Hearth bread in the oven

Step-by-step preparation

Cooking time: 4 hr

1. STEP 1

   

   How to bake hearth bread in the oven? Prepare all the necessary products. When baking bread, it is very important to measure them accurately; the quality of the future bread depends on this. This especially applies to water and yeast. You can vary the salt and sugar to suit your taste, just remember that too much salt will interfere with the yeast's ability to work. The amount of flour is given taking into account the kneading.

2. STEP 2

   

   Flour for wheat hearth bread must be sifted through a sieve or using a special mug. This will saturate it with oxygen, and the bread will turn out more airy.

3. STEP 3

   

   The water must be heated to a temperature of about 40 degrees so that the hand is pleasantly warm, but in no case hot! Otherwise, the yeast that the water comes into contact with will die. Add sugar and yeast to the water and stir.

4. STEP 4

   

   Pour the flour into the water with the yeast. Do this in portions. They poured it in and stirred it, then a little more and stirred it again. I first stirred with a whisk, then with a spoon, then with my hands. Do not pour out all the flour, look at the dough, because you may need less or a little more flour. The dough should be dense, it should not be steep, the bread will be tough if you add flour. At this stage you just need to mix all the ingredients, the dough will remain rough, that’s how it should be.

5. STEP 5

   

   Cover the bowl with the dough with a towel or cling film and leave for 30 minutes in a warm place.

6. STEP 6

   

   After half an hour, my dough came to life a little - it increased in size.

7. STEP 7

   

   Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface. Sprinkle salt on top and start kneading.

8. STEP 8

   

   You need to knead the dough for a long time, adding flour all the time so that it does not stick. I kneaded for 20 minutes until smooth and elastic. You can use a food processor or mixer, but I found the dough to be too tight for them.

9. STEP 9

   

   Place the kneaded dough into a bowl greased with vegetable oil. Cover with a towel or cover with cling film and place in a warm, draft-free place. I always put it in the oven with the light on and not hot.

10. STEP 10

    

    After half an hour, take out the dough and knead it. That is, press on top of it with your fist, removing excess volume. Cover again and put back in a warm place.

11. STEP 11

    

    In total, the dough should rise for one and a half to two hours, including the time before kneading. As a result, the dough should double in size.

12. STEP 12

    

    Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and shape it into a log. This is very simple to do - you need to pinch all the edges in the center, turn the seam down and turn it with your hands several times from the sides, rounding it.

13. STEP 13

    

    Place the finished bun on proofing again. I placed it seam side down on baking paper. Cover the top of the bun with an inverted bowl. Leave for 45-60 minutes.

14. STEP 14

    

    The dough will rise well, ideally double again.

15. STEP 15

    

    Carefully transfer the paper with the dough onto the baking sheet. Make cuts on top with a sharp knife so that the crust of the hearth bread at home does not burst.

16. STEP 16

    

    Bake homemade hearth bread in the oven at 240°C for 15 minutes with steam, then reduce the temperature to 210 and bake until done, about 35-45 minutes. Focus on the color of the crust. How to bake with steam: at the very beginning, place a small baking sheet on the bottom of the oven and heat it together. As soon as you put the bread in the oven, pour a glass of water onto the baking sheet. Be careful, there will be a lot of steam! After 15 minutes, open the oven and remove it.

Comments on the recipe

Alyona

01.09.2023

4.8

This was my first time baking this bread and I followed the recipe. I only added flaxseed. The recipe is good, simple, everything is described correctly and accessible. It's a pleasure to work with the dough. I, like the author, did not use kitchen aids when kneading. Still, yeast dough loves your hands. I kneaded it not for 20 minutes, but for 10. For me, this is the standard kneading time, 7-10 minutes. The bread turned out deliciously tempting, with a crispy crust. The only thing we were missing was salt. Next time I'll add a little more to suit our taste. Try it, don’t be afraid, I recommend it, a worthy recipe!

inna

01.09.2023

4.8

Thanks a lot. We will study it practically... Please rate my recipe too.

Toma

01.09.2023

4.5

I added the hearth bread recipe to my cookbook, thanks for the recipe!