You TOO can Have Hot, Fresh Bread on a Weekday...

Aight y'all.

I'm here to tell you about my bread making skills.  They kinda rock.  No lie.

As in I'd be jealous of me if I were you (wow, that took some mind power to write for some reason.)

But, I have a secret.

It's not hard and you can rock as hard as me if you want.

And I could be jealous of you except I already know how to do it...soooo, you can find another friend who can be jealous of you instead.

And now my point.

So, Jason and I eat fresh baked bread and pizza every week.  And it's not hard, it's incredibly easy.  Like really REALLY easy.  This idea/book was introduced to me by Jason's aunt.  At first I was a little skeptical because I don't really like "quick fix" food...usually.  If there's a shortcut it usually cuts out freshness or something else that takes away from the recipe.  Now, this isn't always bad.  I make quick fix meals all the time but for my bread....eh.  I like it done right.  Jason's aunt is no novice cook though and so I figured, if she likes it...it's got to be good.

It's all from the book called Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day.

I'm going to take you through it to help convince you of how marvelous this book/recipe is.  I'm not going to give specific ingredient amounts though since that seems a little sketch on the whole copyright infringement thing!  :)  Though you can find it online I'm sure.

So are you ready?

Got this sucka' from B.B, & Beyond

First you need to start with a large tub with a lid that looks something like this (I got a little eager beaver and already put some ingredients in, oh well).  You need to have an air hole for it to rise.  You can either buy a tub with a lid that allows for it (what I did) or you can drill a hole into the top of a lid.

After you have the tub you need these ingredients: flour, yeast, water, and salt.





BIG GAP BLOGGER BUGGER WON'T LET ME FILL oh well.  :)

You take that lovely tub and and you barf in it...I mean, dump the lukewarm water right on in.  Then you add the salt and the yeast.  No need to wait for it to dissolve.  You're done.

Then you add the flour.

Then you mixee mixee.  I usually start with a wooden spoon, then finish it off with my hands.  I LOVE the kneading process and since this doesn't involve that I have no qualms sticking my hands in and getting them all ooey gooey.  Whatever method you use though it needs to be fully incorporated.  No stray flour and no stray water.

The dough after you've mixed it but before the rise

When done it will look like that lumpy doughy picture there.

And then you put the lid on (WITH the air hole) and walk away.  "Good bye dough.  I will be back in 4 hours, mas o menos."

Dough after the rise

About 4 hours later, depending on how roasty toasty your house is it should look something like this.  Fully risen and flat on top.

And then it's ready to bake.

Yep, that's it.

From here you can put it into your refrigerator and keep it for up to 2 weeks.  I prefer to use it up in a  week because it slowly starts turning into sourdough.  Also putting it into the 'fridge makes it a bit more manageable to work with...but you can technically use it as soon as it's done with the initial 4 hour or so rise.

When you are ready preheat the oven with a baking stone already in it to 450.  Then cut a grapefruit size amount off (I usually do more) and liberally dust it with flour.  Then put the tub back in the 'fridge. (The dough collapses but it will rise back up for your next use)

Fold it all under making it round and the outer surface area smooth...creating a cloak.

Dust a cutting board with corn meal, or flour.  Set the dough on it and get a sharp knife, cutting deep strikes through the dough at a slight angle.  Let it sit out for 30 minutes ( I almost never leave it out this long since I always run out of time...it still turns out good).

Creating the cuts

*Bing* 30 minutes are up.

Ooooh, look how puffy and yummy it looks.

The dough after the 2nd rise

Take your cutting board and quickly push the dough into your preheated oven onto the baking stone(and yes, your baking stone is supposed to look grotesque)...or if you have mad skills just pick the whole dough thing up and put it in directly...I've tried this unsuccessfully  :)

Now this is the key.

FIRST go back to the step where I said preheat your oven...and also put a rimmed cookie sheet on the bottom shelf, below the baking stone on the top shelf.  There, thanks.

Ok, so, you have a hot rimmed cookie sheet below the baking stone with the dough on it.  Right after you stick the dough on the stone take a cup of hot water from the tap and dump it carefully it into the rimmed cookie sheet, and then shut the oven as fast as possible.  This will create steam which will make the beautiful crispcrust that you see on artisan bread.  And wait 30-40 minutes.

Sit back and chillax.  (Jason hates that "word," if you can call it that, haha.  So I like to say it all the time. :) )

When it's done, it will look like this (well, actually this loaf was from the next day and not the one that I took the pictures of.  Of COURSE this one was not nearly as attractive as the other one but really?  We ate it, we didn't waste time admiring it :)  Anyways, I like to pull it out and here it crackle as it cools and settles.  Oh, crackling bread makes me so happy.  Did you know that you are technically supposed to wait until bread is fully cooled before you eat it?  I don't remember the reason but we ignore that tip and eat it warm...almost always.

And THAT is how we eat fresh bread all the time.  Wasn't that easy???  I'd say go buy the book but I have yet to and have instead checked out and rechecked out the book about 10 times from the library sooooo...go to the library!  :)

**Sorry this was so disorganized.  It's rather amazing how the actual published post looks nothing like the one I just typed once I push "Publish".  Oh well.