DailyBread

Daily Bread Routine By Shawna Henderson

This page is all about routinely making bread, even a small loaf, every day.

Shawna says:

My loaf-a-day habit starts with about half of the starter (and I just eyeball it and scoop - measuring is goooooopy).

Every morning, I do 3 things:

1. I take my ready-to-bake dough out of the bowl and shape it into a loaf. Let it rest for an hour.
2. I make the next day's bread with 1/2 of the starter (see my version of dough below)
3. I replenish the starter with 1/4c water and 1/2c flour and put it up high on the top of a cabinet so it's always in the warmest spot and not getting in the way.

And then I make coffee and tidy up, and futz around for the remainder of the hour the loaf is resting and tomorrow's dough is autolyzing, then knead tomorrow's dough a little, cover it, toss the loaf in the oven and walk away til the buzzer goes off and the bread is ready.

To make the bread:

• Add 1 c warm water, about 3 tbsp olive oil and some salt to the 1/2 of starter I've scooped out, whisk it really well (I think this is a key point) so that it's frothy, then add 2 scoops of flour, which works out to somewhere between 3 and 4 cups of flour.
• Mix it all together, but not to much. It should look 'shaggy'. Cover with plastic or beeswax wrap for an hour to let it rest and allow it to 'autolyse'. Then, push it into a ball (I knead it a few times in the bowl), and cover again, til the next morning. It should be very bubbly and light.
• NEXT MORNING: Carefully push/pull the dough out of the bowl, being careful not to knead at this point, the dough is full of lovely bubbles. Place on a well-floured surface (it's sticky). I make a long loaf, but you can put it in a dutch oven to make a round cobb. To make the loaf, stretch out gently into a rectangle. Roll the rectangle tightly and pinch the long side together. Lay onto pan (prepared with a smoosh of butter and cornmeal) with pinched side down. let it rest for an hour, then take a serrated knife and slice 3-4 diagonal lines in the top of the loaf (about 1/4" deep).
• The dough is very soft so you oven rise it. Spritz oven with water, or have a loaf pan of just-boiled water in the bottom of the oven to keep the humidity up. Put the loaf in while the oven is cold, turn the oven on and voila!
• Baking time will vary, you'll have to experiment with your oven. My little convection oven is perfect for a long loaf at 400 for 40 min with convection on.