First, let me thank you for your support! Is good to know that you understand why I have to limit my time on the web. But i promise I’ll do my best to keep posting regularly. So today I am giving you crusty bread!
This bread is a tweak on the pane casareccio made by Due Spaghetti. Although, her bread is awesome, I like my bread very dry and very crusty and the no knead dough for me is too messy to work with. So, I reduced a little bit the amount of water and I changed the procedure quite a bit.
First I actually knead the bread until the dough is well combined, elastic and not too sticky. Then, I let the bread proof for a longer time after is already formed to get an airier crumb. Finally, I found that not keeping the bread in the dutch oven for the whole time and letting it cool down in the partially open oven helps in getting a dryer crumb. So that is what I did.
As you can see the crumbs turns out very hole-y and I can assure you the crust is pretty crusty. The bread pictured is made with whole wheat and that is the reason why is so dark, with regular flour the crust is of a nice golden shade.
BF loves this bread and I do to!
Ingredients
- 1 lb flour
- 1 and 1/3 cups water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon dry active yeast
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Directions
- Mix all the ingredients except for the oil and knead until well combined. You should get a very soft, but not too sticky dough.
- Grease a bowl with the oil and roll the dough in it, so that the dough won't stick to the bowl while rising. Cover the bowl plastic wrap and let raise overnight or about 12 hours.
- After the proofing, take the dough out of the bowl and shape into a loaf. Place the loaf onto a floured pizza peel or a silicon mat. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let raise for another 4-6 hours.
- Place a pizza stone or a cast iron dutch oven in the oven and warm it up the oven to 450F.
- when the oven is ready, place the dough on the pizza stone or the dutch oven.
- If you use the dutch oven, keep the lid on for the first 15 minutes of bread cooking and then take the lid off for the next 15 minutes.
- When the bread is golden turn off the oven and place the bread vertically against the side of the oven and let it cool in the oven, with the oven door left slightly ajar (you can use a wooden spoon to keep the door open).
- Allowing the bread to cool in the oven keeps the crust crunchy, because the steam that escapes as the breads cools off gets dried out and cannot turn the crust soggy.
- For the flour, use whatever you prefer. I had good results with bread flour, regular flour and half bread flour/half whole wheat flour.
Hi! I'm PolaM, the Italian cooking in the Midwest.
I LOVE bread! Just LOVE it. Germans are a big bread-eating people, so this is right down my alley!
Sofie Dittmann @thegermanfoodie recently posted..A Word on Baking Gear – Part 3: Scales & A GIVEAWAY
I love german bread! Especially the rolls with all the different seeds…. Delicious!
I am huge bread lover and yours came out soooo so so good!:)) Great photos dear!
Sandra’s Easy Cooking recently posted..The Power of Herbs: Basil
thanks! I love bread too! especially if it is crusty and airy!
che bel pane croccante, ha un aspetto splendido! per piacere passa nel mio blog, facendo il restyling ho perso tutti i contatti (750) che avevo con google friend connect, puoi iscriverti di nuovo? grazie e buona domenica!
Chiara recently posted..Alla ricerca dei miei followers perduti su Google friend connect !
Grazie! Sono passata e mi sono iscritta! Mi piace proprio il nuovo styling!
That looks like a good bread looking for a really good dip to match with it
Raymund recently posted..Chicken Binakol
Is even better to make sandwiches!
E favoloso questo pane, io lo gusteri con del prosciutto crudo o con dell’ossocollo.
Un abbraccio Daniela.
Daniela recently posted..Tagliatelle di castagne con pancetta e pecorino
Perdona l’ignoranza, ma l’ossocollo cos’e'?? Con il prosciutto ci sta benissimo, specie se ci si aggiunge un po’ di primo sale…
Wow, this bread looks absolutely perfect!! Job well done Pola
thanks! I love when I manage to get a perfect loaf of bread!
What a delicious bread – very fluffy and wonderful for sure, I just want to devour it all
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Latest: Tropical Caramelised Baked German Pancake
Choc Chip Uru recently posted..A Perfect German Morning
it is hard not to eat all in a day!
Look at all the nooks and cranies in that gorgeous bread!
Isn’t it great? (I fell like a proud mom with her kid
)
PolaM recently posted..Crusty bread
this bread looks great! i feel like dunking this bread into a nice warm bowl of soup!
Jenn and Seth (@HomeSkilletCook) recently posted..Rice Krispies Treats with Dulce de Leche and Chocolate Drizzle
that would be a great use of this bread!
PolaM recently posted..Crusty bread
Love me some bread! When in doubt about what to make for dinner I always make bread- then the rest just happens! LOL! This bread looks amazing. perfectly crunchy but chew in the middle!
And the house smells so good, guests are bound to be very impressed!
PolaM recently posted..Crusty bread
Cara Paola, ma saie che è proprio bello? adoro il pane con l’alveolatura come questa e la crosta spessa
buon week end!
Gio recently posted..Un anticipo d’estate…
Anche a noi piace, ma in america va poco, quindi bisogna imparare a farlo bene!
PolaM recently posted..Crusty bread
This looks just lovely! We will have to try your technique out. The tip on allowing it to cool in the oven with the door open is a great one. Now, what to enjoy with it – pane, burro e marmellata, pane e nutella, pane e formaggio, pane e affettati…
Due Spaghetti recently posted..La pasta fatta in casa
I read about it on Italian websites and it is a really great trick!
PolaM recently posted..Crusty bread
Mmmmm lovely! I miss good crusts since having moved to the U.S. from Germany! Looks like a gloriously crunchy version.
Kiri W. recently posted..Guest Post Thursday: Vanilla Bean Gelato With Lizzy From That Skinny Chick Can Bake!
Yep this one is a real crunchy one!
PolaM recently posted..Crusty bread
Looks fantastic! I love bread like this with all the little holes and pockets, crusty and chewy!
The Café Sucré Farine recently posted..Peanut Butter Tart w/ Shortbread Crust & Chocolate Ganache Glaze
I do to, but it is so hard to find over here! So i have to bake!
PolaM recently posted..Crusty bread
That is one gorgeous-looking loaf of bread! This is exactly how I love my breads – light and airy on the inside, and crusty and brown on the inside… I’ve never quite managed to get that result with my homemade breads before, though, so I’m totally going to have to try this technique. I’ve got high hopes for this recipe!
Isabelle @ Crumb recently posted..Balsamic Roasted Carrots
Let me know how it goes! from my baking experience I have understood that you need really slow rises to get the pockets. I think it has something to do with how gluten develops.
PolaM recently posted..Crusty bread
Beautiful bread! I like the air pockets through out, very nice
Rochelle recently posted..Ervilhas com Ovos Escalfados – Portuguese Comfort Food
Thanks! Those pockets are my pride!
PolaM recently posted..Crusty bread
With a bog bowl of warm soup this would be perfect!
RavieNomNoms recently posted..SweetBurgers with Chipotle Cilantro Cream
i have to try it with soup still… i’ll do it with my next loaf!
PolaM recently posted..Crusty bread
What a simple bread recipe, but it looks delicious!!
Heather @ Better With Veggies recently posted..Review of Vega One: Smoothies & On-the-Go Drinks
Good bread is only needs water, flour, yeast and salt and a bit of TLC!
PolaM recently posted..Crusty bread
Hi, there!
Thanks for posting about the Crusty bread recipe. I tried to make this bread once using my Zojirushi BB-HAC10 bread maker, but something went wrong, and it tasted weird.
Now I know that I put too much water in it. I saved and printed this recipe. Your instruction is easy to follow. Hope I can make it for the next time.
Let me know how it works out!
PolaM recently posted..Crusty bread
I still have to start baking bread from scratch (bread machine does not count) and every time I see something that I love I promise myself I will start soon. This is another one of those cases. I wonder if this will be the one?
Nuts about food recently posted..Roasted lemon and red onion chutney
It is really much easier than you would think. But then again, you have all those bakers around you and they are so cheap that I’m not sure it is worth it for you!
PolaM recently posted..Crusty bread
That looks yummy! I got to try out that recipe. For sure it will be a great combination with jams; the textures will complement each other.
Robin recently posted..painting videos
It does work great for jam!
PolaM recently posted..Crusty bread
Ha un aspetto delizioso questo pane
complimenti ciao
Stefania recently posted..Crema di cannellini all’ aglio rosa di lautrec & Pane nero
Grazie! Comincio a produrre dei pani che non mi fanno mancare il panettiere sotto casa…
PolaM recently posted..Crusty bread