Saturday White Bread

1000 grams all-purpose unbleached flour
720 grams water, 95°f
21 grams salt
4 grams “active dry” yeast

Autolyse
Combine flour and water in a large bowl. Mix with hands until just combined. Cover and let sit 25 minutes to completely autolyse.


Mix
Sprinkle yeast and salt on top. Wet hand and grab under the dough, then fold across to cover. Repeat 5 times moving around in a circle. Mix by making pincers with your thumb and forefinger until roughly combined. Cover and let sit for two minutes.

Mix again for about 30 seconds, until it starts to firm up. Cover and let sit for 10 minutes.


Fold
Wet hand and grab under the dough, then fold across to cover. Repeat 5 times moving around in a circle. Loosen the dough all the way around, then reach under and flip the whole dough ball so the folds are on the bottom.

Cover and let sit for one hour, then fold again.

Cover and let rise for 4 more hours (5 total after mixing), until tripled in size.


Divide
Flour a work surface about 2 feet wide.

Flour your hands and sprinkle a bit of flour around the edges of the tub. Tip the tub slightly and gently work your floured free hand beneath the dough to loosen it from the bottom of the tub. Gently ease the dough out onto the work surface without pulling or tearing it.

With floured hands, pick up the dough and ease it back down onto the work surface in a somewhat even shape. Dust the area in the middle, where you’ll cut the dough, with a bit of flour. Cut the dough into 2 equal-size pieces.


Shaping
Shape the dough halves one at a time.

Using flour instead of water to keep it from sticking, do the same grab-and-pull procedure as you did in the folding step, working your way around the dough, then flipping it to rest on the folds.

Gently pull the ball toward you across the surface, using friction to build up a little bit of tension in the ball. Give it a quarter turn and repeat, working your way all the way around the ball.

Repeat with the other half of the dough if you’re making two loaves, or move it immediately to the refrigerator to halt the yeast and save it for later. You can divide it in two if you’re planning on making pizza.


Proofing
Line a basket or colander with lint-free cloth. Dust it generously with flour.

Place the shaped ball seam-side-down in the basket. Cover with a dish towel or inverted bowl and let it sit until ready to bake.

Proofing should take about an hour, maybe an extra 15 minutes if your kitchen is colder. Poke it with a finger to see if it’s done. If it springs back right away, it’s not ready.

About 20 minutes into the proof, start preheating your oven and dutch oven.


Baking
Preheat the oven to 475°f with the dutch oven inside. Give it long enough to fully heat the dutch oven all the way through. Like 40 minutes. Be careful not to burn yourself on the dutch oven! But you probably will anyway because you never listen.

When proofing is done, pull the dutch oven out and remove the lid. Carefully lift the dough ball out of the proofing basket. Flip it (so it is now seam-side-up) and gently drop it into the hot dutch oven. Replace the cover and put the dutch oven back in the oven. The cover holds in the steam with allows the bread to oven-rise.

Bake covered for 30 minutes. Remove the cover and bake for an additional 20 minutes, until medium dark brown all the way around.

Tip the loaf out of the dutch oven and let rest for 20 minutes before slicing. Store in a plastic bag.

If you’re baking a second loaf, give your dutch oven 5 minutes in the oven to re-heat before putting the second loaf in.