Bread, week three

Three weeks into teaching myself bread, I have made one brick, one pancake and, on Saturday, finally, a loaf.

The trick turned out to be doing less. I stopped poking it. I left the dough in a cold kitchen overnight and went to bed instead of checking on it every hour like a nervous parent.

What worked:

• 500 g flour, 350 g water, 10 g salt, a pinch of yeast.
• Mix, wait, fold it four times over two hours, then the fridge overnight.
• The hottest oven I have, in a heavy pot with the lid on for the first twenty minutes.

The kitchen smelled like the bakery on my street all morning. I ate the heel standing up, which I believe is the rule.

Photo: Drew Coffman on Unsplash