Dutch Oven Artisan Bread
Crusty moist artisan bread that tastes straight out of a Parisan bakery, all from your own home using an enameled cast iron Dutch oven. No kneading involved and takes less than 10 minutes of prep time!
Equipment
- 5 qt dutch oven with lid
Ingredients
- 4½ cups all purpose flour
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp active dry yeast
- 2¼ cup warm water about 105°F
Instructions
- Add flour to a large bowl. On one side of the bowl add salt and on the opposite side add yeast. With clean hands, mix each side separately first with your fingers, then mix all together.
- Pour in warm water and stir with a wooden spoon until mixture comes together and all the flour has been absorb into the dough. Stir until no longer shaggy looking but more of a smoother consistency. Dough will be very sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and leave to rest for 12 hours. Dough will rise and become bubbly. For a longer resting time, see notes for overnight instructions (my prefered method). Dough will triple in size.
- Preheat oven to 450°. Prepare a piece of parchment paper that is larger than the size of the Dutch oven. Dust with flour and set aside for now.
- Using a bench scraper, gently release dough from bowl onto a lightly floured surface. Dough will be sticky. Using lightly floured hands, form it into a ball by folding each outer edge into the center and pinching it together. This will become the bottom of the loaf. Flip the dough over and using both hands to cup the side of the dough farthest from you while also remaining in contact with the counter, drag the dough towards your body. The dough will slightly stick to the counter and create tension across the surface of the dough. Repeat several times, rotating the dough 90 degrees each time until the dough is round and the surface is taut. If at any point during this process your dough begins to tear, let the dough rest for 10 minutes and begin shaping again.
- Place dough onto prepared piece of parchment paper. Dust top of dough very lightly with flour. Cover loosely with cling wrap and allow to proof for 30 minutes. Continue to next step while dough is resting.
- Once oven has preheated, place empty covered 5 qt Dutch oven into oven and allow to preheat for 30 minutes.
- Remove Dutch oven from oven and take off lid. Remove cling wrap from dough and using a sharp knife or bread lame, score the bread with an X. Lift parchment paper by its corners and gently put into hot dutch oven. Cover with lid and bake in oven for 35 minutes. Remove lid and continue baking for another 10 minutes or until top is golden brown and crust is firm to the touch.
- Remove loaf from Dutch oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Allow to cool at least 45 minutes before slicing in order for the bread to retain its moisture. Best if consumed within 24 hours.
Notes
For the overnight method, mix the dough the same as stated above, cover bowl and place in the refrigerator overnight (or at least 12 hours). In the morning remove from fridge and allow to rest at room temperature for 4 hours, then cook as stated above.