Pane Artigianale

I’ve been experimenting with a couple of ways to make artisanal bread (pane artigianale), one that involves a starter and stand mixer and one that doesn’t. The no-starter-no-knead method is easier and seems to work as well as--or even better than--the other, so I’ve desctibed only this method here. (If you’re curious, the starter method for pane works as it does with the ciabatta recipe but without the coating of flour.) Some recipes call for baking bread inside a dutch oven to create the steam necessary for a good crust; however, I’ve found that steaming the oven itself works even better. Note that this bread dough requires a minimum of 20 hours to rise, so plan ahead!

Bread Dough Made Without Starter or Kneading:

400 g King Arthur Organic Bread Flour (12.7% protein, but could also go up to 13%)

2 g active dried yeast

2 g diastatic malt powder or 1 tsp honey

300 g warm water (100°F)

1 1/3 tsp (about 8 g) sea salt

1. In a small bowl, mix together the warm water, yeast, and malt/honey until dissolved. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit for 10 to 15 minutes.

2. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour and salt. (Other bread recipes add salt last to avoid harming the yeast, but we’ve already given the yeast a head start here.)

3. Add the yeasty liquid to the flour mixture and stir until just combined. Don’t worry about making it smooth. Do not overmix.

4. Place on a lightly floured work surface. Knead for 10 seconds to get it round. Do not over-knead. 

5. Cover with an upside-down bowl and let sit for 30 minutes.

6. Do not knead. Place dough in a lightly-floured bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator (41°F) for 16 to 24 hours. This slow rise develops the bread’s flavor.

7. After the long rise, sprinkle a little flour on parchment paper and gently transfer the dough to it.

8. Do not knead. (I know you want to.) Sprinkle some flour on top of the dough and loosely cover it with plastic wrap and a dish towel.

9. Let the covered dough rise (proof) for 3 1/2 hours at room temperature. Halfway through, if the dough has spread out more than you’d like, gently fold it over once or twice and reshape it back into a tighter ball.

10. When there’s an hour remaining in this last rise, begin this steamed cooking process:

a. Place a cast-iron pan in the oven on the center rack. (You can also use a baking steel or stone, but I prefer the cast-iron pan because it keeps the circular dough from spreading out too much.)

b. Place two bread pans on the same rack, one on each side of the cast-iron pan. These will be used for steaming.

c. Preheat the oven to 500°F for one hour.

d. With 10 minutes remaining on the preheat, roll up six absorbent dish towels and place in a Pyrex dish of water. Microwave until boiling slightly, about 5 minutes.

e. Separately, microwave 1 cup of water until it is boiling gently.

f. Use tongs to transfer three hot towels into each of the bread pans in the oven. Pour 1/2 cup of boiling water, as well, into each.

g.  Let steam develop in the oven for 5 minutes.

h. Throw some cornmeal on the cast-iron pan and gently transfer the bread from the parchment to the pan. Make your cuts in the top of the dough using a knife or razor blade. Quickly close the oven door to trap in the steam.

i. Turn the oven down to 425°F.

j. Bake bread for 35 to 40 minutes. After the first 10 minutes, remove the two steam pans. (I like a dark crust, so I normally go the full 40 minutes.)

k. Turn OFF the oven. Remove the bread and cast-iron pan.

l. Remove the bread from the cast-iron pan, and then return the loaf to the OFF oven, placing it directly on the middle rack. Leave the oven door ajar 3 inches. Let the bread cool from hot to warm there: this method prevents any released moisture from softening the crust.

m. Once the bread has cooled to warm, remove and enjoy!