5 Minute bread

Impress friends and relatives with this one! This truly is a very easy, yet delicious bread.

When we first moved to this little town, I missed a few things. Fresh baked bread was one of them. Now if you have read previous posts you would realised that I am a little bit impatient with food. I like it fast, but never to compromise on the taste, or any of the other senses. I searched and searched, and here it is! Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day, by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. It's enough dough to make 4 small loaves, the rest, just keep in the fridge until needed.

3 Cups luke warm water
1.5 tablespoon granulated yeast
1.5 tablespoon salt
6.5 cups unsifted, unbleached, all purpose white flour

In a plastic food container with a lid (5L) add warmed water, it should feel slightly warmer than body temperature.
Add yeast and salt, mix a little to dissolve. (Don't worry if all is not completely dissolved)
Add all the flour at once, mix with a wooden spoon until mixture is uniformly moist, and no dry patches.
Cove container with the lid, not airtight, and allow mixture to rise at room temperature, until it collapses (about 2 hours)

Dough ready for refrigeration  or baking

You can use this mix to make bread anytime after this step. Since refrigerated dough is less sticky to shape, refrigerate overnight.
Dough can be kept for up to 2 weeks.



When baking bread:

Line a flat tray with baking paper and sprinkle with flour (I used a pizza tray). The dough will sit on this to bake.
Sprinkle dough in container with flour, pull of 1/4 chunk of dough.
Sprinkle with more flour and shape into a ball by pulling on all sides, to the bottom. This step should take no more than 30 - 60 seconds.
Place on the floured surface on the flat baking tray, allow to rise for approx 40 minutes. No need to cover, and it may not rise much at this stage, don't be concerned.

Preheat oven at 230 deg celcius/ 450 Deg F. Place a metal tray on the bottom of the oven.

I used kitchen scissors and snipped the top in 3 places in a line, to look like chevrons.
Place the dough in the oven. Pour a cup of water in the tray at the bottom of the oven to create steam, close the door immediately to trap steam. This creates a crusty bread.
Bake for about 30 minutes, until crust is golden, firm, and sounds hollow when tapped.

ENJOY