Food & Drink

How To Make French Bread

How To Make French Bread
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In this step by step tutorial Dan DeGustibus, artisan baker, shows you how to make your very own pain de campagne, or French country loaf. Enlarge In this step by step tutorial Dan DeGustibus, artisan baker, shows you how to make your very own pain de campagne, or French country loaf.

At a glance

Serves:
6
Preparation Time:
3 hours
Total Time:
3 hours
Oven Temperature:
180° c  -  360° f


Ingredients

  • 140 g wholemeal flour
  • 800 g white flour
  • 240 g white sourdough
  • 100 g dark rye flour
  • 1 tsp malt
  • 25 g sea salt
  • 690 ml water

Method

Mix together 35 g of white sourdough, 35 g of wholemeal flour and 60 ml of water until well combined, leave this for 2 hours.

Place your white flour, dark rye flour, malt, 100 g wholemeal flour and sea salt in a bowl and gently mix by hand. Make sure there are no big lumps of salt.

Add the pre-ferment you made at the begining of the recipe, the white sourdough and 630 ml of water. Bring this all together with your hands.

Remove you dough to a floured surface, then fold and knead. Cover it with a bowl and leave for about half an hour.

After half an hour gently fold it over. It can be left for a few more fermentations, gently folding it each time.

Place on a tray and cover with a cloth to prove.

Put a bit of water on top, then sprinkle a little flower over it. Using a knife give if a few cuts.

You can put a jug of water in the oven with your bread to keep it moist.

Bake until ready. It should sound hollow when you tap the bottom of a cooked loaf.