Easy Artisan Bread
First thing you’ll do is warm the water to about 100°F, a little colder and a little hotter is fine, but do not exceed 110°F. Put water in a measuring cup in the microwave in 30 second increments, checking temperature with a meat thermometer.
Add water to a large bowl, add in the yeast and the salt, whisk together till yeast and salt are dissolved.
Add the flour to the mixture and stir with a wooden spoon till everything is good and wet. Using a silicone spatula to help remove the dough from the wooden spoon and to get dough off the sides of the bowl.
Once the dough is mixed, just cover it with a kitchen towel and let it rise in a warm spot for two-three hours. The dough will double in size. (If your house is cold, turn your oven on to warm up your kitchen and put the bowl close to the warm area. If its warmer outside then inside the house, you could even put it outside.)
During the last 30 minutes of the dough rising process, place the dutch oven pot with the lid in the oven, turn oven to 450°F, and after the oven reaches 450°, keep dutch oven in the oven for an additional 20 minutes.
Lay a piece of parchment paper on the counter and sprinkle some flour on the bottom part of the parchment paper that’s closest to you.
Use a silicone spatula to scrape the dough into a pile and dump on the floured part of the parchment paper. Try to be gentle with the dough, the more it gets handled, the more gases that escape.
Using the silicone spatula form it into a loaf shape by scooping up the dough from the bottom of the pile and placing it on top. You don’t need to focus on making a perfect loaf, just give it a shape.
Lastly, grab the corners of the parchment paper closest to you and use them to gently flip the loaf onto the center of the parchment paper. The dough may end up a little goofy looking and that’s fine. If it bother you go ahead and give it a gentle shape-up. I recommend you leave the shape as is was during the flop. The more the loaf of touched, the less fluffy the bread will be.
Go ahead and make a few clean cuts about 1/2 inch deep in the top of the loaf. I recommend adding some cuts, it’ll give it a better crunchier crust on top.
Lift the dutch oven lid, (yes you had the lid on this entire time), grab the sides of the parchment paper and transfer the loaf to the dutch oven. Place the lid back on and place in the oven, yes at 450°F, for 35 minutes.
After 35 minutes, take the lid off and bake another 5-10 minutes until the top is golden brown.
Remove the bread from the dutch oven by the parchment paper and cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before slicing.
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups warm water, 100°F
1 packet active dry yeast, or 2.25 teaspoons quick rise
1/2 tablespoon fine grain salt
3 1/4 cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting (bread flour is ok, but not needed)
