Five minute bread

[debih]

This is the recipe I use the most. I nearly always have a bucket of dough in my fridge (lucky I have a big fridge). I haven't made any since the kitchen ceiling collapsed but I can't wait to get back to making it again.

It doesn't really take 5 minutes but once you've made the dough it doesn't take long to do. It takes a little getting used to and my loaves all collapsed at first. I seem to have the knack now though.

This recipe makes enough dough for four artisan free formed loaves

750ml lukewarm water
1.5 tbsp dried yeast
1.5 tbsp salt
900g white flour

I use a wine making bucket for this but a big (5 litre) bowl would do it.

Put the warm water in the bucket. Add the yeast and salt. Dont worry if it doesn't all dissolve.

Add the flour all at once, stirring it with a spoon (you could use a dough hook if your mixer bowl is big enough). Stir it until everything is uniformly moist without any dry patches.

Cover the bucket with a non air tight lid. Allow the mixture to rise at room temperature for approx 2 hours. Once it starts to collapse on itself, its done. You can now put it in the fridge - it will keep for up to 10 days.

When you want to bake the loaf - prepare a pizza peel. Get a baking try and sprinkle it liberally with polenta (I don't always bother with this and just chuck a bit of flour on the tray). Tear off about a quarter of your prepared dough (from the bucket in the fridge) - about the size of a grapefruit. You might need to use a serrated knife. It might be easier with flour on your hands. Sprinkle flour onto the dough so that it doesn't stick to your hands. Gently stretch the surface of the dough from the top round to the bottom on all four sides, rotating it as you go. You are looking for a nice smooth surface on the top. Most of the dusting flour will fall off - thats fine. This should only take about a minute.

Place the ball on the pizza peel and leave it to rest for about 40 minutes. Preheat the oven to 230 deg. I usually put a tin in the oven ready to put hot water in - makes the bread crispier. Put a baking tray in to warm.

Dust the top of the bread with flour and slash a 5mm deep cross in the top using a serrated knife. Move the bread from the pizza peel to the warmed baking tray, a quick jerking action should do this. Pour some hot tap water into the tin in the oven. Put your bread in the oven and bake for about 30 mins.

You can also use the dough to make a sandwich loaf.

You will need approx 675g of the dough. Dust it with flour and shape into a ball as before. Elongate the ball into an oval and drop it into a lightly greased loaf tin. Allow it to rest for 1 hour 40 mins (or just 40 mins if you are using the dough before you store it in the fridge). Dust the top with flour and slash it. Bake in a 230g oven (use the water in the tin trick - it makes it nice and crispy on top). Bake for about 35 mins.

Remove the bread from the tin to allow it to cool.

[jenniren]

This sounds a great time saving recipe debih. My fridge is definitely big enough so that's not a problem. The bit I'm not sure about is the yeast, it calls for 1.5tbsp. I've got a box with 7g sachets, can you buy it lose ?

Have to admit I had no idea what a pizza peel was, had to google it

[debih]

You can and I think Sainsburys sell it.

It comes in a little orange packet that looks like a box but isn't - not sure how much you get in it but I just measure it out from that and reseal it.