Stand Mixer Rustic Peasant Bread

I love a rustic bread. It needs to have a ruff texture and wonderful taste. Add a crunchy crust and I'm in heaven. It is not the most beautiful of breads but it is extremely tasty with a great crust and texture. Quick and easy with no hand kneading and a little over 2 hours and you're eating bread.


I needed a bread for my Italian cooking tonight and gave it some though all day long. Really too long to follow any of the recipes I found. A CI recipe add a touch of whole wheat flour to a roll that they call a peasant roll. It looked interesting but just too much work. I am amazed at the amount of work some people can put into something sometimes.

Start with the basics of flour (AP and whole wheat), yeast, sugar, salt and water. Let the stand mixer do all the work. Be sure to keep it warm for good rise. Then cook in a hot oven to get a great crust.

Rating

This was just way too easy. My wife (not a bread person) threatened to eat the whole thing.

Notes: It is cool in Michigan now and we keep our home cool (60) also. I have developed techniques for bread baking in our home in cold weather. First, I start with warm equipment. I preheat the stand mixer bowl and the rising bowl with hot water. I use a pre-warmed oven as my "warm spot" for rising. I do this by turning an oven on the lowest temp possible (170) and as soon as the oven beeps. I turn it off. I put the dough in this environment about 10 minutes after turning off the oven. The dough tripled in size in 1 hour. The second rise was in the same oven but not reheated.

I used a dutch oven to bake the bread because I wanted a "steam effect" . Really put it in any pan you want, brush with water and bake until internal temp of 200. The dough is not strong enough to be baked outside of a pan.

 In 1 3/4 cups of warm (110 degree) water, dissolve 1 T sugar and 1 T of rapid rise yeast.

Add the yeast mixture to a preheated stand mixer bowl. Spray dough hook with PAM. With the mixer on "2" slowly add 4 1/2 cups AP flour, 1/4 cup whole wheat flour and 2 t salt.

Preheat oven to 170 and turn off. Allow the dough to mix for 10 minutes.

 Move the dough to a lightly oiled preheated bowl (see notes), form into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and place in oven for 50-60 minutes until about tripled in size.

Lightly coat a preheated (see notes) dutch oven with oil and move the dough into it. Cover with lid, place back in oven and allow to double in size. About 30 minutes.

Move from oven and then heat to 450 degrees convection. Score top of dough with a sharp chef knife. Then brush top with 1 T of water. Yes it will seem like too much but it will steam and help the crust.

This is the bottom side up that looks better

Place the dutch oven covered into the oven. Bake for 10 minutes then remove the cover. Continue to bake until internal temp of about 200. About another 20 minutes.

Stand Mixer Rustic Peasant Bread

by DrDan at 101 Cooking for Two November-12-2011

I love a rustic bread and you can have it in just over 2 hours. It needs to have a ruff texture and wonderful taste. Add a crunchy crust and I'm in heaven. It is not the most beautiful of breads but it is extremely tasty with a great crust and texture. Quick and easy with no hand kneading and a little over 2 hours and you're eating bread.

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cup 110 degree water
• 1 T (one package will do) yeast
• 1 T sugar
• 4 1/2 cup AP flour
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 t salt

Instructions

1) In 1 3/4 cups of warm (110 degree) water, dissolve 1 T sugar and 1 T of rapid rise yeast.2) Add the yeast mixture to a preheated stand mixer bowl. Spray dough hook with PAM. With the mixer on "2" slowly add 4 1/2 cups AP flour, 1/4 cup whole wheat flour and 2 t salt. 3) Preheat oven to 170 and turn off. Allow the dough to mix for 10 minutes. 4) Move the dough to a lightly oiled preheated bowl (see notes), form into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and place in oven for 50-60 minutes until about tripled in size.5) Lightly coat a preheated (see notes) dutch oven with oil and move the dough into it. Cover with lid, place back in oven and allow to double in size. About 30 minutes.6) Move from oven and then heat to 450 degrees convection. Score top of dough with a sharp chef knife. Then brush top with 1 T of water. 7) Place the dutch oven covered into the oven. Bake for 10 minutes then remove the cover. Continue to bake until internal temp of about 200. About another 20 minutes.

Details

Prep time: 1 hour 45 mins Cook time: 30 mins Total time: 2 hour 15 mins Yield: one loaf

Updated

November 12 2011

DrDan