Classic French Bread 15 Lb Loaf Recipes

CRUSTY FRENCH LOAF

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add sugar, oil, salt and 2 cups flour. Beat until blended. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a stiff dough., Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch dough down; return to bowl. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes. , Preheat oven to 375°. Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface. Shape into a 16x2-1/2-in. loaf with tapered ends. Sprinkle cornmeal over a greased baking sheet; place loaf on baking sheet. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 25 minutes. , Beat egg white and cold water; brush over dough. With a sharp knife, make diagonal slashes 2 in. apart across top of loaf. Bake until golden brown, 25-30 minutes. Remove from pan to a wire rack to cool.

CHEF RICK'S CLASSIC FRENCH BREAD

Steps:

• In an standing mixer fitted with a dough hook, add the flour, salt and honey. Whip until combined.
• Add the yeast and the water to a small bowl and allow it to sit for 15 minutes. Add the yeast water to the flour mixture and beat until well mixed. Put the mixing bowl in a warm place, cover and let rise until doubled in size. Punch the dough down and divide it into 6 equal parts. Form into 6 (6-inch) loaves, cover and allow them to double in size.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. arrange the loaves on a baking sheet and bake until light brown.
• Enjoy!

FRENCH LOAVES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add salt, sugar and 2 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. , Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. , Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Shape into 12-in.-long loaves., Place seam side down on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes. , Preheat oven to 450°. Sprinkle loaves with cornmeal. With a sharp knife, make four shallow slashes across the top of each loaf. Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

CLASSIC FRENCH BREAD

Steps:

• Do ahead
• Combine all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl. If using a mixer, use the paddle attachment and mix on the lowest speed for 1 minute. If mixing by hand, use a large spoon and stir for 1 minute, until well blended and smooth. If the spoon gets too doughy, dip it in a bowl of warm water. The dough should form a coarse shaggy ball. Let it rest, uncovered, for 5 minutes.
• Switch to the dough hook and mix on medium-low speed for 2 minutes or knead by hand for about 2 minutes, adjusting with flour or water as needed. The dough should be smooth, supple, and tacky but not sticky.
• Whichever mixing method you use, knead the dough by hand on a lightly floured work surface for about 1 minute more, then transfer it to a clean, lightly oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, then immediately refrigerate overnight or for up to 4 days. If the dough feels too wet and sticky, do not add more flour; instead, stretch and fold it one or more times at 10-minute intervals, as shown on page 18, before putting it in the refrigerator. (If you plan to bake the dough in batches over different days, you can portion the dough and place it into two or more oiled bowls at this stage.)
• On baking day
• Remove the dough from the refrigerator about 2 hours before you plan to bake. Gently transfer it to a lightly floured work surface, taking care to degas it as little as possible. For baguettes and bâtards, divide the cold dough into 10-ounce (283 g) pieces; for 1 pound boules, divide the dough into 19-ounce (53 g) pieces; and for freestanding loaves, use whatever size you prefer.
• Form the dough into bâtards and/or baguettes (see pages 21 and 22) or boules (see page 20). Mist the top of the dough with spray oil, loosely cover with plastic wrap, and proof at room temperature for about 1 1/2 hours, until increased to 1 1/2 times its original size.
• About 45 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 550°F (288°C) or as high as it will go, and prepare the oven for hearth baking (see page 30).
• Remove the plastic wrap from the dough 15 minutes prior to baking; if using proofing molds, transfer the dough onto a floured peel.
• Just prior to baking, score the dough 1/2 inch deep with a serrated knife or razor. Transfer the dough to the oven, pour 1 cup of hot water into the steam pan, then lower the oven temperature to 450°F (232°C).
• Bake for 12 minutes, then rotate the pan and bake for another 15 to 25 minutes, until the crust is a rich golden brown, the loaves sound hollow when thumped, and the internal temperature is about 200°F (93°C) in the center. For a crisper crust, turn off the oven and leave the bread in for another 5 minutes before removing.
• Cool the bread on a wire rack for at least 45 minutes before slicing or serving.
• Variation
• By simply varying the method so that the shaped loaves undergo cold fermentation, rather than the freshly mixed bulk dough, you can create a spectacular loaf with a distinctive blistered crust. After the dough is mixed and placed in a clean, oiled bowl, let it rise at room temperature for about 90 minutes, until doubled in size. Divide and shape as described above, mist with spray oil, then cover the shaped dough loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate it overnight, away from anything that might fall on it or restrict it from growing.
• The next day, remove the dough from the refrigerator 1 hour before baking. It should have grown to at least 1 1/2 times its original size. Prepare the oven for hearth baking, as described on page 30. While the oven is heating, remove the plastic wrap and let the dough sit uncovered for 10 minutes. Score the dough while it's still cold, then bake as described above.

TRADITIONAL (REAL DEAL) FRENCH BREAD

Steps:

• 1) In a small bowl, proof 1 T. Yeast with 1/2 cup Luke warm water. Set aside.
• 2)In a Large Bowl, mix well 4 C Flour and 1 T. salt. (to prevent the yeast coming in direct contact with the salt.).
• 3) Pour Yeast mix into the Flour mix, Using a wooden spoon, stir, add an additional 1 to 1 1/2 C Luke warm water until a dough forms and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. (doesn't take long for this to happen and the dough forms a clumpy mass.).
• 4)Lightly flour your work surface, and dump out to knead. Knead for about 1-2 minutes, or until you get a recognizable ball. (this is not your main Kneading point, so don't fuss over it!) Let the dough now rest while you clean up your bowl you will now use to let the dough ferment inches (about 5-6 minutes rest time).
• 5) Once your bowl is clean and dry (wiped clean) You now will need to start the Kneading process. Here, there are two methods you can take Fast, or Slow. What is the difference between the two? Texture/Crumb.
• Method 1: Fast- Knead your usual way by doing quarter turns for 3-8 minutes, forming a nice elastic and smooth ball. Place Ball in your Large bowl and cover with Plastic. Let Rise for 90-120 minutes.
• Method 2: Slow/Slap Bench: Begin to knead your dough, but this technique will be somewhat different than your typical quarter turn kneading. With this, the dough is flattened out slightly, then roughly fold dough into a single book fold ((Fold onto the second third and last third onto the second third)), held at one end (dough shape will be oblong) and slapped down on the work surface. Refolded and repeated about 850 times. YES 850! lol Once this is accomplished, dough is rounded into a ball and placed within the bowl to rise. 90-120 minutes, covered with plastic. (while this sounds outlandish, this is the traditional method and the texture is UN-BE-Leavable.) I also find that this method is less tiresome than normal kneading.
• 6) Now that the dough has fermented, we can begin to form our loaves. Turn Dough out onto your kneading surface and flatten with your hands (by a smacking action) expelling all the gasses out of the dough. Divide into two equal parts. Round each piece into a ball, Rest for 5 minutes.
• 7)Prepare a Couche (A couche can be made by using a piece of linen or Towel, non-terry-cloth usually a little bigger than a tea-towel, which has had flour generously smoothed into the fabric to fill any creases and crevices of the towel used.) Set up your towel up to cradle your loaves. (This step isn't needed, but it helps to support the dough as it rises and gives a less flat result.).
• 8)Taking one portion, flatten out with your hands expelling all gasses. Take the top and fold down 2/3rds onto the dough, using the heal of your hand, seal the dough onto itself. Repeat fold and seal again. Fold down once more, but fold down to the bottom this time, sealing the top to the bottom.
• 9)Lastly, taper off the ends of the dough by rolling your hands at the ends lighly with a bit of pressure to form a classic French Bread look. (at this point you can continue to roll your hands down the length of the dough to make a baguette rather than taper the ends).
• 10) Place your dough seal side down onto your couche, leaving a bit of space for the loaves to expand between the two, yet still giving it support.
• 11) Gash 3 cuts into the top of the loaves. Cover with the rest of the towel and Let rise an hour.
• 12) Gently peal the couche back from the loaves and GENTLY place them on either a baking sheet or a (lightly floured) paddle for placing onto baking stone. (Many would be tempted to use corn meal to prevent sticking, but that then takes it out of the 4 Ingredient Rule, making it untraditional French Bread.) You do not want to be rough, as you don't want them to deflate.
• 13) Brush the tops of the risen dough with cool water using a pastry brush.
• 14) Cooking: Toss 1/2 Cup water into the bottom of the Hot Preheated Oven 425 (Beware! Steam is HOT! BE CAREFUL) Place loaves in the oven and close. Turn the oven down to 350 and bake for 28-30 minutes.
• 15) Bread is done when the bottoms sound hollow when tapped and the loaves are a rich almost dark golden colour.
• 16) For more information on the extensive technique used: Google French Bread Julia Child and view video's available. (Danielle Forestier).