Bread - Artisan Basic White

Making Dough

1. Measure out lukewarm water (if its too hot it will kill and waste the yeast). Add sugar and yeast. Stir then rest for 15 minutes. If it starts bubbling and creating a foam on the liquid surface, move on to step 2.
2. In a large mixing bowl, measure out flour and salt, stir and set aside (You can also use 1/3 - 1/2 wholemeal flour - i have a soy and linseed recipe if you're a wholemeal multigrain person like me...)
3. After the yeast has foamed and waited for 15 minutes (less time in warmer weather), add the liquid to the flour and mix into a shaggy dough, make sure its add incorporated, but don't over-mix, don't knead, its just wasted effort.
4. Cover the mixing bowl with a silicone cover, a damp kitchen towel or plastic wrap, leave for at least 2 hours but you can leave it 8 - 24 hours if you want... it just changes the texture and gets slightly more sour - doubling in size is a good yard stick for appropriate rise.

Cooking

1. Preheat the oven with a dutch oven covered and included to 200 - 220 degrees celsius, for 30 minutes.
2. Once the oven is at temperature, Empty the contents of the mixing bowl onto a floured surface. With floured hands shape into a ball or log to fit the dutch oven you're using. (I use a loaf style dutch oven... so i usually dust the dough, pat to flatten and roll it into a log - means i can add a swirl of something inside if i want to as well.)
3. Place the floured, shaped dough onto the parchment and drop into the dutch oven (with as much grace as possible without burning yourself... make good choices). Also, consider a shallow cut down the centre of your loaf - the crusty artisan bread likes to split - if you give it a cut (expansion point), you'll know where the crack is most likely to happen.
4. Bake the bread covered for 30 minutes, then uncovered for 10-15 minutes (if you're not confident in the heat of your oven you can adjust the timing to your preference.
5. Remove the bread from the dutch oven as soon as you can and cool on a wire wrack (this prevents the bread from sweating in the oven or the parchment.)