Yeast Bread Baked in a Dutch Oven

A few weeks ago I had a lot of traffic on this blog from homesteadingtoday.com. A website that has all sorts of really interesting information about all sorts of things!! I put it on my bookmark list and take a peek about once a week.

At any rate I found this most interesting bread recipe from a contributor, "CJ" , complete with beautiful pictures of his finished product and I could not resist giving it a try.

I was a goner when he listed King Arthur flour as his favorite flour as I also prefer it for many things.

Then when I saw the picture, big fat uneven air holes and crusty as all get out!! Looked like a European Artisan bread that is so hard to recreate in a home oven. Plus a very long very slow rise. All of the elements are here for great bread. Had to try it!!

Ingredients:

3 C. King Arthur all purpose flour
1 1/2 C. tepid water
1 T. Kosher Salt
1/4 t. instant yeast 

So,  on Wednesday morning I decided to whisk all of the dry ingredients together, pour in the water and stir just until everything is incorporated. Cover in a buttered or oiled crock and let it sit at room temperature for about 2 hours. Then, refrigerate until ready to use (up to a week) or just leave on the counter for up to 18 hours.  (I opted to leave in a covered oiled crock for 2 hours then place in the downstairs refrigerator until Sunday.  The kids are coming for a fried chicken Sunday diner and the bread should go great with that menu.)

Sunday morning after fetching the refrigerated dough I  placed it on a floured work surface and kneaded it a few turns until it was quite smooth and elastic.  It was then placed on a large 24" x 24" piece of parchment paper on a clean work surface.  I cut 4" squares out of the corners and centered the shaped dough onto the paper.

I  placed the parchment and the dough into a medium sized bowl, covered with plastic wrap then a clean tea towel, and set to raise for 3 hours.

Preheat a covered Dutch oven (clay or cast iron, metal WILL NOT work) at 500 degrees F.

Pick up the edges of the parchment and place dough into the hot Dutch oven and reduce the heat to 475 degrees, then bake covered for 35 minutes. Remove the lid and bake another 10-15 minutes.

The loaf was just beautiful and everything I anticipated.

The originator of the recipe did not use parchment but simply inverted the dough into the hot dutch oven.  I did not want to chance getting burned and used the parchment for ease of transfer.

Cool, slice, and enjoy.