**April 2010 Update: I now make this bread with less yeast and salt and more whole wheat flour with the same great results! I try to let it set three or four days in the fridge before using to increase the “sourdough” factor. Find specific changes in the recipe at the end.**
I make this artisan bread almost weekly – it’s pretty addictive and the recipe I found, modified somewhat, is super easy and produces a bread at home that is very similar to what you might find in a bakery.
It could change the way you think about making bread.
From a frugal standpoint, when unbleached flour is .30 cents per pound and whole wheat is .50 cents per pound, the total cost for 2 – 4 loaves (depending on how big you make your loaves) is .65 cents! I’ve added about .10 for the yeast and salt bought in bulk.
I should take this moment to mention ALWAYS buy your yeast in bulk. Any store that has bins will usually have yeast. It’s so much cheaper than the little packets. And you’re going to be making a lot of bread – believe me!
The following recipe is adapted from Artisan Bread In Five Minutes A Day by J. Hertzberg and Z. Francois and also found printed in a NY Times article from 2007:
These are the ingredients – notice how few. Just flour, water, yeast and salt. Simple. I love it!
Put the yeast and salt in a bowl. You can do this by hand, but I like to put it in the mixer because, well, it’s easier. Add lukewarm water- I just use warm water from the tap. You can mix it or not- it’s up to you!
Add all the flour. The original recipe used all unbleached, I’ve tried half whole wheat, but the texture wasn’t the same, so I’ve settled on 2 cups whole wheat and 4- 1/2 cups unbleached. If I have it, I will use Rye flour for the last 1/2 cup.
I like to mix it until it starts to clean the sides of the bowl. The original recipe emphasizes not kneading the dough, just mix it together. While I don’t knead, per se, getting it to the stage in this picture is probably more than the original recipe meant. I like the texture of the bread with just a touch more beating (maybe only 30 seconds to 1 minute is all).
Then just transfer it to a large bowl (or if you mixed by hand, just leave it in the same bowl), and cover it with plastic wrap, but not airtight. Leave to sit on the counter 1-1/2 to 2 hours until it looks like this:
Notice the time written on the plastic – that’s my little trick to remind me when the time’s up. Now just stick it in the refrigerator! You can leave it there for up to 14 days, according to the original recipe. However it becomes more sour, like a sourdough, as it ages and I made a loaf at day 9 once and it was too sour for me. So, I always use it within a week. If I don’t need bread, I make it anyway and freeze it. But that’s just me.
Another thing I do differently (besides changing up the flours and decreasing the salt) is to cook the bread in a hot enamel dutch oven with the lid on during the first 15 minutes. Cook’s Illustrated did an article on cooking bread in one, saying when the steam escapes in the first minutes, it hits the sides and creates it’s own steam. Basically, as close to a bakery oven as we can get at home. Works for me!
I purchased this oven at Wal Mart for $39.99 – the most I’ve ever spent on a single piece of cookware. It does make a wonderful crust without me worrying about spraying water or putting water in the oven, so it’s been worth it to me.
But if you don’t have a dutch oven, you can still bake this bread. The original recipe has you use a baking stone with a pan of water in the oven – the steam from the water broke my stone when I did this, but if the water was on the top rack, it would work. I’ve also used a regular cookie sheet and sprayed some water on the loaf before going in the oven. Try different methods and see which you like best.
About 1-1/2 hours before you want to serve the bread, take the bowl out of the refrigerator, pull the plastic off (the dough will be sticky) and dust the top with flour. Put the enamel dutch oven, with the lid on, in the oven and turn it on to 450 degrees.
Scrape the dough off the sides of the bowl and pull the amount you need off, cutting with a serrated knife. This amount of dough makes four small loaves or two large (or three medium, I suppose!). My family needs the larger size, so I always just cut it in half.
Round it in your floured hands until it is a somewhat smooth ball, not handling it too much so you don’t loose the air in the dough that gives the bread it’s great texture.
Place the dough ball on a cookie sheet lined with a piece of parchment paper and dust the top with flour. The paper will be used in the dutch oven, the cookie sheet is just for moving the dough over to the oven (if not using the dutch oven, transfer parchment to baking stone, or just use the cookie sheet to bake). The parchment can be used 3 to 4 times before it starts falling apart and it makes it really easy to transfer the dough to the hot dutch oven. Set the timer for 30 minutes while the dough rests on the counter.
When the thirty minutes is up, take a sharp, serrated knife and slash the top in any pattern you choose, just make sure to slash a good 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch deep. I use to barely cut into the top and then the dough would explode out the bottom making the dough look weird and misshapen.
Remove the lid of the hot dutch oven and using two opposite corners of the parchment, transfer the dough to the pot. Replace the lid, close the oven, and set the timer for 15 minutes for the smaller loaves, 17 minutes for the larger loaf.
After the timer goes off, remove the lid and set the timer for the same amount of time as the first (if using a stone or cookie sheet, just set the timer for 30-35 minutes, rotating the pan if you need to in your oven for even browning). Take the loaf out when it is nicely browned – don’t be afraid to put it back in the oven until it looks browned. Sometimes I’ve found it may need up to another 5 minutes.
Remove immediately to a wire rack – I just dump the loaf from the dutch oven onto the rack (’cause the pot is HOT and heavy!), then turn it over. You’ll want to wait at least a half hour before cutting it, preferably an hour, otherwise it will gum up on the knife. Confession: many times I’m running late (surprise) and find I’m taking it out of the oven 10 minutes before we need to eat. So here’s a trick I learned cooking at a summer camp: use an electric carving knife! It slices quickly enough that it doesn’t gum up quite as much as it normally would when the bread’s still quite hot.
Do yourself a favor and make this bread as soon as you can – and prepare for the ooh’s and aah’s!
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Easy Artisan Bread Baked In An Enamel Dutch Oven
*Updated 4/2010*
- 3 cups warm water
- 1-1/2 TB instant yeast (only a scant TB now )
- 1 TB salt (only 2-1/2 tsp.)
- 2 cups whole wheat flour (3-1/2 c. w.w. flour – whole wheat white flour is best)
- 4-1/2 cups unbleached flour (only 3 c. unbleached flour)
- Put the yeast and salt in a bowl and add the water.
- Add all the flour and mix well.
- Put in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap (not airtight). Let set at room temperature for about 1-1/2 hours.
- Put in the refrigerator for up to 14 days (I prefer only about 1 week).
- When ready to bake, place an enameled dutch oven, with lid, in a 450 degree oven. Dust the dough with flour, grab a quarter, third, or half (depending on the size loaf you want) and cut off piece with a serrated knife. Using well-floured hands, shape gently into a ball and place on a piece of parchment paper resting on a cookie sheet. Dust the top with more flour.
- Let sit on the counter 30 minutes. Then slash the top of the loaf with a serrated knife.
- Transfer the loaf to the hot dutch oven using the edges of the parchment, replace the lid, and cook for 15 to 17 minutes.
- Remove lid and continue to cook for another 15 to 17 minutes, or until loaf is a golden brown.
- Remove to a cooling rack for 30 to 60 minutes before cutting.
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Very eager to try this recipe. I like that it requires minimal prep and can hang out in the fridge til needed! Also quite interested in your dutch oven trick.
Thanks for posting. I hope you will join me this week for Crock Pot Wednesday. Mister Linky will be up and ready for you on Tuesday. Thanks again
What a beautiful bread, I will have to try it! I love the idea of writing the time on the plastic wrap! Thanks for a great post!
Thanks for the fabulous instructions on this bread. I made it yesterday for dinner last night and it was excellent. I think it will become a routine. We were buying our favorite artisan bread at Safeway for a special treat at $3.60 a loaf!!! What a savins:)
I’m really interested in trying this recipe. Do you think you can use a regular cast iron dutch oven (not the enamel kind) for this?
Shayne- I looked back through the article I had from Cook’s Illustrated that used the dutch oven for this recipe and it just says “dutch oven” and doesn’t specify enameled. However, the pictures show an enameled one and their recommended pots are enameled. So ?… I think you should go for it and if you’re happy with the results, there’s your answer.
Thank you SO much for this recipe!! I made it last night for my Hubby and friends. They couldn’t believe that I made it! (I’m a cook, not a baker) From now on, my fridge will never be void of dough.
Thank you!
Whoo-hoo, Alissa- congratulations! Glad you found it helpful.
I gave this a try with a slight beer and vinegar modification and was very pleased. Thanks!
http://cookingroastingbrewing.blogspot.com/2010/03/simple-crusty-beer-bread.html
Heather, I have my batch aging in my fridge right now and will update you on how it turns out…Memorial Day, probably. I LOVE to make bread!
–pogonip
Made this bread as my first ever attempt at bread-baking, and I love it! I made a few modifications, adding two tablespoons of sugar to the yeast and salt, and chopping up eight cloves of garlic to mix in with the dough. I also forgot it on the counter over night, so it had lot of rising/resting time, but the resulting bread was very soft on the inside, crispy on the out, and flavored wonderfully with garlic. Best garlic bread I’ve ever tasted, and much cheaper to boot! Thank you so much for the easy recipe!
Does the dough need to go in the refrigerator or can it be baked after the rise?
Sorry, Anonymous, for not getting to your question earlier- no, you can bake it right away if you’d like. There’s less “sourdough-ness” and not as many bigger holes in the crumb, but still tastes great!
Jami,
I have made this bread twice now, but I don’t have an enamel dutch oven, only stainless steel. Have you baked it in a stainless steel pot? I have baked the bread on preheated pizza stones and the crust is delicious, but I do not have the large crumb factor going. Small crumb and somewhat dense. Any suggestions?
Rose
Rose- I’ve never tried stainless- the enamel is what America’s test kitchen recommended, I’m assuming because the lid is heavy and steam can’t escape so it stays in to create that good artisan crust. I don’t think it would hurt to try.
Also, I find I have much bigger crumb after the dough has time to “sour” in the fridge for 3-4 days. If you’re using regular whole wheat flour, it will make the crumb denser, too. Try the whole wheat pastry or just all-purpose to see if there’s a difference. It’s a lot of trial and error to see what you like best!
-Jami
Yum! I will be making this ASAP! Thanks for the great recipe!
I have heard that you must preheat your stone in your oven or it will crack due to the sudden temperature change. In fact, I recall reading this in an Food day article for no-knead bread. I wonder if that had something to do with your stone cracking?
I have a non-glazed Pampered Chef stoneware bowl and wonder if it would work to bake the bread it…if I preheated it. I am very excited to try this bread.
I love bread and I as a recent follower of your blog I must say that I am really enjoying it!
Linda- You may be right about the cracking- it’s been so long now I can’t remember what I did.
I’d say experiment with it- I think it should work… AND I just read about Gina’s method over at homejoys.blogspot.com where she puts a roasting pan lid over the bread to hold in the steam, similar to the enamel pot idea of my method. See what works with what you have!
What size dutch oven should one use?
What size dutch oven oven is appropriate?
I use a 6-qt, just because that was the size available when I bought mine at Walmart a few years ago. I also always use half the dough, making bigger loaves than the 5-minute a day book. If you make 3 or 4 smaller loaves out of a batch, a 3 or 4-qt. pot would work, too.
I just made this recipe–easy and quite tasty. I cut the recipe in half and immediately baked a loaf and served with freshly made basil butter. YUM!!. I will wait a few days to make the other loaf so I get that sourdough taste. Thank you for a great recipe!
This was super easy and good. My son asked, “Why haven’t you done this before?” I made mine in a large Walmart enamel dutch oven which I bough specifically for this. LOVE <3
I’m making this now…in rising stage…I’ll be using an unfinished terra cotta pan which I ‘seasoned’ for 24 hours (this is done for first time use) and then prepped with vegetable oil so I could use it tonight to bake the bread . I smell the sourdough aroma as it rises.
This looks easier than the Book instructions. Can’t wait to try the dutch oven method. Thank you for this post.
This looks amazing! I would like to try the recipe and wonder if I can bake the bread in an enamel turkey roaster?
Not sure how that would work, Christine, but a friend of mine bakes artisan bread on a pizza stone and covers it the first 15 min. with a roasting pan cover. Would that work for you?
This is so good. I also love to add white chocolate chips with craisins, or some chopped garlic with some chopped jalepenos. Yummy, any way.
This bread looks delicious! I prefer to make my own bread when I can…I like the idea of adding some cheddar and jalapeno into the mix
I just tried making this bread. I decided to let it “age” for 3 days in the fridge, so as to keep it from being too sour, but it’s still pretty strong tasting. Is that normal? My family isn’t used to sourdough, though, so maybe it’s just us. Also, it had a really small crumb and was pretty dense, but I’m guessing that’s from the higher percentage of whole wheat flour I used (I used 4.5 cups whole wheat and 2 cups white flour, so inverted from your original recipe). Anyways, I’ll keep playing with it. Bread can be so complicated! Especially when I’m trying to make it as high in whole wheat as possible.
Yes, I’ve found the more WW flour you add, the more dense the bread. Keeping the dough as “wet” as possible helps create interior holes as well. If you don’t want too much of a sour taste, bake the bread on the first or second day. It gets more ‘sour-y’ the longer it sits in the fridge. And, yes, keep trying different ways to make a loaf your whole family likes.