Hearty, Crusty Bread

Hearty, Crusty Bread Recipe

There's a lot of wait time in this hearty, crusty bread recipe, so it's not something you'll want to use for a last minute recipe. It's worth the time though.

Makes two loaves of bread.

Ingredients

• 1,000 grams all-purpose flour (King Arthur is my go-to brand)
• 730 grams warm water (about 100 degrees)
• 24 grams kosher salt
• 5 grams yeast

Directions

1. Combine flour and warm water in a bowl. Mix it just enough to come together.
2. Cover and let rest for 25 minutes.
3. Add salt and yeast to the flour mixture (try to sprinkle it evenly across the surface).
4. Mix by hand, pinching and folding for about 3 minutes. You can also use a dough hook and mixer if you prefer.
5. Cover the dough and let it rise for 2 hours.
6. After 2 hours, fold the dough (while still in the bowl) for 1 minute.
7. Cover and let rise for 3 hours.
8. After 3 hours, divide the dough in half. Put each half into a brotform if you have them. Otherwise, you can put each half into a clean bowl.
9. Lightly flour the tops of the dough.
10. Cover and let rise another hour.
11. After an hour, turn your oven onto 475. Once the oven has preheated, place two bread pots or dutch ovens into the oven to preheat.
12. After the pots/dutch ovens have been in the oven for about 10 minutes, very carefully take them out of the oven, take off the lids, and place one piece of dough into each pot. Place the lids back on and put them in the oven.
13. Bake for 30 minutes.
14. Then take the lids off and back for another 10-15 minutes. Be sure to check frequently because you don't want to burn it after all this work.
15. Take the bread out and let it cool before slicing it so you don't smoosh the goodness.

Let it cool completely before storing. You can store it right on the counter to keep the crusty parts crusty. If you place it in a plastic bag, it will soften a bit.