Crusty Country Loaf

For quite a while now, I’ve been wanting to make a really great crusty bread. It’s just a wonderful staple to be able to make… great for pairing with soups, salads, wine and cheese, or just to eat with some olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I just love a good crusty bread!

On top of that, I was recently gifted a new La Cloche bread baker (Thanks, Dad!), which I was dying to try out. It’s basically an unglazed ceramic enclosure that creates a smaller oven within the larger oven, retaining more moisture and providing more even heat. If you’ve read some of my other posts, you may remember how I usually add some ice cubes or water beneath my baking stone. Well, with this baker, that is no longer necessary, as the moisture retention of the baker more accurately replicates a real bread oven. Thus, the bread can achieve a nice rise and soft, moist crumb without the addition of any water or ice in the oven. Hooray!

This recipe was actually included with the baker. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to try it. Maybe I could finally get my crusty bread! It’s actually pretty simple, using only very basic ingredients. It doesn’t even use any oil… just water, sugar, yeast, salt, and flour. And no starters are involved, so it can be made in just a few hours. Nice and simple!

I began by activating my yeast. I dissolved the sugar in 1/4 cup of the water, then stirred in the yeast.

I waited about 10 minutes for it to activate. It certainly got very foamy!

Next, I mixed the flour and salt in the bowl of my KitchenAid. It was certainly a lot of flour!

I added the yeast mixture plus the remaining water. The foaminess actually made the yeast a bit difficult to pour into the bowl, but after some stirring, I was able to manage.

Using my KitchenAid with a dough hook, I mixed it for about a minute, just to moisten the flour and form a rough dough. I began by mixing on “stir”, then moved to setting #2.

Next, I kneaded the dough on medium speed (#4) for about 12 minutes. Given the amount of dough, it was actually a bit difficult to prevent it from climbing up the sides of the bowl. A few times, I had to stop the mixer and press it back into the bottom of the bowl. After kneading, the dough was smooth, springy, and just a tiny bit sticky.

I placed it in an oiled bowl and lightly oiled the top before covering it with plastic wrap.

In 45 minutes, it had doubled in size. This was definitely a fast rising bread! (Of course, it could also be a result of the fairly warm temperature that day.)

I punched it down and turned it out onto my floured counter.

I kneaded it just a few times.

Then, I let it rest for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, I prepared my La Cloche for baking. According to the instructions, it should be oiled before the first use. So, I went ahead and oiled it. Then, I sprinkled it with cornmeal.

After the 5 minutes were up, it was time for shaping.

I shaped it into a round loaf by tucking the sides under and pinching at the bottom until the top was relatively tight. Then, I placed it on my prepared La Cloche base.

I covered it wth oiled plastic wrap. Now, I would not recommend what I did here, but I’ll come back to that.

I placed the La Cloche lid in the oven before preheating. This allows it to warm up with the oven, both allowing better baking and preventing thermal shock, which could crack the clay.

When I returned to my loaf, it had certainly doubled (again, in only 45 minutes). But, when I went to uncover it, I found that the plastic wrap was extremely stuck to the dough. Oops! I ripped off a decent amount of dough while peeling it off, losing some of my rise as well. Next time, I’ll try covering it with a towel instead.

Knowing I really couldn’t do much about it at this point, I went ahead and scored the dough. (I got to use my new lame! Yay!)

I covered it with the La Cloche lid and placed it in the oven. I baked it at 450 degrees F for 15 minutes before reducing the temperature to 400 and continuing to bake for 25 minutes. Then, I removed the La Cloche top and baked it for another 10 minutes, rotating after the first 5 to achieve an even crust. I removed it from the oven and placed it on a wire rack to cool. It certainly felt nice and crusty! 🙂

Just after removing it from the oven, I started to hear some crackling noises. They only lasted a couple minutes before going away. A couple hours later, I looked at the bread and noticed some little cracks in the outside of the crust on the edges of the loaf. That must have been where the crackling was coming from. This was going to be a seriously crusty loaf!

After letting it cool completely, I sliced into it. The crust was, indeed, wonderful! It was exactly what I was hoping for! The perfect crusty bread! I was so happy to have finally achieved that amazing crust.

Inside, the crumb was moist and soft with just a bit of chew. The flavor was great! It was slightly less open than I was hoping for, possibly due to the loss of rise when I peeled off the plastic wrap. But, despite that issue, it was just absolutely delicious!

In the future, I would be interested in trying a higher hydration level, which should result in a more open crumb. I also think it would be fun to try making a starter ahead of time, which could add more flavor. Maybe I could even try it with a sourdough starter, which I am currently in the process of cultivating (blog post coming soon). Basically, this loaf was just amazing and I would love to play with this (very simple) recipe.

 

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 teaspoons (1 package) active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 3/4 cups warm water
• 25 oz (5 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 1/4 teaspoons salt

Instructions

1. Dissolve sugar in 1/4 cup water. Stir in yeast. Let sit until frothy, about 10 minutes.
2. In bowl of stand mixer, mix flour and salt.
3. Add yeast mixture and the rest (1 1/2 cups) of the water to stand mixer bowl.
4. Mix on low speed (“stir” or #2 for KitchenAid) for about 1 minute to moisten the flour and form a rough dough.
5. Knead on medium speed (#4 for KitchenAid) for about 12 minutes, until dough is smooth, springy, and just a tiny bit sticky.
6. Place dough in oiled bowl and lightly oil top. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
7. Punch down dough and turn out onto floured surface. Knead a few times, then allow to rest 5 minutes.
8. Prepare base of La Cloche by sprinkling with cornmeal. (If not using La Cloche, sprinkle a baking sheet with cornmeal.)
9. Shape dough into round loaf by tucking the edges under and pinching at the bottom until a nice, tight top has formed. Place on La Cloche base (or prepared baking sheet). Cover with floured towel.
10. Allow to rise until doubled in size, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
11. About 20 minutes before the end of the rise, place La Cloche lid in oven on shelf at lowest level. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. (If not using La Cloche, place baking pan on shelf at lowest level and baking stone on shelf just above it. I can imagine that baking the whole time at 400 degrees F may also be preferable. Feel free to experiment.)
12. When finished rising, score top of loaf (see photos for my scoring, or feel free to score in whatever pattern you see fit).
13. Place La Cloche lid over loaf and place in oven. Bake for 15 minutes. Then, reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees F and bake for another 30-40 minutes. During the last 5-10 minutes, remove La Cloche lid. You may want to rotate it halfway through the uncovered portion of baking to achieve an even crust. (If not using La Cloche, place sheet pan on baking stone in oven. Place some ice cubes in baking pan beneath stone and quickly shut oven door. As mentioned before, you could consider baking at 400 degrees F the whole time, rotating halfway through. The bake time may be different, so monitor the loaf carefully.)
14. Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool completely.