Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes A Day Whole Grain Recipe
This recipe that comes from the book "Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes A Day" (2007 by Jeff Hertzberg MD and Zoe Francois author) was a revolutionary idea that makes bread baking simple. Don't think this means you can bake homemade bread in just 5 minutes. The process is to make the "master dough" in 5 minutes, then refrigerate up to 14 days. Each day, you cut off a pound of dough and proof it for up to 90 minutes, then bake it for 30 minutes. Genius!
Servings 1 loaf
Equipment
- 1 5-gallon food grade bucket with lid easily found at restaurant supply stores TIP: Drill a couple of holes in the lid.
- 1 Baking Stone highly recommended for serious bread baking for crispier crusts
Ingredients
- 5 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
- 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast can decrease
- 1 tablespoon Kosher salt can adjust to taste or health concerns
- 1/4 cup vital wheat gluten (or vital wheat gluten flour) 4 tablespoons
- 4 cups lukewarm water about 100 degrees F
Instructions
Optional bread toppings
- 1 to 2 tablespoons of whole seed mixture for sprinkling on top crust: sesame, flaxseed, caraway, raw sunflower, poppy, and or anise
Master Dough Recipe:
- First, measure the dry ingredients into a 5-quart bucket or bowl, and whisk them together (you can also use a fork, or if it’s lidded, just shake them well). Mixing the dry ingredients first prevents the vital wheat gluten from forming clumps once liquids are added:
Mix-In Wet Ingredients:
- Add the water to form a very wet dough. Don’t add additional flour to dry this out:
- Cover loosely (leave lid open a crack) and allow to rise for two hours at room temperature (if you decreased the yeast, you’ll need more time). NEVER PUNCH DOWN or intentionally deflate. The dough will rise and then begin to collapse. Refrigerate and use over the next 14 days, tearing off one-pound loaves as you need them.
Baking day:
- On baking day, cut off a grapefruit-sized piece of dough (about a pound), using a serrated knife or a kitchen shears:
- Quickly shape a loaf. Basically, you pull the top around to the bottom, rotating quarter-turns as you go. DON’T KNEAD or otherwise knock all the gas out of the loaf:
Dough resting time:
- Cover the loaf loosely with plastic wrap and let it rest on a pizza peel covered with cornmeal or parchment for 90 minutes (40 minutes if you’re using fresh, unrefrigerated dough. Whole grains take a longer rest than white doughs. Depending on the age of the dough, you may not see much rise; our loaves depend more on “oven spring.”
Bake the loaf:
- Thirty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C), with a baking stone placed on a middle rack. Place an empty broiler tray (I use an oven-proof skillet) for holding water on any other rack that won’t interfere with rising bread.
- Just before baking, use a pastry brush to paint the top with water and sprinkle with optional seed mixture. Slash the loaf with 1/4-inch deep parallel cuts across the top (or a singe lengthwise cut). Use a serrated bread knife held perpendicularly to the loaf:
- …and carefully pour 1 cup of hot tap water into the broiler tray (or skillet or pan), which is essential for creating a great crust):
- After a 30-minute bake, cool on a cooling rack, and serve however you’d like. You have the basis for a complete, nutritious meal, bursting with healthy vegetable oils (from wheat germ), fiber (from wheat bran), and vitamins.
Notes
Recipe source: Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes A Day