Bread with a Difference, Dutch Oven Style:
Home-made bread: there really is nothing quite like it. The smell of it wafting out the kitchen can make even the dullest rented flat feel like home. There is something earthy about baking bread, something that appeals to the simplest of instincts: those of home, family and food. Many home bakers constantly experiment in search of the perfect bread recipe, experimenting with different grains, seeds and flours, often with impressive results. Unfortunately, the cooking stage can sometimes let down the perfect bread recipe. Modern domestic ovens just aren’t made for bread-baking, as moisture is vented out of them, producing a dry heat which tends to lead to dry bread. A wetter, steamier oven will produce moist, soft loaves with deliciously crusty outsides: the holy grail of bread-making.
Traditionally, bread was baked in wood-fired ovens very similar to the pizza ovens seen in most modern Italian restaurants. However, it’s not easy to build this kind of oven in the average domestic kitchen! The solution is to use a Dutch oven: a large cast iron cooking pot. Dutch ovens retain moisture, so the steam stays in the pot while the bread is cooking. A Dutch oven is a cheap, easy way to transform your bread baking.
Dutch ovens cook bread in a very similar way to professional baking ovens used by commercial bakers. Those ovens use steam injection to keep the bread moist as it cooks. A Dutch oven does the same thing, without the need for expensive equipment. It gets and stays very hot: cast iron is a great heat absorber. The tight-fitting lid keeps steam in the pot, preventing drying, with fantastic results.
Making bread in a Dutch oven is very easy, not just because of the cooking method, but the recipe needed. Dough for bread that is to be cooked in a Dutch oven doesn’t need to be kneaded. It can simply be left to rise, shaped, and cooked. This makes Dutch oven baking perfect for beginner bakers: if you’ve been scared off in the past by the seemingly complicated bread-making process, use a Dutch oven.
Cooking bread in a Dutch oven seems to bring bread-making back to its origins. Many of us are reluctant to try making bread, believing it to be a complicated process, almost akin to alchemy. It really isn’t, but it’s not hard to see why so many have that view. Look at a bread recipe, and it will often appear long and difficult. However, people have been baking bread all over the world for thousands of years. It is a fundamental part of our culture, referenced in religion and common phraseology. The concept of ‘breaking bread’ is a highly powerful one. The breaking of the loaf and sharing of it at the table is a representation of community and family. ‘Bread’ in slang can mean, simply, ‘food’. The loaf of bread in the kitchen is almost part of the furniture, central to how and what we eat.
When you think of bread in these kinds of terms, what do you think of? It’s probably not a sliced supermarket loaf. It’s more likely to be exactly the kind of bread you can make in a Dutch oven, with very little effort. Dutch oven loaves both look and taste wonderful. The inside (or ‘crumb’) is soft, melting in the mouth. The crust is thick, crispy and full of flavour. Think about that dipped in some warming soup, matched with tangy cheese, or simply slathered in creamy butter. These are simple pleasures indeed; but very tasty ones. This is the kind of food that we dream of when we dream of home.
Perhaps you’ve struggled for months trying to make the perfect loaf, or perhaps you’ve thought it wasn’t worth trying. Dutch oven baking is the answer. It does not have to stop at basic bread either. You could try flavoring with herbs and seeds, for example, or making rolls rather than loaves. You can also try other kinds of baking in a Dutch oven, including biscuits and pastries. The Dutch oven is one of those most rare and useful kitchen utensils: something that is both highly versatile and very easy to use. So what are you waiting for? Get baking!
INGREDIENTS:
1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm water
3 cups all-purpose flour , plus more for dusting, white, whole wheat,
a combination of the two can be used also
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
cornmeal or
wheat bran , for dusting
PREPARATION:
In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add the flour and salt, stirring until blended.
The dough will be shaggy and sticky.
Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rest at least 8 hours, preferably
12 to 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
The dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles.
Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it.
Sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice.
Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let it rest for about 15 minutes.
Using just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to the work surface or to your
fingers, gently shape it into a ball. Generously coat a clean dish towel with flour,
wheat bran or cornmeal.
Put the seam side of the dough down on the towel and dust with more flour, bran or
cornmeal. Cover with another towel and let rise for about 1 to 2 hours.
When it’s ready, the dough will have doubled in size and will not readily spring back
when poked with a finger.
At least 20 minutes before the dough is ready, heat oven to 475 degrees.
Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in the oven
as it heats.
When the dough is ready, carefully remove the pot from the oven and lift off the lid.
Slide your hand under the towel and turn the dough over into the pot, seam side up.
The dough will lose its shape a bit in the process, but that’s OK. Give the pan a firm shake
or two to help distribute the dough evenly, but don’t worry if it’s not perfect; it will
straighten out as it bakes.
Cover and bake for 30 minutes.
Remove the lid and bake another 15 to 20 minutes, until the loaf is beautifully browned.
Remove the bread from the Dutch oven and let it cool on a rack for at least
1 hour before slicing.
