Baking Illustrated

For someone who likes cooking and baking, a Cook’s Illustrated magazine subscription is a wonderful gift. And for someone like me, who likes to know the “why” and “how” behind the science of baking, a book like Baking Illustrated is a must-have in the kitchen. Both publications come from the gurus at America’s Test Kitchen. One of the reasons that I particularly like their magazines, books, and television shows (often shown on public television) is that they make the mistakes for you. I don’t have to spend time and money coming up with a perfect version of a recipe, because I know that America’s Test Kitchen has done it for me.

I love to make bread, but I am always searching for a new loaf of homemade bread to inspire me. So, when flipping through Baking Illustrated, I decided to try to baking Italian bread, with their rustic bread recipe.

The recipe below is made with some adaptations. They use a stand mixer for almost all of the kneading, which is fine, but not the way I do things. As such, I adapted the recipe for kneading by hand.

It is one of my goals this year to branch into artisan breads. I feel like I have mastered the conventional homemade breads, and the experience of pushing my poolish as far as possible, or developing my own sourdough will be rewarding.

Unless I find a better substitution by July, you can be certain that this Italian bread recipe is going to be my “crusty bread” entry in this year’s county fair. This loaf takes careful planning. It is made with a sponge, and that needs to be made one day ahead of baking. While the time may be intimidating, it is important to note that it takes very little hands-on time. Most of the effort involved with making this homemade Italian bread is waiting for it to rise.

Rustic Italian Bread

Rustic Italian Bread:
For the sponge:
2 cups bread flour
1/4 tsp instant yeast
1 cup water, at room temperature

For the dough:
3 cups bread flour, plus extra for dusting
1 tsp instant yeast
1 1/3 cups water, at room temperature
2 tsp. salt

For the sponge (or biga as it is called in Italian), combine the flour, water and yeast in a medium-sized bowl. Mix into a shaggy dough, then knead by hand for three minutes. Place back in the bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow it to sit at room temperature for 3 hours. Then, place in the refrigerator for at least 8 more hours, or up to 24 hours.
For the dough, remove the sponge from the refrigerator and allow it to stand at room temperature while mixing the dough. Combine flour, yeast, and water and mix until the dough is shaggy. Knead by hand about 4 minutes. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it autolyse (rest) for 20 minutes.
Remove the plastic wrap and place the dough on the kneading surface. Sprinkle with half the salt. Take the sponge and place it on top of the dough. Knead together until the dough starts to become one big ball. Sprinkle the remaining salt into the dough. Continue to knead until the salt is incorporated and the two pieces of dough are virtually indistinguishable. Altogether, the kneading should take about 8-9 minutes. The dough will be soft and slightly sticky. Resist adding additional flour.
Lightly oil a bowl that is three times larger than the dough ball. Place the dough inside, and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise in a draft-free place until puffy and slightly risen, about one hour.
Remove the plastic wrap. With a dough scraper, and with the dough still in the bowl, scoop the left side of the dough up and fold it over half the top of the dough. This is called turning the dough. Repeat with the right side. Then repeat with the top of the dough. Cover, and continue to let the dough rise for one more hour.

Unwrap, and turn the dough again. Cover, and let the dough rise for another hour.

Lightly dust your work surface with flour. Turn the dough out of the bowl and onto the floured surface. The dough that was touching the bottom of the bowl should now be facing up.

Liberally dust the surface of the dough with flour, and dust your hands with flour as well. With minimal pressure and gentle hands, lightly push the dough into a roughly 8×10 square.

Following the pictures below, shape the loaf:

Turn down the corners of the square, as if to make a paper airplane.

Fold the top of the loaf toward you, down toward the center of the dough

Continue rolling toward you, shaping the loaf into a log shape.

Once the loaf is in shape, continue to tuck the sides of the loaf under, so that it holds a sort of football shape.

Dust the shaped loaf of bread with flour, loosely cover with plastic wrap and allow it to rise one more hour.
Using a bread lame, or single-edged razor, slice a 1/2 inch deep lengthwise cut along the center of the bread.

Use a lame or single-edge razor to slice the dough.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Mist the loaf of bread with water (optional, but helps the bread form a shiny crust) and place in the oven.
Bake 35-45 minutes until the internal temperature hits 210 degrees and the bread sounds hollow when tapped from the bottom.
Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Enjoy!

Rustic Italian Bread