How to bake your own bread

Would you like to know how to bake your own bread? Would you like to prepare a loaf like a pro? It is an ancient art. It is a basic food. But oven fresh, home made bread tastes like heaven.

We love baking bread at Live-Bio and because secrets are only for those who are scared, we would like to share our technique. It may sound more complicated than other recipes you may find, but bread baking is a science and it is good to approach it as such. If you stay with us we will teach you everything in practice, so when you leave Live-Bio you don’t just go home well rested but also fulfilled that you learnt an ancient yet always enjoyable art.

The basic ingredients are only two: flour and water. Yeast is optional and learning to prepare your own sourdough without yeast can dramatically improve the taste of your loaf. A pinch of salt also helps and so does honey. If you want…

The equipment is also pretty basic; all you really need is a bench, a pot, a scale and an oven. If you want to take it to the next level however, I recommend using a Dutch oven (cash iron or clay pot) for baking, a banneton for shaping and a good kneading machine to simplify the process.

Patience is a baker’s biggest virtue!  Traditional bakers carry the wisdom of generations and a good loaf will need a fair few hours of waiting. Thankfully for us at Live-Bio that’s easy, all we do is watch the sailing boats pass by the blue waters of the Aegean Sea.

Here is the step by step approach for a yeast-based bread:

Step 1

Mix 1 kilogram of flour with 675 ml of water. With experience you will learn to mix with less precision, but to start with stick to the recipe! Use no yeast in this first step. Prepare your elastic dough and let it rest for 30 minutes. This step is called autolysis.

Step 2

Add the yeast (or even better the sourdough). Mix (or preferably fold) the dough until the yeast is well blended. Transfer the dough in an oiled container. Let it rest for 90-120 minutes.

Step 3

Perform a new fold in the oiled container. Cover the container and let it stand for 30 minutes.

Step 4

Perform a second fold, cover and wait for another 45 minutes. Just wait, nine pregnant women cannot give birth in one month!

Step 5

Divide the dough in two and fold four times. Be gentle as you don’t want to release the gases that have started developing. Turn the mixture upside down, putting the seams at the bottom, lightly flour the top and cover with a towel for 15-30 minutes.

Step 6

The loaf is ready for final shaping when you give it a gentle tug and it shows some stretch, not pulling back immediately. Perform another four folds.

Step 7

Sprinkle flour liberally on a smooth cloth and place in the proofing baskets (bannetons)

Step 8

Put the loaves in the baskets with the towels, seam side facing up

Step 9

Cover and place in the fridge for the final proof. This should take 60-90 minutes and the loaves should nearly double in size. If they more than double, they may be approaching over-proofing

Baking:

• Heat up the oven to 260°C with the Dutch oven inside. Remove Dutch oven from the oven
• Flip the proofing basket over the Dutch oven
• Spray the surface of the loaf with water
• Using a knife, slash two long cuts on the top of the dough at a roughly 30 degree angle
• Cover the Dutch oven and place at the bottom of the oven for 15 minutes
• After 15 minutes lift the lid of the Dutch oven for a moment, to vent the steam and heat
• Lower the oven temperature to 230°C
• Replace the lid and leave in the oven for another 15 minutes
• After the total of 30 minutes baking (15 plus 15 minutes), remove the cover from the Dutch oven
• Move the Dutch oven on the lower rack (not the bottom of the oven any more)
• Leave in for another 15-20 minutes

Final tests that the loaf is done:

• Colour: a matter of taste. The darker the loaf the better it holds its crust
• Feel: loaf should feel light in hand
• Sound: tap the bottom of the loaf, should sound thumpy and hollow. If dampened, bake for another 10 minutes at 200C

Don’t feel intimidated by the number of steps and the precision required. Just try it! When it’s ready smell the warm bread. A few hours ago this was only flour and water! Apply a dash of fresh butter (no margarine please!) Gourmet cousine is amazing, but some of the best things in life are the simplest.

Big thank you to Chanel Cartell and Stevo Dirnberger from HowFarFromHome for great pics!