French Bread
Posted On 5 September 2022
Trying to come up with a good recipe for good French Bread using my French Bread pan. This turned out…okay. Need to tweak a little.
French Bread
Light yet chewy yet yummy.
Servings: 2 loaves
Equipment
- French Bread Pan (optional)
Ingredients
- 9 grams yeast, active or instant (1 tablespoon)
- 540 grams warm water (2¼ cups)
- 20 grams Baker's Sugar (Granulated Sugar) (1¾ tablespoons)
- 25 grams olive oil (2 tablespoons)
- 780 grams bread flour (53g vital wheat gluten & 727g all-purpose) (6½ cups + ) (see instructions)
- 15 grams sea salt or kosher salt (light tablespoon)
Instructions
- In a stand mixer bowl add the yeast and warm water. If using active (not instant) yeast, add a pinch of the sugar and let sit for 10-15 minutes until bubbly. If using instant (not active) yeast, continue.
- Add the sugar and olive oil and stir to combine.
- Add half of the flour and stir to combine. Add all the salt. Add the rest of the flour 1/2 cup at a time until fully incorporated. This shouldn't be a very sticky dough, so if it is add flour a tablespoon at a time until you get a soft, cohesive dough.
- Put dough in a lightly-oiled bowl and cover with plastic.
- In 15 minutes, stretch and fold in the bowl: using your hand or a bench scraper, gather from the far side and bring up and over and push down and back to the rear of the bowl. Turn the bowl and repeat 20+ times. Cover.
- Do the above every 5 more times. (90 minutes total)
- Let rest in the bowl until puffy.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly oiled surface or a Silpat and divide in half. Press each half into a roughly 9" x 13" flat and roll up on long side. Pinch edge to seal. Put on a French Bread pan (with or without parchment) and cover with greased plastic wrap or a towel. Let rest another hour. Should be puffy.
- Put oven rack in center, put a pan with ice cubes on the bottom, and heat oven to 375°F / 190°C. (350°F / 157°C Convection)
- Slash the top of the loaves 3-4 times with a sharp knife. (See notes.)
- Bake 25-30 minutes, rotating half way through, until golden brown and thermometer registers 190°F / 88°C inside loaves.
- Optional: Brush with melted butter immediately after removing from oven.
Notes
- Baker’s Sugar dissolves in water faster and is 1:1 for granulated sugar and costs just about the same.
- If you don’t have a good lame / knife, you can slash the loaves right after forming and putting on the pan. Just won’t get quite the same “pop” when baking.
- French Bread Pan
