Multigrain Artisan-Style Bread

Making crusty artisan-style bread at home is really very easy and doesn’t require much of a time investment. A heavy dutch oven, some kitchen parchment, and a large mixing bowl are the only pieces of equipment you need, other than a hot oven. Flour, water, salt, and yeast, and some optional grains and seeds, are the only ingredients. The result is a great loaf of bread and, of course, the aroma of fresh baked bread permeating the whole house.

I made a couple of videos of the process. I’m still getting the hang of scripting and filming these, so please try to ignore the amateur host and focus on the procedure. The recipe is at the bottom of the page. Try it.

Day 1: making and storing the dough:

Day 2: baking a boule:

 

Multigrain Artisan-Style Bread

Active Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 35 mins
Yields: Two 1-1/2 lb. loaves

Ingredients

  • A heavy dutch oven.
  • kitchen parchment.
  • 490 grams unbleached bread flour
  • 385 grams whole wheat flour
  • 100 grams King Arthur Harvest Grains Blend (or other grain and seed blend)
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (one packet)
  • 1 - 2 tablespoons kosher salt
  • 726 grams warm water (about 100ºF)

Preparation

  1. Mix the flours and grain blend in a bowl.
  2. Put the yeast and salt in a large bowl or stand mixer bowl.
  3. Pour the water into the yeast and salt and stir briefly.
  4. Add the flour and grains to the yeast mixture.
  5. Mix with your hands, or with a stand mixer equipped with a bread hook, until the flour is completely incorporated and a wet dough forms.
  6. Loosely cover the bowl with plastic wrap (don't seal it) and let the dough rest and rise at room temperature for about an hour. The dough will increase in volume by 40 - 50%.
  7. After the dough has risen, refrigerate it for 24 hours or more. Use the original bowl or transfer to a smaller container, such as a straight-sided plastic storage container. The bowl should be loosely covered (not airtight). The dough will keep for up to 10 days.
  8. When you are ready to bake a loaf, remove the dough from the refrigerator, dust the top of the dough lightly with flour so it will stick less to your hands, pull up and cut off about 1-1/2 lbs. of the dough, using a pair of scissors or a serrated knife. Return the remaining dough, lightly covered, to the refrigerator, until you are ready to bake another loaf.
  9. Gently shape the extracted dough into a rough ball, place it on a smooth, dry, unfloured surface (a pizza peel or large cutting board will work fine), and let it rest for about an hour. This is to allow the dough to begin to warm up to room temperature, and for the yeast to become more active.
  10. After the dough has rested, Lightly flour a piece of kitchen parchment that has been cut approximately square.
  11. Using a bench knife, lift one side of the dough, stretch it, and fold it over on itself. Repeat three times at 90º intervals around the dough. If the dough still seems very flexible at this point, repeat the lift, stretch, and fold around the sides of the dough again.
  12. Wet your hands a little and pick up the ball of dough. Shape the dough into a tight ball by pulling and pushing the edges around to what will be the bottom of the ball, and pinch the dough at the bottom to seal.
  13. Place the dough on the parchment, cover with a bowl, and let it rest and rise for about an hour. The dough will rise a little during this rest, but not a lot. If your kitchen is cool, let the dough rest for longer - up to two hours.
  14. About 20 minutes before you are ready to bake, place a heavy dutch oven, lid on, in a cold oven. Turn the oven on and set the temperature to 500ºF. Preheat for 20 minutes.
  15. When the oven and dutch oven are preheated, lightly dust the dough with flour, and using a serrated bread knife or a razor, cut three 1/4" deep slashes across the top of the dough.
  16. Very carefully (it is really hot!), remove the dutch oven from the oven and take the lid off. Lift the parchment with the dough at opposite corners and very carefully lower it into the dutch oven. Sprinkle a little water around the dough, replace the cover, and place the dutch oven back in the hot oven.
  17. Bake at 500ºF for 20 minutes.
  18. Turn the oven down to 450ºF and remove the lid from the dutch oven. Bake for another 15 - 20 minutes, until the bread is dark brown and crusty.
  19. Turn the oven off and remove the dutch oven. Using a spatula and a hot mitt or pad, remove the bread and place it on a cooling rack. Discard the parchment.
  20. Let the bread cool a bit before cutting and enjoying.

No Comments for "Multigrain Artisan-Style Bread"

    Leave a Comment or Reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.