pridebread

the loaf worth the wait

Ayan

“(Ayan, this is the part only you can write: when do you make this bread? who is it for? what does the slow day of folds and the one confident slash mean to you?)”

ingredients

3 1/4 cups flour (all-purpose or bread)
1 1/2 tsp salt
a little less than 1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp active dry yeast
1 3/4 cups warm water (add more by feel so the dough is tacky, not loose)
optional: 1 cup cheese (then drop salt to 1 1/4 tsp and add a touch more water)

steps

mix the dry ingredients (cheese too, if using).
add warm water around 90-100F and combine until wet and tacky but not liquid.
rest 10 min, then do about 10 slap-and-folds (lift, stretch, slap into the bowl, fold over).
rest in the oven on proof under a damp cheesecloth 30 min, then stretch-and-fold.
fold schedule: fold, 30 min, fold, 30 min, fold, 1 hr, fold, 1 hr (4 folds total).
dust the ball in rice flour, shape it, set it in a rice-floured cheesecloth-lined bowl, cover, and refrigerate.
meanwhile preheat the oven to 450F with the Dutch oven inside for about an hour.
flip the dough onto parchment, score one long confident slash about 1/4 inch deep, and lower it in.
bake covered 25 min, then uncovered 12-15 min (pull sooner if the crust darkens fast).
lift out by the parchment, cool about an hour, eat.