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5 Minute Artisan Bread

By Chef UK on September 18, 2008

Photo by Breadylady

47 Reviews

Prep Time: 0 mins
Total Time: 30 mins
Yield: 4 1lb loaves

Photo by Breadylady

About This Recipe

"This is the basic 'Boule' bread mix from the book "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois. I've mainly posted this recipe so that I don't have to hook out the book every time. The dough is stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, taking out a bit each day as you need it, forming it and baking it. A forum I belong to love this bread, which is what inspired me to get the book. Most of them cook it in a Remoska, which is a gadget that I find invaluable. Remoska's are from Checkoslavakia, and I believe they've just come to the States. In the UK they're available from Strongly recommend getting the book, if you like this bread. They have lots of different kinds of bread which you make in this way (also sweet ones), plus ideas on how to ring the changes, recipes to use up the stale bread, etc. PS Someone said they were having difficulty getting hold of the book, so I tried to post an Amazon link for it here. But it just comes out as html gobbledey gook! If anyone knows how to do it, please let me know. Otherwise, try Amazon, guys :-) Very, very worth getting the book."

Ingredients

3 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast ( 2 packets)
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt or 1 1/2 tablespoons other coarse salt
6 1/2 cups flour, unsifted, unbleached, all-purpose ( not strong)

Directions

Preparing Dough for Storage:.
Warm the water slightly. It should feel just a little warmer than body temperature. Warm water will rise the dough to the right point for storage in about 2 hours. With cold water it will need 3-4 hours.
Add the yeast to the water in a 5 quart bowl or, preferably, in a resealable, lidded (not airtight) plastic food container or food-grade bucket. Don't worry about getting it all to dissolve.
Mix in the flour and salt - kneading is unnecessary. Add all of the flour at once, measuring it in with dry-ingredient measuring cups, by gently scooping up the flour, then sweeping the top level with a knife or spatula. Don't press down into the flour as you scoop or you'll throw off the measurement. Mix with a wooden spoon, a high-capacity food processor (14 cups or larger) fitted with the dough attachment, or a heavy duty stand mixer fitted with the dough hook until the mixture is uniform. If you're hand mixing and it becomes too difficult to incorporate all the flour with the spoon, you can reach into your mixing vessel with very wet hands and press the mixture together. Don't knead, it isn't necessary. You're finished when everything is uniformly moist, without dry patches. It takes a few minutes, and will yield a dough that is wet and loose enough to conform to the shape of its container.
Allow to rise. Cover with lid (not airtight or it could explode the lid off). Allow the mixture to rise at room temperature until it begins to collapse (or at least flattens on the top), approx 2 hours, depending on room temperature, and initial water temperature Longer rising times, up to 5 hours, won't harm the result.
You can use a portion of the dough any time after this period. Fully refrigerated dough is less sticky and easier to work with than dough at room temperature.
On Baking Day:.
prepare your loaf tin, tray, or whatever you're baking it in/on. Sprinkle the surface of your refrigerated dough with four. Pull up and cut of a grapefruit-size piece of dough (c 1 lb), using a serrated knife.
Hold the mass of dough in your hands and add a little more flour as needed so it won't stick to your hands. Gently stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom on all 4 sides, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go. Most of the dusting flour will fall off - that's fine, it isn't meant to be incorporated. The bottom of the loaf may appear to be a collection of bunched ends, but it will sort itself out during resting and baking.
The correctly shaped final product will be smooth and cohesive. The entire process should take no more than 30 - 60 seconds.
Rest the loaf and let it rise in the form, on the tray/pizza peel, for about 40 minutes Depending on the age of the dough, you may not see much rise during this period. That's fine, more rising will occur during baking.
Twenty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 450°F Place an empty broiler tray for holding water on any other shelf that won't interfere with the rising bread.
Dust and Slash. Dust the top of the loaf liberally with flour, which will allow the slashing knife to pass without sticking. Slash a quarter inch deep cross, diagonal lines, or tic-tac-toe pattern on top using a serrated knife.
After a 20 min preheat you're ready to bake, even though the oven thermometer won't be at full temperature yet. Put your loaf in the oven. Pour about 1 cup of hot water (from the tap) into the broiler tray and close the oven to trap the steam.
Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the crust is nicely browned and firm to the touch.
Store the rest of the dough in the fridge in your lidded (not airtight) container and use it over the next 14 days. The flavour and texture improves, becoming like sourdough. Even 24 hours of storage improves the flavour.
This is the standard bread. There are loads of variations - both savory and sweet - in the book.

Private Note

No Notes

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size: 1 (1604 g)

Servings Per Recipe: 1

Amount Per Serving: %
Calories 783.2
Calories from Fat 27: 47%

Amount Per Serving: %
Total Fat 3.0g: 4%
Saturated Fat 0.4g: 2%
Cholesterol 0.0mg: 0%
Sugars 0.5 g
Sodium 2632.4mg: 109%
Total Carbohydrate 160.5g: 53%
Dietary Fiber 9.1g: 36%
Sugars 0.5 g: 2%
Protein 26.4g: 52%

Reviews

"I'm in love with this method and recipe. It takes a minimum of effort for great bread several times a week. I used weight instead of volume for better control (32.6 oz AP flour, 25.6 oz water, 0.49 oz active yeast, 0.88 oz kosher salt). I also used whole wheat flour for 25% of the total flour by weight)."

By Red Apple Guy on October 10, 2009 | 966358
"I made this last week on a Friday & the dough was finished off by Tuesday! The only change i made was i used bleached ap flour instead of unbleached. I think the effect it had was possibly just the color of the bread...it had a somewhat grayish tint to it...it still tasted great, though. Mixing the dough by hand was easy enough...though, i recommend using a round container...all i had that was big enough was a square 8qt food container from sams club.I used the cast iron dutch oven method to bake it & the crust was awesome..."

By eavey on May 17, 2013 | 1385929
"Love It!!! I ended up buying the book. So good"

By shannbug216 on February 09, 2013 | 1365824
By dnvrliz on February 04, 2013 | 1364654
"DELICIOUS! The best bread recipe I have ever used. Better than, dare I say it, Panera! I have serious soy allergies which prevent me from enjoying many sandwiches or eating fresh baked loaves. ou have made my day with this recipe!
Also, my sons...17 and 3 have already devoured the first loaf and are begging for more. So glad I have 2 more loaves in the fridge.
Thank you!

To IMCook2295...step no. 9 is what helps the bread retain its shape. Keep stretchjng and folding under and I am sure you will get your desired result! Good luck!"

By tbak1971 on January 21, 2013 | 1360895
"HELP! I love the taste of this bread, but mine is totally flat! After the first time I still used my starter but added additional flour, yeast and water which helped a bit. After research, I thought I had let it rise too long so this time I let it go only an hour in a 70 degree house after mixing dough. Again saw a nice first rise, but nothing the second time and very little in the oven. Any suggestions out there?"

By IMCook2295 on January 14, 2013 | 1359918
"Absolutely the best bread recipe EVER! I have struggled for years about making bread. I can do it in a bread machine no problem, but never by hand - always comes out like a brick, heavy, not cooked even - you know, the kind that many family jokes are made about. This is too easy. Follow the directions exactly - I know, doesn't make any cooking sense. It turns out PERFECT! Definately a 5 recipe that will be made several times a week, if not a day."

By kimgeo on December 23, 2012 | 1354956
"I wish I could give this more than 5 stars as it is excellent! I prepared the dough last night and let it sit in the fridge overnight and all morning. I baked it in the afternoon and not only does it look beautiful (such soft, easy to handle dough), but it is so flavourful! Who would have guessed with so few ingredients? I made a half batch and still have dough left for another 2 loaves. I can't wait to try some variations on this bread! Thanks so much for the recipe!!!"

By Jen in Victoria, BC on October 17, 2012 | 1341236
"I was skeptical but wow! Delightful!"

By Baking Girl on May 02, 2012 | 1304377
"I have been debating if I should buy this cookbook for awhile so when I saw the recipe posted here I decided I would try it first. I will definitely be getting the book! I have never been able to bake a decent loaf of bread but this turned out great, thanks for posting!"

By Chef #1037972 on January 29, 2012 | 1283660
"So easy, so convenient, so delicious!!"

By sassykat1213 on January 26, 2012 | 1283108
"I started with the grapefruit size loaf. Mine came out looking just like the picture. Will make another loaf today with garlic salt mixture on top with melted butter. Again, your instructions were so thorough. That's what encouraged me to try this. Thank you for he recipe."

By Toni in Colorado on October 20, 2011 | 1259267
"Wonderful recipe! I have made bread the long way all my life...mixing, kneading, rising,punching, kneading,punching, shaping, etc. This was so easy that I knew something wasn't going to work. But, it did...rose so nicely, smelled so good baking. Tasted wonderful: light, nice crusty top. I subbed 1 cup whole wheat & still turned out great. There is a problem: I CAN'T STOP EATING IT! Even my husband loved it & he is a Wonder Bread fanatic!!!! Best part is I get to bake some more tomorrow nite and the next and the next......YOU NEED TO TRY THIS BREAD!!!!!"

By iksonak on September 19, 2011 | 1251735
"I CANNOT believe how easy and excellent this bread recipe is! I love that you keep it in the fridge and have fresh baked bread all week!"

By ChelseaW on September 13, 2011 | 1249659
"What a great recipe! The texure perfect. This first loaf had a chewy, crisp crust. I love the fact that you can make a big batch and just bake off as needed. I'm looking forward to trying it again after the dough has had a chance to age. Thanks for posting this great recipe!"

By Lucky in Bayview on June 12, 2011 | 1225874
"yumm!"

By WonderMima on June 03, 2011 | 1223222
"My new Favorite Bread Recipe! So Versatile..try incorporating Roasted Garlic, Cracked Black Pepper or Shredded Cheddar Cheese with it"

By debby102 on March 26, 2011 | 1205024
"I found this same recipe a couple weeks ago on a link someone posted to a blog. It is wonderful. Don't change a thing and the best part no more paying $5 a loaf at the store. I'm glad I found it on 'zaar so I won't lose it."

By truckerboo on February 21, 2011 | 1194046
By RocMud on February 07, 2011 | 1189512
"This makes a lovely rustic loaf, and I like that it's a smallish loaf - better for portion control. My bread came out with a lovely chewy crust, but the inside is wonderfully soft, the perfect combination. I've ordered the book, and I am looking forward to checking out some of the variations on the recipe."

By Chef #368305 on December 26, 2010 | 1176400