Bread
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
In a large bowl, combine the flour with 4 to 5 quarts of warm water.
Add the yeast and mix with your hands until the dough becomes tough.
Let the dough rise for about 1 hour and 20 minutes, or until it rises quickly.
Before the dough falls, add 4 quarts more warm water and the salt, then work it well.
Cover the dough with a cloth and prepare the oven.
Shape and bake
Shape the dough into loaves weighing about 5 pounds each.
Clean the oven thoroughly and place the loaves inside.
Bake for 2 hours and 30 minutes.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Forms the gluten network that gives the bread its structure.
- Yeast
- Produces gas that makes the dough rise and become airy.
- Warm water
- Hydrates the flour so gluten forms and activates the yeast.
- Sea salt
- Controls yeast activity and strengthens the dough's flavor and texture.
The step that matters
Adding the salt and extra water before the dough falls. Timing matters because the dough is at its peak rise. Working in the salt and water then strengthens the gluten, so the dough holds its structure instead of collapsing while it is shaped and baked.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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