Naperville wrote: ↑Sun Feb 08, 2026 8:15 pm
Scandi Grind wrote: ↑Sun Feb 08, 2026 10:51 am
This mornings bread that came out of the oven just 20 minutes ago.
homemadeBoule.JPG
Now try to tell me that doesn't look delicious. It's great out of the oven while the crust is still crispy, or after it has softened being stored a few days you can make some toast with it. I've made grilled turkey sandwiches with it too. Yum.
Looks good to me!
What do I have to do to make those? Tell me exactly what I need.
Let's see if I can get this all down in one go.
Starting with cookware you are going to need a baking sheet big enough for however many boules you want to make. A medium pan works for one, if you want to do two at a time you will need the biggest baking pan that will fit in your oven most likely. I like using Nordic Ware aluminum baking sheets because they don't have teflon on them, but other pans should work too. Dark pans may effect the bottom crust slightly differently.
Other than the baking sheet you are going to need one of two steaming methods:
Method number one: A broiler pan to put water in under your bread to steam it during baking or...
Method number two: A stainless bowl for each bread you want to make that is big enough to cover the boule with out touching the bread at full rise.
I used to put a broiler pan with water to steam my bread, but then water started collecting in the oven in places I didn't want it. I switched over to covering with stainless bowls and I like it just as much flavor wise. It does require putting bowls on and off during baking though, which I will explain in the baking instructions.
OK, so you have a baking sheet, and a steaming solution. Next let's talk ingredients. You will need all purpose flour, salt, sugar, and instant yeast. I prefer larger bags of yeast that I can measure different amounts out of, but there are usually individual packets that I see at stores. The stuff I have is a one pound bag of Bellarise, but you might not be able to use that much very quickly. Whatever you can find should work fine.
Now making dough. You are basically going to make a big batch of dough at least a day ahead of time then pull hunks off of it when you want to make bread. The dough will store in the fridge for up to two weeks.
Start by putting 2 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp salt, and 1 tbsp yeast in a large mixing bowl. Heat 3 cups of water in the microwave to about 110 degrees F. I just check it with my finger, the water should feel slightly warm. Pour the water in the bowl and give it a little stir. The sugar, salt and yeast do not need to totally dissolve, just mix them up a bit. Now measure 6 1/2 cups flour into the bowl using a scoop and scrap method, flattening the top of the cup with a butter knife. This is a no-knead recipe. All you have to do is stir the dough up with a wooden spoon until the texture becomes uniform and there are no powdery spots left. Your bowl has to be big enough to fit about twice as much as the unrisen dough.
Some people like to use a heavy duty stand mixer to mix the dough, but I prefer simply mixing by hand as I don't find it too difficult and all I have to do is wash the wood spoon when I'm done. It isn't like beating eggs, so don't be afraid to mess around with mixing movements. I tend to mix by holding the spoon in a hammer grip supported by my upright thumb and shovel the outer edges of the dough towards the center until it is mixed.
Once the dough is mixed, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and poke a few holes in the top to allow air out. Set this out on the counter somewhere for about 2 hours to rise. Somewhere warmish is a good spot. If your house is cold, it can take longer to rise. If you accidentally leave the bread out longer than intended it should still be fine, even over night. After it has risen, I usually put another piece of plastic wrap over it, then put it in the fridge. By the next day it will be ready to use and will be good for the next two weeks. Over time it will develop more sourdough notes.
On baking day grab your baking sheet and put a light layer of oil on the spot where your bread will go, or you can put a piece of parchment paper on it. I use olive oil because vegetable oil turns really sticky when baked and is harder to clean off the pan. I just put a little oil on a paper towel, then rub the towel over the pan. Parchment paper is cleaner and easier it just costs more.
Pull your dough out of the fridge and sprinkle some flour over the top. Gently rub that flour around so that the top of your dough isn't sticky. Grab a plate and sprinkle some flour on it. What you want to do is cut off a piece of dough about the size of a grapefruit, or around 1 lb., and put it on your floured plate, with the sticky side up. I actually shoot for 13 oz. and use a kitchen scale under the floured plate to get it accurate. I find 13 oz. makes four almost perfectly equal sized loaves from this amount of dough. Now that your dough in on the plate you want to gently fold the sticky sections on the right and left edges in toward the center of your dough piece. Rotate 90 degrees and repeat. It is almost like folding a blanket into the shape of a little bag. Pinch the sticky sections together where they meet towards the center. Once it is all stuck together well you can gently rub some flour over the whole outside, then flip your dough over pinched side down, and put it on your baking sheet. The pinched sections will even out a bit by themselves on the underside. You want to avoid handling the dough more than necessary, specifically smashing it, during this entire process. The goal it to maintain all the air bubbles that were formed during the initial rise.
Now let this set out for 40 minutes total to "rise". If it doesn't look like it has risen that is OK, most of the rise will actually come in the oven. After 20 minutes of rising I preheat the oven to 450. This gives the oven a good 20 mins. to reach a uniform temperature. When 40 minutes have passed sprinkle some flour on top of your dough ball, gently brush it over the top, then using a sharp knife, slash it in your preferred pattern. I use a boning knife or paring knife sharpened to a coarse grit for this.
Now your bread goes in the oven, but we have to address steaming methods.
If you are steaming with a broiler pan, you need a shelf in your oven to put it on that won't interfere with the rising bread. I used to put it under the bread shelf. Make sure your bread is roughly center height in the oven. If you don't have a shelf that can fit the broiler pan, then consider the other method. The broiler pan should be in your oven during preheat. Before you put the bread in the oven, get one cup of water and microwave it until it feels very warm, then pour it into the broiler pan. Immediately afterward put your bread in and shut the door to trap the steam. Be careful pouring in the water, it will want to bubble and steam a lot for second. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until it has reached desired crisp.
Or if using bowls for steaming like I do now, start by putting your bread in uncovered to get good initial oven spring. Cook uncovered for 8 mins. Cover for 10 mins. with a stainless bowl to prevent the bread from hardening too fast. Uncover for another 10-14 minutes in order to get desired crisp.
Exact cook times will vary, so watch it more closely the first time to see how long it takes in your kitchen. When using the bowl steaming method the loaves will tend to come out lighter in color than the broiler pan method when cooked the same amount of time. If you want to make sure it is done, bread cooked to the same temperature as meat has never failed to be done enough to remove from the oven for me. Typically by the time you get a nice caramel colored crust you will be thoroughly heated through.
Let the bread cool before cutting, it is still cooking in a certain sense even after leaving the oven. It seems to take about 30 mins. to properly cool for me.
That probably sounds like a lot, but hopefully I made it easy to understand. Once you have done it a few times it becomes fairly straightforward. If you can't eat that much bread in a two weeks, this recipe can always be halved, which will give you two loaves made this way. I will try to post some in progress to give a better idea of the process too.