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Bread

Ingredients

5 cups bread flour
1¾ cups water
1 cup starter
1 tbsp salt

Steps

Mix well and knead on a floured surface
Return the dough to the mixing bowl, cover and let it sit in a room-temperature place for however long you feel like (anywhere from 6 to 24 hours has worked for me)
Knead on a floured surface, stretching the dough as long as you can a few times
Thoroughly coat the bottom of a Dutch oven with flour
Form dough into a ball and place into the Dutch oven, let sit for 2 hours (or until doubled in size)
If the surface of the dough is not tacky, use a spray bottle to lightly mist it with water
Preheat oven to 500F
Cover the Dutch oven with its lid and bake for 55 minutes, lowering the temperature setting to 450F once it's in

Notes

My partner and I prefer a thin, chewy crust; so I try to make sure there is plenty of moisture trapped in the Dutch oven and on the surface of the dough. This also necessitates leaving the lid on the Dutch oven for the entirety of baking.
I recommend against scoring the dough. While ears may look nice, they are hard and unpleasant in my opinion. Letting a more even crust develop naturally lends itself to a thinner crust all-over that's easier to cut and to eat.
Kosher salt sprinkled atop the dough just before baking (but after misting, if needed) adds a pleasant texture and savoriness.
Often I try to start a loaf in the morning so that it will be ready by the evening. I've found that letting the dough ferment in the oven with just the oven's light turned-on helps this timeframe work out better. Just be sure not to let the dough dry out.

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🐝 Addison

Feb 21 · 10 months ago · 👍 lykso, dozens, taichara, uncreativedan · 😄 1