ARTISAN BREAD AT HOME

NATHAN ODELL
ARTISAN
BREAD
AT HOME
5 Foolproof Steps to Making
Your First Artisan Loaf

Copyright © 2016
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise, without the prior
written permission of the publisher.

CONTENTS
1 TOOLS & INGREDIENTS
2 MIXING THE DOUGH
3 FOLDING THE DOUGH
4 SHAPING THE DOUGH
5 BAKING THE LOAF

1
TOOLS &
INGREDIENTS

TOOLS REQUIRED
You‘ll need a few tools before you can start baking artisan bread at home. You should
already have most of them, but if you don‘t they are readily available.
1. Digital Scale - A digital scale is essential as it‘s important to weigh your ingredients
rather than use volumetric measurements. Make sure it‘s accurate to a single gram.
2. Cast Iron Pot with Lid - Using a preheated cast iron pot to bake your loaves is a fantastic
way of baking high quality artisan bread.
3. Dough Tub - A transparent dough tub is used for mixing and folding dough. The
transparency allows you to track how much the dough has risen.
4. Round Bowl with Cloth - The bowl holds the shaped loaves as they go through their
final rise, and the cloth prevents the dough from sticking to the bowl.
5. Measuring Jug - The jug is used for adding water to your dough mixture.
6. Dough Scrapers - Scrapers are helpful tools allowing you to divide your dough and
loosen it when stuck. You can get by without them if you have a sharp knife for dividing.
7. Oven Mitts - For handling the hot cast iron pots.
www.RisingArtisan.com 5

Boule Shaped Artisan Loaf
Ingredients (Makes 2 Loaves)
1000g White Bread Flour (8 Cups)
680g Water (3 cups)
20g Fine Salt (4 tsp)
5g Instant Dried Yeast (1.5 tsp)
If you can, it‘s preferable to use unbleached stone-ground flour as it adds more flavor.
It’s more accurate to use a digital scale for measuring your ingredients, but you can get
by with volumetric measurements if you don‘t have one. The quantities above yield two
loaves. Halve the quantities if you only want to make one loaf.
www.RisingArtisan.com 6

2
MIXING THE
DOUGH

MEASURE YOUR
INGREDIENTS
Measure each ingredient using your
digital scale starting with the water
(room temperature).
Don‘t forget to zero the scale after
adding each ingredient!
You may also want to measure the
smaller quantities (Salt and Yeast) in a
smaller container before adding them
to the water and flour.
MIX TOGETHER
Once all of your ingredients have been
measured, use one hand to mix all
of the ingredients until they are well
incorporated.
You don‘t want to see any dry
ingredients or feel any big lumps.
Do not knead the dough as the gluten
will be developed using folds in the
next step.
Cover the dough with plastic or a cloth
after mixing to prevent a crust forming
on the dough.
www.RisingArtisan.com 8

3
FOLDING THE
DOUGH

FOLDING THE DOUGH
Stretching and folding the dough helps develop gluten in the dough. This gives the dough
strength and a good rise in the oven. For this recipe we need to do a fold every 20 minutes
for one hour (3 total). Your first fold must be done 20 minutes after mixing the dough.
How To Do A Fold
1. First, wet your hand and then reach under the far side of the dough to lift it up.
2. Lift and stretch the dough until you feel it cannot be stretched further.
3. Fold the stretched dough over the rest of the dough.
4. Repeat the above steps until you‘ve folded the dough on each side of the container (4
total).
5. Cover the dough to prevent a crust from forming
You‘ll need to execute the above process 3 times in total (20, 40 and 60 minutes after
mixing the dough)
www.RisingArtisan.com 10

LET THE DOUGH RISE
Once the dough has been folded 3 times, you‘ll need to let the dough ferment and rise.
While the dough rises it develops flavor. Mark the height of your dough after the initial
hour of folding, and wait until the dough is between 2-3 times the original size. Depending
on the ambient temperature, this may take 1-3 hours. It‘s important to always watch the
dough, not the clock!
www.RisingArtisan.com 11

4
SHAPING THE
DOUGH

REMOVE
DOUGH FROM
TUB
Once the dough has matured
(doubled/tripled in volume), you need
to remove it from the tub and onto
your work surface.
To do this, lightly flour the top of the
dough. Then use a dough scraper (or
your hand) to loosen the edges of the
dough from the tub.
Once you‘ve loosened all the edges,
tip the bucket upside down and wait
for the dough to fall out onto a floured
surface.
DIVIDE THE
DOUGH
Once your dough has been removed
from the tub, you need to divide it into
two equal portions.
Use your dough cutter or knife to
cut the dough in half. Separate the
two pieces so that they don‘t stick
together.
www.RisingArtisan.com 13

To shape the dough into a ball, lift up
the left hand side of the dough and
fold it towards the middle. You can
stretch the dough slightly, but be
gentle.
Take the right hand side of the dough
and fold it towards the middle. Make
sure there isn‘t too much excess flour.
The dough should stick after each fold
towards the middle.
Fold the top portion of dough towards
the middle. You should feel the dough
tightening up with each consecutive
fold
Fold the bottom of the dough towards
the middle. At this point you are close
to forming a tight ball.
Turn the dough over so that the seam/
rough side of the dough is on the
bottom. Then gently use both hands
to pull the edges towards the bottommiddle.
Do this on all the edges until
you have a tight ball.
www.RisingArtisan.com 14

PLACE LOAF INTO
PROOFING BOWL
Once the dough has been
shaped into a round ball, you
need to place it into a cloth/
linen lined bowl so that it can
undergo it‘s final rise without
losing it‘s shape. Place it so that
the rough side is facing up.
Make sure the cloth has been
floured to prevent the dough
from sticking. Also lightly flour
the top of the dough.
ALLOW TIME
FOR FINAL RISE
Cover the dough with the
cloth and allow the dough to
go through it‘s final rise.
Depending on the
temperature, the dough
will be ready to bake within
20 minutes - 1 hour. Make
sure your cast iron pot has
been preheated for about 20
minutes at 450F (230C)
In the next step I’ll show you
a simple trick to know when
your dough is ready to go in
the oven.
www.RisingArtisan.com 15

5
BAKING THE
LOAF

THE FINGER
POKE TEST
The finger poke test allows you to see
when your shaped loaf is ready to bake.
15 minutes after shaping, put flour on
your finger and poke the shaped loaf
about half an inch deep. If the dough
springs back quickly it needs to rise
(proof) for longer.
If the dough springs back slowly, but
not completely, the dough is correctly
proofed and ready to bake!
If it doesn‘t spring back at all, you‘ve
allowed it to rise for too long. An overproofed
loaf may collapse when baking.
www.RisingArtisan.com 17
GET READY TO
BAKE
Once your dough is correctly proofed,
you‘ll need to take the cast iron pot
out of the oven using your oven mitts.
Be very careful not to touch the pot
with your hands. Place the mitts next
to or on top of the lid so you don‘t
forget to use them when putting the
pot back in the oven.
Next, gently turn the dough out of
the proofing bowl onto a surface close
to your pot. Your dough needs to be
handled very carefully at this point to
avoid damaging the internal structure
of the dough. Lift the edges and slide
your hands under the dough before
lifting completely.

DROP DOUGH
INTO POT
Once you‘ve picked up the dough
carefully, hold it above the cast iron
pot. Then release the dough swiftly so
that it drops neatly into the cast iron
pot.
Don‘t stress if the loaf lands slightly off
center. When the loaf springs up in the
oven, it will likely correct itself.
SCORE THE
LOAF
Scoring the loaf creates a weakness in
the dough and gives a direction for loaf
to expand in. It also creates a pleasing
decorative look.
I like to use a sharp razor blade and
score a hash (#) pattern on the loaf.
You could also score a plus (+). If you
don‘t have a sharp razor blade, you can
use a sharp knife or a pair of scissors.
You can create a simple (+) pattern
using scissors, with two quick snips.
Try your best to score quickly and
cleanly and avoid tearing the dough.
www.RisingArtisan.com 18

BAKE YOUR
BREAD
Once your loaf has been scored, place
the lid back onto the pot and place
the pot into the preheated oven
(450F/230C) for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, open the oven
and remove the lid from the cast
iron pot. Your loaf should have risen
significantly, and split open where you
scored.
Allow the loaf to bake for a further
10-15 minutes uncovered or until the
crust reaches a deep golden brown
color.
REMOVE AND
COOL
Once the loaf is golden brown, remove
the loaf from the oven. The loaf should
easily fall out of the pot. Hold your loaf
and give it a few taps on the bottom.
You should hear a solid thumping
sound. This indicates that the loaf is
baked fully. If the bottom of the loaf is
soft and doesn‘t thump, it may need to
bake a bit longer.
Allow the loaf to cool for at least 30
minutes on a cooling rack before slicing
into it.
Enjoy your first loaf and happy baking!
www.RisingArtisan.com 19

THANK YOU!
I hope that this short eBook was valuable and has
inspired you to bake your very own artisan bread. If you
have any questions, feel free to email me -
nathan@risingartisan.com
I’ll try and answer any questions you may have. Also,
feel free to take a look at our blog for more articles and
information related to artisan bread.
www.risingartisan.com/blog