Easy crusty French bread that is not so very easy
I made cinnamon rolls again this morning but decided I needed to make a crusty bread to go with the simple dinner I had planned. A bread that I could really get in there and knead. The irony is that the recipe I decided on didn't really call for any kneading at all; an item I overlooked when I decided to make it. Then when I printed out the recipe, I noticed what I thought were text size options: 1X, 2X, 3--something I have seen and used on other websites. I selected 3X to make it easier to read; I was disappointed that it didn't make much difference in the actual printout. Oh well. And so it began.
It's a very basic recipe. Here is the cast.
The writer strongly suggested weighing out the ingredients so I did. First, the yeast.
I added the yeast and sugar to the water and that is when I began to have an inkling that something was weird. It seemed like a heck of a lot of water for one loaf. I glanced at the recipe and thought, well, it does require a lot of flour...
A hundred and three grams of flour! Ok, but the recipe did say the total amount needed varied greatly depending on heat, humidity, etc. I don't think I'm going to need all of it!
Once the yeast mixture was ready I made a flour island and deposited the salt on it. I figured I would add about 4 cups of flour at the offset and add as I went along to get the texture I wanted.
The yeast began reacting immediately when I added those initial cups of flour. I mixed until all the flour was about incorporated and then added another cup.
Five cups in and it was still more of a batter. I added another cup...
And another...
By now I had reached the minimum amount of flour the recipe required and there was still no sign of the shaggy dough ball. The recipe warned that the dough would be soft and sticky but this seemed excessively so. More flour...
I will spare you the rest of the cup by cup additions and jump ahead to this. Ten, count 'em, ten cups of flour were in there, the maximum the recipe suggested, and still a very soft dough. I floured it all over and let it rest for an hour.
My Australian tea towel, courtesy of my friend Justine, made me feel a tad better about what could be lurking beneath...
In less than an hour the dough had more than doubled, and while I was waiting for it, I had discovered my mistake. Remember the 1X, 2X thing? Yeah, that wasn't to increase the text size as I have seen it on other websites; that was to increase the recipe's scale. I had tripled the original recipe. No wonder it was a monster!
Still no kneading--the dough is tipped out and folded in on itself repeatedly. It's supposed to compact the dough and tighten it in a shapeable ball. All I got was a continuously oozing, sticky mass that did not stay folded in at all; despite the recipe's assurances that the dough got easier to handle in this stage. Yeah, right. I almost lost it off the edge of the counter at one point.
By this time I was discouraged and exasperated with the whole process but I didn't want to trash it and call it a day because that was a serious amount of ingredients! I molded it the best I could and put it in a bowl for another 30 minutes.
In the meantime, I put my Dutch oven in a 460F oven to preheat.
Again, the dough rose tremendously in a small amount of time and I decided to cut a chunk out of it for fear it would overflow in the oven. Even with some of it removed, there was a sizable amount left! I rolled it onto a parchment to help get it into the heated Dutch oven.
I am sure I was supposed to put it in smoothly so there wouldn't be all of these crinkles but by then all I wanted to do was finish it. Besides, a cast iron Dutch oven heated at 460 is nothing to be tinkered with. I covered it and put in for 30 minutes.
At the end of the half hour, it finally looked as the recipe described: risen, cracked along the top and lightly browned. I removed the lid and left it in for another 15 minutes.
Well, it looked really good and it smelled nice...
There were a few places where the soft dough had crept into the folds of the parchment, but otherwise, the color was great and the aroma was enticing!
Despite all my mishaps and misgivings, the bread was quite good. It had a nice crust, thanks to the Dutch oven, and though it is a dense bread, it is not overly heavy; in fact, it had some really good air pockets. The guys really liked it and it went great with our simple meal. Despite that, I don't think I'd make it again; it's a difficult dough to work with which makes for an unsatisfying process and I am sure there are lots of other recipes out there that will yield an equal or better result with much less annoyance on my part.
Here's the promised link:
Easy Crusty French Bread
It's a very basic recipe. Here is the cast.
The writer strongly suggested weighing out the ingredients so I did. First, the yeast.
I added the yeast and sugar to the water and that is when I began to have an inkling that something was weird. It seemed like a heck of a lot of water for one loaf. I glanced at the recipe and thought, well, it does require a lot of flour...
A hundred and three grams of flour! Ok, but the recipe did say the total amount needed varied greatly depending on heat, humidity, etc. I don't think I'm going to need all of it!
Once the yeast mixture was ready I made a flour island and deposited the salt on it. I figured I would add about 4 cups of flour at the offset and add as I went along to get the texture I wanted.
The yeast began reacting immediately when I added those initial cups of flour. I mixed until all the flour was about incorporated and then added another cup.
Five cups in and it was still more of a batter. I added another cup...
And another...
By now I had reached the minimum amount of flour the recipe required and there was still no sign of the shaggy dough ball. The recipe warned that the dough would be soft and sticky but this seemed excessively so. More flour...
I will spare you the rest of the cup by cup additions and jump ahead to this. Ten, count 'em, ten cups of flour were in there, the maximum the recipe suggested, and still a very soft dough. I floured it all over and let it rest for an hour.
My Australian tea towel, courtesy of my friend Justine, made me feel a tad better about what could be lurking beneath...
In less than an hour the dough had more than doubled, and while I was waiting for it, I had discovered my mistake. Remember the 1X, 2X thing? Yeah, that wasn't to increase the text size as I have seen it on other websites; that was to increase the recipe's scale. I had tripled the original recipe. No wonder it was a monster!
Still no kneading--the dough is tipped out and folded in on itself repeatedly. It's supposed to compact the dough and tighten it in a shapeable ball. All I got was a continuously oozing, sticky mass that did not stay folded in at all; despite the recipe's assurances that the dough got easier to handle in this stage. Yeah, right. I almost lost it off the edge of the counter at one point.
By this time I was discouraged and exasperated with the whole process but I didn't want to trash it and call it a day because that was a serious amount of ingredients! I molded it the best I could and put it in a bowl for another 30 minutes.
In the meantime, I put my Dutch oven in a 460F oven to preheat.
Again, the dough rose tremendously in a small amount of time and I decided to cut a chunk out of it for fear it would overflow in the oven. Even with some of it removed, there was a sizable amount left! I rolled it onto a parchment to help get it into the heated Dutch oven.
I am sure I was supposed to put it in smoothly so there wouldn't be all of these crinkles but by then all I wanted to do was finish it. Besides, a cast iron Dutch oven heated at 460 is nothing to be tinkered with. I covered it and put in for 30 minutes.
At the end of the half hour, it finally looked as the recipe described: risen, cracked along the top and lightly browned. I removed the lid and left it in for another 15 minutes.
Well, it looked really good and it smelled nice...
There were a few places where the soft dough had crept into the folds of the parchment, but otherwise, the color was great and the aroma was enticing!
Despite all my mishaps and misgivings, the bread was quite good. It had a nice crust, thanks to the Dutch oven, and though it is a dense bread, it is not overly heavy; in fact, it had some really good air pockets. The guys really liked it and it went great with our simple meal. Despite that, I don't think I'd make it again; it's a difficult dough to work with which makes for an unsatisfying process and I am sure there are lots of other recipes out there that will yield an equal or better result with much less annoyance on my part.
Here's the promised link:
Easy Crusty French Bread
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