Crusty Farmhouse Loaf
How to make a delicious Farmhouse loaf, made in a Dutch oven, simple step by step instructions from start to finish.
Ingredients
Method
- 650g /23oz Strong white bread flour
- 480g / 480mls Water
- 7g Instant or active dried yeast
- 8g / 1tsp Salt
- 20g/1½Tbls Vegetable or olive oil
- 40g / 1½oz Mixed seeds
- Start the recipe by adding all of the ingredients to a bowl and mix them together into a shaggy, sticky dough.
- Cover the bowl and allow the dough to prove/rise for 45 minutes.
- After the 45 minutes, turn the dough out onto a slightly wet worktop, turn the dough, or knock it back for 30 seconds, the dough should now appear smooth and silky, put it back into the bowl, cover and set your timer for 30 minutes.
- Prepare an 8in / 20cm wok or similar vessel by greasing with butter and vegetable oil, cover the surface of the wok with mixed seeds of your choice so they stick to the whole surface of the wok.
- After the second rise of the dough, repeat the process of turning it out and knocking it back for a further 30 seconds, form the dough into a ball shape and slightly wet the top surface, pick up the dough and place it in the wok wet-side down on top of the seeds, sprinkle a little flour over the dough and cover with a dry lightweight cloth, and set your timer for 30 minutes.
- Preheat your oven at the same time to 230°C / 445°F / Gas mark 8, and place your dutch oven in the oven, as it needs to be heated up for 30 minutes to reach the correct cooking temperature to bake this bread.
- After the 30 minutes carefully take the very hot dutch oven out of the main oven, and place it on the hob, remove the lid, and tip the now risen dough from the wok into the dutch oven, give the dutch oven a quick swirl to centralise the dough, replace the lid and get it back into the hot oven for 30 minutes.
- After the 30 minutes, carefully remove the lid and bake for a further 5 minutes with the lid off, this will make the bread a little crustier.
- Remove the Dutch oven from the main oven, carefully tip out the loaf of bread, and place it on a wire rack to cool for 20 to 30 minutes.
- The bread is now ready to slice and serve with butter.
- Enjoy
- See the video for cleaning and maintaining your Dutch oven after use.
Equipment & products used in my kitchen
