Artisan Boule in 5 Minutes A Day

Summary
Prep time	10 min + rising time
Cook time	30 min @ 450
Source	Artisan Bread in 5 minutes A Day
Yield / serves	4 x 1-lb loaves
Rating	Yummy!

Note: this recipe doubles or halves easily.

Ingredients

• 3 c lukewarm water
• 1 1/2 T granulated yeast (1 1/2 packets)
• 1 1/2 T kosher salt
• 6 1/2 c unsifted, unbleached, all-purpose flour, measured with the scoop-and-sweep method
• cornmeal for peel

Preparation

Warm the water slightly; about 100F. Add yeast and salt to the water in a 5-quart bowl, or, preferably, in a resealable, lidded (not airtight) plastic food container or food-grade bucket. Don't worry about getting it all to dissolve.

Mix in the flour--kneading is not necessary. Add all of the flour at once. Do not pack the flour, just scoop and level off the cup. Mix with a wooden spoon, a high-capacity flood processor (14 cup or larger) fitted with the dough attachment, or a heavy-duty stand mixer fitted with the dough hook until the mixture is uniform. If hand-mixing and it becomes too difficult to incorporate the flour, you can reach into the mixing vessel with very wet hands and press the mixture together, but do not knead. Stop mixing when everything is uniformly moist, without dry patches. The resulting dough will be loose enough to conform to the shape of the container.

Allow to rise. Cover with a lid (not airtight) that fits well to the container you're using. Allow the mixture to rise at room temperature until it begins to collapse (or at least flattens on the top), approximately 2 hours, depending on the room's temperature and initial water temperature. Longer rising times will not harm the dough. The dough can be used at any time after this period. If feasible, refrigerate the dough at least 3 hours before shaping a loaf. Fully refrigerated wet dough is less sticky and is easier to work with than dough at room temperature.

Cloak and shape a loaf. Prepare a pizza peel by sprinkling liberally with cornmeal to prevent the loaf from sticking to it when you slide it into the oven. Sprinkle the surface of the dough with flour. Pull up and cut off a 1-pound (grapefruit size) piece of dough, using a serrated knife. Hold the mass of dough in your hands and add a little more flour as needed to it won't stick to your hands. Gently stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom on four sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go. Most of the dusting flour will fall off; it's not intended to be incorporated into the dough. The bottom of the loaf may appear to be a collection of bunched ends, but it will flatten out and adhere during resting and baking. The correctly shaped final product will be smooth and cohesive. The entire process should take no more than 30 to 60 seconds.

Place the shaped ball on the cornmeal-covered pizza peal. Allow the loaf to rest on the peel for about 40 minutes (it doesn't need to be covered). Depending on the age of the dough, you may not see much rise during this period; more rising will occur during baking.

20 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 450F with a baking stone or baking sheet placed on the middle rack. Place an empty broiler tray for holding water on any other shelf that won't interfere with the rising bread.

Unless otherwise indicated in a specific recipe, dust the top of the loaf liberally with flour, which will allow the slashing knife to pass without sticking. Slash a 1/4" deep cross, "scallop," or tic-tac-toe pattern into the top, using a serrated bread knife.

Once the oven is ready, with a quick jerking motion of the wrist, slide the loaf off the pizza peel and onto the preheated stone/pan. Quickly but carefully pour about 1 cup of hot water from the tap into the broiler tray and close the oven door to trap the steam. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the crust is nicely browned and firm to the touch. When you remove the loaf from the oven, it will audibly crackle, or "sing," when initially exposed to room-temperature air. Allow to cool completely, preferably on a wire cooling rack, for best flavor, texture, and slicing. The crust may initially soften, but will firm up again when cooled.

Store the remaining dough in the refrigerator in a lidded, but not air-tight, container and use it over the next 14 days. The dough can also be frozen in 1-pound portions in an airtight container and defrosted overnight in the refrigerator prior to baking day.