The recipe is rather simple and with the help of a kitchenaid or similar mixer a 'piece of cake'. Use 3 cups of luke warm water and add 1 1/2 tablespoon of yeast and 1 1/2 tablespoon of (non-ionized) seasalt. If you'd like herb bread add herbs to water mixture, like Herbs Provenciale. Start the mixer with the dough hook and add 4 1/2 cups of unbleached white flour and 2 cups of whole wheat flour (or 6 1/2 cups of white flour for traditional french boule). Mix well until uniformly moist but you do not knead the dough. Transfer to 1.5-2 gallon plastic storage container and let sit in room temperature for two hours. With the lid loose transfer container to refridgerator and let rise for at least a day.
To bake a freeform loaf with help from the wood stove you'll need a cast iron Dutch oven with a cast iron lid. Wrap the lid with aluminum foil on the inside to prevent condensating water from dripping back on the bread and to aid browning of the crust. Use a metal rack to lift the backing dish (I use two stacked recycled aluminum pie dishes) and place the oven, with rack and lid, on the top of the stove when (re)heating your fire. I tend to use the afternoon load to preheat the oven and bake the bread, so it's nice and warm and ready for dinner that evening! Slightly grease the top of the stacked pie dishes (the air between helps the bottom of the bread from burning).
With flour'd hands lift about a third to a half of the dough and make a flattened ball shape. Gently lay down the dough, sprinkle with corn meal and cut a couple of slits in the top of the ball. You can let is sit at room temperature for a while to warm up gradually. When the thermometer on my smokestack reads about 700F and the thermometer on the stovetop about 900F I pretty much close off the oxygen flow and quickly place the baking dish with dough inside the dutch oven. Close lid and do not reopen until the room smells of freshly baked bread (rising dough can fall if the temperature in the oven falls too soon too suddenly). On my stove this takes about an hour or so. When is smells delicious I put two skewers in between the lid and oven and have it vent for half an hour or so.
With flour'd hands lift about a third to a half of the dough and make a flattened ball shape. Gently lay down the dough, sprinkle with corn meal and cut a couple of slits in the top of the ball. You can let is sit at room temperature for a while to warm up gradually. When the thermometer on my smokestack reads about 700F and the thermometer on the stovetop about 900F I pretty much close off the oxygen flow and quickly place the baking dish with dough inside the dutch oven. Close lid and do not reopen until the room smells of freshly baked bread (rising dough can fall if the temperature in the oven falls too soon too suddenly). On my stove this takes about an hour or so. When is smells delicious I put two skewers in between the lid and oven and have it vent for half an hour or so.
And that's it! Whe
n your bread looks nicely browned and smells great it's probably done. You can fine tune the process the first couple times by timing and temperature readings but after a couple of tries you'll know your stove and oven and will know how the dough will bake. Have fun baking!
n your bread looks nicely browned and smells great it's probably done. You can fine tune the process the first couple times by timing and temperature readings but after a couple of tries you'll know your stove and oven and will know how the dough will bake. Have fun baking!Recipe adapted from the Mother Earth Magazine article "Easy, No-Knead Crusty Bread" by Roger Doiron, found here
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