Go to the Recipe: French Country Bread in One Day
Very good instructions, especially how you MacGyver the implements. Here is another great substitution "6 in., 8 in. and 10 in. Plastic Taping Knife Set" at Lowes or Home Depot for the dough/bench knife (about $4) drastically cheaper than the real deal.
Around here we have a hard time finding yeast. Check your local patisserie/breakfast place. Many of them are have an excess inventory of yeast, flour, & eggs and will sell to the public.
Stay safe (and distant)
Just to clarify - should the Dutch oven be preheated as in Jim Lahey's recipe? Thanks!
This would have been a great recipe for a video. Quick question - do you preheat the dutch oven or leave it out? Forkish would have preheated the dutch oven - though you do need to be careful putting the loaf into a screaming hot vessel.
Unfortunately, can't seem to find any yeast since the coronapocalypse started!
all right. this bread is very simple. Now we would like to see many more new recipes from the "chefsteps" team and make really delicious breads. It would be great to be able to study in depth with you the "sourdough" and make some really didactic videos. thanks team !!
Since there is no yeast in the stores I am making my own (basically sourdough starter). Can this bread be made using the starter rather than active yeast? Also, when during the baking time is water sprayed into the Dutch oven - after 25 minutes with the lid on?
I've always preheated my dutch oven, just be careful. I will produce fantastic bread.
I have also cooked the same recipe on parchment on my baking stone; again fantastic bread.
The crumb of the bread in the first photo is stunning. About how many rounds of folds did you use?
Yes. I preheat mine up to an hour.
I think your volume of water is wrong.
I tried the recipe as written however after adding the water it was exceptionally dry. I re-weighed the ingredients (just over 700G) to make sure I hadn't somehow mis measured one of them.
You call for:
300 grams of water is 1.268 cups
400 grams of bread flour is 3.15 cups
The original recipe calls for:
3 cups flour
1.625 cups water
384 g of water would be the original amount (at slightly less flour even)
your cup measure shows just over 3 cups of water w/ yeast even thought a spoon is in it, given it sounds like you made a double batch that is at least 1.5 cups of water.
I made a couple no-knead loaves this week and this looks like a great guide for people new to this. Cheers and happy baking!
Agreed. Proportions are wrong. I added ~90g more water and consistency looks right.
I have been baking the original bread recipe in my lodge 5 quart dutch oven for years. I know you all are sponsored by Breville, but it is laughable that a Smart Air oven is required equipment as is a banneton, but the dutch oven is listed as "optional." The dutch oven is what makes this recipe shine.
Also, in my limited knowledge, the point of the dutch oven is not to evenly heat it or not expose it to the elements, but rather to seal in the steam thus allowing the bread to retain exterior elasticity for the initial rise before forming a crust that will no longer expand. It wouldn't be the worst idea for Breville to offer up a contest for a SmartAir Oven to Studio Pass members for all the advertising we are subjected to.
Check your local patisserie/breakfast place. Many of them are have an excess inventory of yeast, flour, & eggs and will sell to the public.
They should show the Baker's Percentages so that we know what the proportions are. I love this site but they really need to spend some time editorially proofing these recipes, an amazing number of them have significant errors. It is sad to say but I refuse to make anything until others have found the mistakes for me.
Anyone know if the size of the recommended Staub 4qt makes sense for use in the Smart Oven Air?
That is a good question. The website developer forgot to include that goofy "Smart Air Oven (TM) Approved" graphic that has littered itself across otherwise good recipes. I would assume this one is not, but rather they just took a recipe that works great in a real oven and pasted it into the Smart Air Oven (TM). Because, after all, can you really count on your normal oven to set itself to 482* 446* and 372*?
I swear the pretentiousness of these recipes can be insane. They even show the graphic of temperature consistency and it has peaks and valleys. I would bet it all that there is no functional difference in setting your Smart Air Oven (TM)! to 485, 445, or 375, but then it wouldn't give off the airs that they literally tried every possible iteration (they did not) and decided on some 1-degree difference.
This baking method is kind of a joke, don’t get me wrong I have been a long time supporter of ChefSteps because they really do offer so much information. Unfortunately bread is not in that wheel house.
Use a Dutch oven, use rice flour not corn meal, and for an incredible custard texture and open crumb bread making is a lot more in depth than what a “smart oven” can do for you.
In their defense the text does say that rice flour is an option, It is magic to keep the dough from sticking to the banneton, as it doesn't form gluten. There are a ton of good bread websites out there for people to learn more about baking.
You might try to turn the proofed dough from the benneton on to a piece of parchment paper large enough that you can pick it up from the sides and place it directly into the blazing hot cast iron dutch oven (or equivalent cast iron container). Parchment paper and all. I use a wooden spoon to push back the folds that the paper forms because of the shape of the container. Then dust off excess flour, spray with water, dust with some sea salt and bake the thing. The paper its self gets baked to a crisp. This may save you a burn and keeps the bread's shape rather than picking it up while trying not to squeeze too hard. Forkish's book offers some great suggestions if you're into bread.
So the dough I got after fermenting for 16hrs was very fluid and sticky to the point that I could not work it at all. I have to add additional flour to just work it and that just made it lumpy. I fear putting it onto a floured linen, that it will stick on it and that I will not be able to transfer it into a dutch oven.
You should probably do some more folds, check out https://www.communitygrains.com/recipe-items/craig-ponsford-makes-ciabatta/ where he is making a super high hydration bread. It also shows good technique for dealing with "fluid" dough.
LOL! I use something similar: Home Depot has a set of three sizes of Bondo scrapers. They work GREAT as dough/bowl scrapers. They are about $3-4
Hi,
After mixing, my dough doesn't look NEARLY as wet, and I added an extra 50g water. Mine is more sticky/thick, like the Tartine dough. Not nearly as shiny as this one. Can anyone tell me what the definitive measurements are? Cheers!
The awkward numbers looks like the result of them doing everything in Celsius and then doing a blanket conversion to Fahrenheit (ex: 482F == 250C). So, I think they're giving us exactly what they tested, and if there were to be a complaint, it'd be about using C instead of F. Personally, I'm not all that concerned about it, because, like you pointed out, I can easily round this to something in F, and probably get the same results. This could be smoothed out with code that dynamically converts C to F (or whatever F precision their oven's do), but, then again, maybe they don't have that coded up yet and just want the recipe to drop.
As for the product placement stuff, I think sometimes you just gotta feed the monkey. At least, at the end of the day, it is a really nice oven. I've got a pretty high end range, and the countertop oven beats it at most tasks.
I'm made no kneed bread with sourdough starter. A couple of things, though.
It may take a lot longer for the starter to really get going. So you might make a poolish. Either way, keep in mind that you need to account for the flour and water already your sourdough starter. Since my starter is 50% water and 50% flour and I usually use 100 grams of it, I have to subtract 50 g. of water and 50 g. of flour from the recipe.
I make some today from sourdough starter and yeast. In this case the sourdough was mainly for flavor, not leavening.
I always use parchment paper to move the bole from my counter to the mad-hot dutch oven.
Keith, I totally agree with you. I’ve used a Lodge pot and lid for years and get absolutely brilliant results without all the folderol. Definitely recommend simple goes a long ways and some nice fold n turn prior to that first rise is what does it. all you need is a bowl that’s been lightly oiled turn it into it covered up let it sit 18-24 hrs. just about perfect. Chewy, great crumb. Nutty and delicious.
I love the descriptive/pictorial instructions. Doing this the first time, I am confused about the instruction between Baking Part One and Part Two. Exactly when do I spray water in? Part One reads as 25 minutes with the lid on, then spray water for steam, then replace the lid, and then in Part Two immediately remove the lid. Please clarify. Thank you
do i need to pre heat the dutch oven also?
Yes! Always preheat for a maximum oven spring.
Keith, you want to spray the water on the dough, right when you add it to the preheated Dutch oven pot, then pop the lid on and bake away. It's adding extra moisture to help with the initial oven spring. Does this makes sense?
All flours are different, but the dough starts drier and it thins as it hydrates over times.
This is normal, but you can do wet folding or dry folding. The above hydration ratio (75%) is based on King Arthur bread flour.
Hello Mitch, the formula above should not need any major adjustments. Here is the bakers percentage formula.
100% Bread flour
75% Water
.75% Yeast
1% Salt
5% sugar
Every flour is going to be slightly different in how much it can be hydrated. Some flours soak up a little more than others. This dough should be on the sticky side to begin and hydrate as it ferments. Scaling by wieght and not by measure will have more precision. Baking bread is an art and a science. Feeling the dough and knowing just when to add any extra flour or water comes with practice.
Hello Liam, Yes, pre-heat the dutch oven at least 30 minutes.
Hello Keith, the water spray will need to happen as soon as you load the bread into the dutch oven. This will produce a blast of steam in the beginning of the bake. The initial steam will help with crust development. You can omit the water spray and still have good results in the dutch oven, as baking in the dutch oven with the lid on will produce humidity naturally from the moisture escaping the bread. The water spray will give you a thicker and more developed crust and is only needed in the beginning of the bake.
Hello Robin, Here is the bakers percentage formula.
Every flour is a little different from brand to brand. Dough should be wet and tacky when first mixed.
I'm sorry you feel that way, I am trying to add a basic country loaf recipe that has some flexibility in it. With the recipe above, I do recommend using a Dutch oven and I do recommend using rice flour as well. It's more of a matter if substitutions if you don't have those items.
That is exactly correct, Richard. The temperatures are based on Celsius and are automatically converted to Fahrenheit via the websites software. With any rustic loaf recipe, the goal is to get maximum/ good oven spring in the beginning (high heat and high humidity) and then taper down the temperature so you can finish the bake without over browning the loaf.
Keith, you are correct that the Dutch oven matters more than which heating oven you use. We shouldn't have it listed anywhere that a Smart Oven Air is required, as it is not - you can use nay oven that you have. As for the reasoning behind the Dutch oven, it serves a couple purposes. 1) Yes, trapping steam to help promote an initial oven spring. but also 2) The dark and close surfaces of the Dutch oven do even out browning no matter the oven you are using. As for the contest, it sounds like a good idea.
Only 2 rounds. You just want to try to do it gently.
It can be made with any kind of starter - I'll put together a conversion table soon. As for the spray, you spray right when you put in the dough for the first time, to help with oven spring.
Yes, always preheat the Dutch oven.
Thanks for flagging this, I see where the confusion was and made some updates above.
Have you seen our bread page? https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/the-bread-universe
@ed - I updated the recipe above, yes - always preheat the dutch oven.
Hello, Made this bread at home with KA flour. All I had was instant yeast. I do not have a banneton and proofed in bowl with a cloth dusted with whole wheat flour. Rested overnight in the fridge and baked from cold in a preheated dutch oven. Formula is approved. Hope everyone is happy baking out there.
yes. I have made many of these recipes. I have been subscribed almost from the first day. New recipes would be appreciated, and more on bread. Thanks Grant!
is the initial 24h resting period in the fridge? It doesn't specify.
Your Step 5 is different than most others (at least to me). It seems you pour out the dough and do a few folds (which are not well described IMHO) on the bench in an apparently short time. It doesn't seem like you allow for good gluten formation. Generally others do the folds, with wet hands, in the bowl and wait 10 to 20 minutes between folds to develop the gluten (or if they do the folds on the bench they put it back in the bowl between folds). Reihhart would do 3 folds in less than 40 minutes. Am I missing something?
I've always been a "stretch and fold" baker, so this simple folding method was bizarre to me. I was surprised when I found that there wasn't a noticeable difference between the two methods https://breadtopia.com/sourdough-technique-experiment-no-knead-vs-the-works/
Am I able to substitute starter for the yeast in this and if so how much starter (100% hydration) would you use?
A little clarification here please. You have 446F / 230C with lid on and 374F / 190C with lid off. But your graph shows 240 and 210C respectively. This translates to 464F and 410F. Can you tell me which temperature is preferred (understanding that all ovens are a little different).
Thank you,
Philip
This recipe appears to have been published just a few days ago, in early April 2020. When everyone should be staying at home if at all possible, shopping online or infrequently in supermarkets, and social distancing if they must go out.
It is clearly and for obvious reasons, a simple use-what-you-have-in-the-house recipe. If you have rice flour in your pantry and are qualified to fairly critique the nuances of bread recipes and baking methods: good for you but this is not the time.
Everyone else: stay at home, use the ingredients and equipment you already have, it will be fine.
I can't seem to get the ingredients correct from grams to cups,tsp,etc
You'll want a kitchen scale and to weigh everything. Baking bread is better this way
I didn't have a banetton so i used a bowl lined with a linen towel. When I turned out the dough it didn't hold its shape and stuck to the paper and was difficult to get into the dutch oven. After baking the bread had a much larger crumb than the one pictured and was very difficult to slice - tasted great though. Any suggestions?
So far so good...
Just leave the dough on the parchment paper. Hold the corners of the paper and lower the paper and dough into the the dutch oven. The bread will bake just fine sitting on the paper.
Keep in min, some duct oven lids have a plastic knob, which is good up till 400 , after that, you risk it cracking.
Are you supposed to cover the bowl while the dough autolyzes? I made this last week. Turned out great except the bottom crust was a bit chewier than I prefer.
Normally I think bread is baked without convection. When shielding the bread with the Dutch Oven, would you recommend turning the fan on or leaving it off?
I can imagine turning it on, at least for preheat, would allow everything to come up to temp faster.
Other question: would you bake the bread to a specific core temp?
The fan may help to heat up but is not necesarry for bread baking. Bake to an internal temperature of 205 f.
I've always been curious about the idea of using both starter and AD Yeast. I figured that the beasties might not be very collaborative. In other words would mixing natural starter and store bought yeast not conflict with one another? Happy baking
