Stop Vilifying All Bread (Overnight White Wheat Bread)
WHAT IT IS: Okay. Okay. Listen. I’m been making this bread for a while now and I haven’t been quite ready to share it. But I think I’m ready. Are you ready? I think you’re ready. This requires a dutch oven. And ideally, a very large tub with a lid. Other than that, all you need is flour, water, salt, and yeast. And time. Lots of time. And patience maybe. And love? Sure, love is always a great addition to bread. As luck would have it, there is the cookbook of the same name, which has become my bread bible ( Flour Water Salt Yeast by Ken Forkish).
This is the way bread used to be made, before we industrialised the process and didn’t let it ferment. Grocery store bread is typically mixed and baked in as little as 2 hours. So yes, of course that stuff will not make you feel good.
INGREDIENTS: (makes two loaves)
1,000 grams all purpose white wheat flour (white flour is also wheat, so I’m calling it “white wheat flour”) I’m using grams because if you want to take baking seriously, you should be using grams, which if you don’t have a digital scale, then get a digital scale. BUT if you don’t have a scale, 1,000 grams is about 7 3/4 cups
780 g water, 90-95 degrees, or 3 1/3 cups
22 grams kosher or sea salt, or 1 tbslp + 1 tsp
.80 grams instant dried yeast, or little more than 1/4 tsp
Combine flour and water in a large tub until well mixed. Let rest for 20-30 mins, covered.
Add salt and yeast on top of dough mixture. Wet your hand so the dough doesn’t stick to you. Gently pull the dough and fold it over the salt and yeast. Repeat a few times until the salt and yeast are fully enclosed.
Using what Ken calls the “pincer method”, incorporate the salt and yeast fully into the dough by using your thumb and forefinger and making five or six “pinches” or cuts across the dough. Then fold that dough across itself and repeat the pincer method. If you need a visual, Ken has videos. Cover tub and let dough relax.
This dough needs two to three folds in the first 1 1/2 hr after its initial mix. So about 30 mins after mixing, give it a fold. After the last fold, cover and let rise overnight, 12-14 hours, or until it’s 2 1/2 - 3 times it’s original size.
Carefully transfer dough out of the container onto a lightly floured counter. Divide into two even portions. Flour hands. Handling the dough carefully (those air bubbles are your friends!), fold the dough about three times in on itself and flip, to create a seam. Now, it’s best to watch the Ken Forkish videos, but now drag the dough ball towards the edge of the counter, letting it tighten as you do, and giving it a quarter turn with each drag, until it feels nice and tight. Transfer to bowl or basket and cover with produce bag to let it proof for 1 hr or 1 1/4 hr. Repeat with other dough portion. meanwhile, preheat your oven to 450-475 degrees. Oven needs to be real hot. Preheat your dutch ovens for about 30 mins prior to baking bread.
How do you know your dough is ready? Use the “finger dent” test. Lightly flour a section of the dough. Poke it. If it springs back but not completely, it’s ready. if it springs immediately, it needs more time. if it doesn’t spring back at all, you’ve gone too far.
On a lightly floured counter, overturn your dough. Transfer to preheated dutch oven (I like to line it with parchment paper to help prevent burning), seam side down. Cover and bake for 30 mins. Remove cover and bake another 20 mins or more, until crust develops a dark crust. Carefully remove from dutch oven and let cool completely, preferably on a wire rack or something with good air flow.
Cool. You just made some real, ancient bread that won’t hurt your tummy.