Basic old fashioned yeast bread

I am not going to lie, making bread can be tricky and time consuming. But once you have made a great loaf, you will be hooked! There are so many possibilities and variations, the fun never ends. You can combine different flours like whole wheat, spelt, oat, barley, buckwheat and so on. Or things can be added to the dough, like nuts and fruits. You can vary the water and create different textures with whet dough like ciabatta. There are different options with the yeast as well, instant, fresh, sourdough starter. Recently the "no-knead" bread has even made it possible to skip the mess and uses a lot less yeast then the traditional bread. I feel like doing a whole blogging marathon on different breads, but I do think it is appropriate to start with the basic traditional loaf. 

 There are different stages in bread making. The total time of actually touching the dough doesn't add up to much more then half an hour, but with all the waiting included it's more then 4 hours.

What you will need:

In one bowl: 

8 cups of flour (I like to use half all purpose and half whole wheat or spelt)

4 teaspoons of salt

In a second bowl: 

2 1/2 cups of warm water (not hot, like a baby's bottle)

1 tablespoon of active dry yeast

1 tablespoon of honey

a dough scraper (I use a metal spatula)

a cotton towel 

a baking stone (a baking sheet works as well, but the texture of the crust really is worth the 10-15 dollars it will cost you) 

a peel (this is simply a peace of wood with a handle to transfer the bread in and out of the oven)

A spray bottle with just water (this is to keep the oven humid)

The first stage is to mix the flour and the salt in one bowl. In another bowl pour the warm water, add the yeast and the honey and let it sit for 15 minutes. What happens here is that the yeast is being fed by the sugars in the honey. This is not essential as the yeast will also be fed by the flour, but it is helpful because the yeast will start working faster. After 15 min you will be able to see that the yeast is literally raised above the water. Forming, what looks like, a pancake on top of the water. This proves the yeast is alive. If for any reason the yeast doesn't work. Stop now and buy new yeast. There is no point in wasting your time if the yeast is dead. 

Stage two is to add the flour mixture to the water, small handfuls at a time. Use one hand to mix in the flour, making a homogenous mixture before you add more flour. The batter will get thicker and thicker. When it starts holding together but is still sticky it is time to turn it out onto the work surface and start kneading. Kneading helps develop the gluten, they attach to each other forming long strands. This is needed for the elasticity of the bread. Later when the dough is rising because the yeast is producing gases, the dough needs to stretch around the gas bubbles. The kneading process takes about 10 minutes. If you start with a sticky dough and gradually add flour, you are letting your work surface help you with the kneading. This way it takes less effort. Once the dough is turned out use the base of your hand to stretch the dough out away from you. Then use your fingers to pull it back toward you and give the dough a quarter turn before you repeat this action. Use the dough scraper to return everything left on the surface back into the dough. After a couple of minutes, when you have added some flour and the dough starts to give more resistance, you won't be able to use long strokes like you were in the beginning. This is when I like to switch to a two hand kneading routine. Push with the base of both palms and pull back with 10 fingers, folding the end over towards the middle. The dough will take a wider horizontal shape. Here I give it a quarter turn only every couple of times. 

Be careful not to add to much flour, if the dough doesn't want to stick to itself anymore, it will be very difficult to shape the loafs.

 When the kneading is finished, shape the dough into a ball and let it rise. The best way to do this is to use a clean bowl with some olive oil. Turn the dough around a couple of times in the bowl to coat it with oil. This will help when removing the dough from the bowl when it has doubled in size. The oil will keep the dough from drying out. Cover with a towel and let it sit until it has become twice as big. This is typically somewhere between 45 and 90 minutes depending on the room's temperature. 

Turn the dough out onto the work surface, upside down. Deflate the dough using your fingertips shaping it into a disk. Fold it over and give it a quick knead for about 1 minute. Shape it back into a ball and let it rise again in the same way until doubled in size. 

 

After the second rising period it is time to shape the loafs. Turn the dough out onto the work surface upside down again. The amounts used here are enough to make 2 medium loafs, or 8-12 rolls. I made 1 loaf and 4 rolls. 

Use the dough scraper or spatula to cut the dough. When shaping the loaf, it is key to create some surface tension. It is almost like you want to give the top of the bread a facelift and tuck the extra skin under on the bottom of the loaf. The best way to do this is to shape a rough ball, flatten it out into a disk, fold the outsides in, pinch to close the seam, turn it over, hold the ball in both hands and give it some finishing stretches with the sides of your hands. 

Once your loafs are shaped, they need to proof. The best thing to do here is to place them on a floured peel (an upside down baking sheet works fine). Space them out enough to allow for rising a third time and cover with a cotton towel. While the dough is proofing the oven should be preheated to 400-450F. If you are using the baking stone, place it in the oven before the oven is hot.

It's an option to make slits in the breads before they go in the oven. If you don't do this, they will crack randomly, which gives a more rustic look to the crust. There are several possibilities, but I like this one; two slits per loaf and one slit per roll. 

 Bake them for 10-15 minutes at 400-450F, then turn the heat down, depending on the color of the crust to about 300-350F for another 20-30 minutes for the loafs and 15-20 minutes for the rolls. Occasionally spray water into the oven. Having a humid environment will do wonders for the crust.
You will know when they are ready, when you tap on the bottom of the loaf and it sounds hollow.

When coming out of the oven, let them cool completely before you start cutting into it. It's hard to resist but it will be worth the wait. If you cut into a loaf of bread prematurely, you will let the steam out, this is detrimental for the development of the crust.

Bread at my house keeps easily for a couple of days, that is if I am able to resist eating all of it. Don't put it in plastic, it will become chewy. A paper bag works, although it does dry the bread out a bit. I find just letting it sit on the counter works fine, I turn the cut side down. A wooden box would be ideal. You also have the option of freezing the bread. Let it defrost naturally and bake it for 15-20 minutes at 300F. This will refresh the bread.