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bread flour 140 g wheat flour 110 g water 130 g starter[a] 85 g olive oil 45 g salt 7 g
this recipe makes one small loaf of bread. if you have a more spacious baking compartment you might increase the amounts by some arbitrary percentage. resulting in a larger loaf of bread. or multiple loaves of bread.
1. mix the ingredients together. knead until the dough is consistent and plyable. not excessively. make sure the ingredients are well combined. shape the dough into a ball. it's helpful to wet your hands while kneading and shaping.
2. put the dough in a bowl. cover it with cling film. leave it on the counter for 40-60 minutes.
3. stretch the dough. fold it in half. turn 90 degrees. repeat. a few times. this is the stretch routine. you should wet your hands with water before doing the stretch routine. when finished, shape the dough back into a ball. place it in the bowl covered with cling film.
4. put the dough in the refrigerator for a long time. 12 hours. overnight is good.
5. remove the bowl from the refrigerator. let the dough rise on the counter for 5 hours. do the stretch routine once every 40 minutes or so. ensure the dough remains in the bowl, covered by the cling film in between stretching.
6. take the dough from the bowl, place it on a lightly floured surface. lightly flour the dough so it can be handled more easily.
don't apply too much pressure to the dough. don't handle the dough too roughly. the goal is to retain the air trapped inside the dough. and the relatively light fluffy properties that it provides. towards that end, I tend to rely on gravity.
7. grasp one edge. pick the dough up so it droops. flop the far edge onto the counter. rotate 90 degrees. repeat. we're looking for a not too thick rectangle. an inch maybe. 3/4 of an inch maybe. it need not be a perfect rectangle. be gentle.
8. once the dough is flat and rectangular, roll it up into a cylinder. tuck the opposing ends of the cylinder under so they meet in the middle. cup the dough between youe hands. rotate it bit by bit forming it into a ball again.
your path may go in one of many directions at this point, depending on the resources you have available. i have no oven. i have no bannetons. if you find yourself in a similar situation, the following steps will be applicable. otherwise, adjust accordingly.
9. line a bowl with a cloth. lightly flour the cloth. place your pre-shaped dough upside down into the bowl. let it rise another 40-60 minutes.
10. preheat the 'oven'. a cast iron pot placed over a gas flame in my case. place an appropriately sized metal basket in the bottom of the pot, upside down. or something of similar utility. this will ensure the bread does not come into contact with the unreasonably hot bottom of the pot. set the flame at the lowest level at which the flame retains orange tips. place the lid on the pot. when you are unable to comfortably rest your hand on the lid handle for more than 1-3 seconds, the 'oven' is preheated.
11. place the unbaked loaf into an appropriately sized metal basket by flipping the bowl in which it sits upside down.
about these metal baskets. they are what was available. random items from a random variety store. the 'legs' of the baking rack (the upside down basket) is about twice the height of the basket in which the dough sits. the rim of that basket sits slightly below the rim of the pot. adjust as necessary. in addition to being a usable makeshift baking rack, the same basket configuration in a pot of water works well for steaming things.
12. place the basket with the dough in it, into the pot. sitting on top of the upside down basket. put the lid on the pot. wait 30 minutes.
13. remove the bread from the pot. use a wooden spoon and kitchen towel to help. flip the loaf of bread upside down. this is usually a fairly clumsy operation. the objects involved are quite hot. place it back in it's basket, and in to the pot. put the lid on the pot.
14. reduce the flame by a very small amount. only enough to remove the yellow tips. bake for 20-30 minutes.
15. remove the bread from the pot. again with the wooden spoon and kitchen towel. cool on the counter for a few hours. in the absence of a cooling rack, lay two wooden spoons on the counter. or other items of similar utility. place the bread on top of them.
16. you can slice it open when it is not warm to the touch.
this is easier if you have an oven. preheat the oven to 220 degrees celcius. bake the bread until it looks good. reasonably dark. probably around an hour. place a small tray of water in the oven for the first 20 minutes.