Crusty Farmhouse Cob
How to make a Crusty Farmhouse Cob, using a bread cloche, easy step by step instructions from start to finish.
Ingredients
Method
- 500g / 18oz Strong white bread flour
- 335g / 335mls Water 7g / 2tsp Instant or active dried yeast
- 8g / 1tsp Salt
- Add the flour, salt, and yeast to the water and thoroughly mix it in, making sure all the flour is hydrated.
- Cover your bowl, and let it proof for 45 minutes.
- Once your time is up, turn out the dough onto a wet surface, and with wet hands give it a few slap and folds, (see video for this technique).
- Place the dough back in the bowl, cover again and let it proof of a further 45 minutes.
- Take your 25cm / 10” round banneton basket, and liberally dust with flour, set it aside for now.
- Once you second proof is ready, turn out your dough onto a floured surface, and form your dough into a ball, clear away the flour from the bench, and try to stretch the outer skin of the doughball as tight as possible by dragging it over the surface of the bench, see video on how to do this.
- Place the formed doughball into the prepared banneton, dust with flour and cover it with dry lightweight cloth, and allow it to proof for 45 minutes.
- When there is only 30 minutes left on the final proof, preheat your oven to 240°C / 465°F / Gas-mark 9, and get your cloche in to heat up, as it takes at least 30 minutes to get up to temperature.
- Once the final proof is done, dust it with a little more flour and turn it out onto your peel, gently brush off any excess flour.
- Remove the cloche cover from the oven and close the oven door, to keep the heat in.
- Score your dough using criss-cross or tic tac toe pattern.
- Carefully transfer the dough to cloche, replace the lid, and set your timer for 20 minutes.
- After the first 20 minutes, carefully open the oven door and remove the cloche lid, close the door, reduce the oven temperature to 230°C / 430°F / Gas-mark 8, and bake for a further 10, if you want a bit more colour, bake for a few minutes longer.
- Remove from the oven and allow it to cool for 30 minutes or so, slice and serve.
- Enjoy
Equipment & products used in my kitchen and videos
