommend using a blade. Cook the bread at 250 °C for the first 20 minutes spraying water with a bottle every 5 minutes. After the first 2o min, reduce the temperature by 20 degrees (230 °C/450 °F) for 20 minutes. Then, remove the water pan and reduce the temperature 20 more degrees (210 °C/410 °F) for 10 minutes and at last remove the ceiling cover and let it cook for 10 minutes at 180 °C/350 °F. Leave the bread drying in the oven turned off with the door slightly open for 30 minutes. Take out the bread and let it cool down for several hours if you can resist. Enjoy!