Real Italian Crusty Bread

Many food lovers have been on the bread journey. Tried this recipe and that, tried different yeasts, sourdough starters, making their own 'mother'. How to get the perfect crumb, perfect elasticity, perfect crust. Organic flour, bread flour, fresh ground wheat or soaked and sprouted wheat. So many variables.


This is a great place to stop and breathe and enjoy yourself. Can't mess this up. At all. It's impossible. And you end up with the most beautiful, crackled crusted, elastic Italian bread with gaping holes in the crumb...just pure bread joy. You've gotta try this bread. It isn't the easiest bread but for sure it's the best I've had. Lets do it.

At about 8pm, In a mixing bowl put 3 cups bread flour, 1/4 teaspoon dry yeast, and 2 teaspoons salt. Mix that up. And yes, 1/4 teaspoon is all. In fact you could make 10 loaves from the yeast in one packet.

Add 1 5/8 cups warmish water. Actually doesn't have to be warm, but since its cold here I use warm to get it started using your fingers kind of toss the flour to wet it, and after turning the bowl around a couple of times it should be a kind of wet goop. If there are dry spots just sprinkle a tad more water. Now cover with plastic wrap and put in a cold oven and leave it for 12-14 hours.

After first rising - 14 hours

Next day, between 8 and noon, check the dough. It should have tiny bubbles all over the top. Heavily flour a countertop and scrape out the dough.

Sprinkle with flour so it doesn't stick to the world.  Then with a scraper fold the dough in thirds like a piece of paper, cover with that piece of plastic and let rest 15 min. 

Rest covered 15 min.

Heavily flour a cotton towel

Meanwhile take a tea towel, or a cotton napkin, and the tighter the weave the better (never terry cloth), and rub flour into it. Lots of flour. Cover at least the area the bread will sit on when you move it onto this towel in the  next step.
After the 15 minutes, remove plastic wrap, flour it so you can handle it, and fairly quickly pick it up, and tuck the edges under all around kind of making a ball of socks. Set it on the cloth, cover with plastic again and another towel as well, and let rise 2 hours.

Form a boule (turn inside out)

90 minutes into rising though, put the oven rack on the very bottom level, turn on to 450, and put your oven-safe pot and lid inside. Make sure the lid is oven safe too. It'll get to heat for those last 30 minutes and be ready to make that wonderful crust.

Now it's been two hours of rising. Using two oven mitts, remove the pot to a hot pad on the counter, and with a mitt remove the lid (I always forget that the lid is scorching too).

With a scraper, kind of scrape the dough gently up from the towel, because its attached itself notwithstanding the cup and a half of flour you rubbed in, but just around the sides. Then put your hand under the towel, pick up the dough and flop it over into the pot. Try to aim well. If it sticks to the sides just don't worry about it. With the mitts, put the lid back on and all in the oven.

 

Bake 30 minutes. Then remove the Lid and bake another 20-30 minutes or until nice and brown. When done, with the mitts on, remove lid and dump the bread out on a cooking rack. Rap on the bottom. it sounds hollow when done. It'll pop and crackle and just sing wonderful serenades of bread love to you. Resist the temptation to cut into it right away. It needs to sit for 15 min or so and then it's fair game.




Hope you try this. It's so empowering to be able to make something this wonderful. Enjoy!

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Here's a quick time line for your bread:
-8pm Day 1  Mix dough, cover w/plastic, place in cold oven
-8-10am Day 2 Dump dough on floured surface, rest 5 min, fold and make a ball, cover with plastic and let rest 15 min.
-Flour a smooth cotton towel heavily
-After the short rest, remove plastic, form a boule, place on towel, cover with plastic and another towel, rise 2 hours.
-After 1 1/2 hours, place oven rack on lowest rung, heat oven to 450 with pot and lid inside.
-After 30 more minutes, dump bread upside down into pot, cover, bake 30 min.
-Remove lid and bake 20-30 min more or until browned.
-Flip out on a cooling rack to cool.