Artisan Bread

Step 1

In a medium bowl add the warm water, salt and yeast and stir together. Let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes until the yeast bubbles up.

Step 2

In the bowl of your mixer add all the flour, then pour the yeast mixture over the flour and mix using the dough hook of your mixer, until it's all well incorporated and the dough comes clean from the sides of the bowl. I usually do this for about 5 to 7 minutes.

Step 3

Place the dough in a large plastic container, it needs room to rise, and put the lid on it, but do not close completely, there needs to be one corner left open to let the gases escape. Alternatively, you can use a large bowl, covered well with plastic wrap and poke a couple small holes in the top using toothpicks.

Step 4

Let the dough rise for 2 hours.

Step 5

The dough will be very sticky and elastic. It is recommended to bake this on a stone, however a regular baking sheet will work just fine. Cover the baking sheet, or stone with parchment paper.

Step 6

Add flour to your hands, and divide the dough in two pieces. Add more flour to your hands as necessary. Shape the dough into the desired shape for your bread and place it seam down on the baking sheet. Sprinkle some more flour on top of the loaves. Let the loaves rest for another 30 minutes so that they can rise a bit.

Step 7

Preheat oven to 450 F degrees. Before placing the bread in the oven, add a pan with a cup of water and place it in the bottom rack. Slash the top of your bread, to allow gases to escape.

Step 8

Bake the bread for 30 to 35 minutes. The water will allow for the bread to form a nice crusty top.

Step 9

Cool on a rack before serving.