Staff of Life

No stories needed...just the facts. 4 ingredients. Simple directions. Be a hero!

Making and Storing the Dough In a mixer or in the a big plastic container, add the following in order:

• 3 cups lukewarm water (around 100 degrees) – a little warmer than body temp.

• 1 ½ TBSP granulated yeast – don’t worry if it doesn’t all dissolve but you can mix it a bit

• 1 ½ TBSP kosher salt (or other coarse salt)

• 6 ½ cups unsifted unbleached all-purpose flour (or bread flour) – measure each cup by scooping it and sweeping the top with the back of a knife to get a perfect, unsifted, unpacked cup of flour

Mix it all together (with a wooden spoon or in a mixer) – no kneading necessary.  Put the wet dough into a plastic container (big enough for it to at least double in size).  Cover it with a lid (not tight) and let it rise for about 2 hours.  You can do it for 5 hours and it won’t harm the result. Put it in the fridge until you’re ready to bake. Baking Day

• Grab a grapefruit-sized piece of dough (you can dust the top with flour and use a serrated knife – I used to do that now I just wet my hands and grab a hunk)

• Stretch the surface around to the bottom on all four sides – the bottom will look like a collection of bunched ends (don’t worry, it’s ARTISAN) J

• This should take about 30-60 seconds

• Let the loaf rise on a baking tray or pizza peel for 40 minutes.

• At 20 minutes, preheat the oven to 450 and put an empty broiler tray at the bottom of the oven.

• Once preheated, dust the top of the loaf with flour and put some creative slashes in it using your serrated knife.

• Pop it in the oven and put 1 cup of hot water in the bottom broiler pan and quickly close the oven door to trap the steam.

• The recipe says bake for 30 minutes but I always do it for 35 and it comes out perfect.