600g White Bread Flour
1 Tbsp Yeast
1 Tsp Salt
350ml of Warm Water (weighed)
12g of Vegetable Fat
Weigh all ingredients and put in the mixing bowl or mixer if using one, either let the mixer run for 10 minutes on a low setting using the dough hook or mix to a rough dough in a bowl and turn out on the work surface to knead for at least 10 minutes. Once the dough has become smooth roll into a ball and place in a bowl, cover and leave to double in size, approximately one hour. Turn out on the work surface and knead for a few minutes, form the dough in to a roll seam side down, either place on a wooden board that has been sprinkled with ground rice and poppy seeds or place in an oiled tin. Leave to rise for 40 minutes. In the meantime heat the oven to 230 degrees and if using a baking stone place it in the oven if you are not using a baking stone put a baking tray in to heat up.
Now there are several options, you can either leave the bread as it is, slashing the top using a sharp blade to allow the hot gas inside the dough to escape, cover it in white flour and then slash it, use poppy or sesame seeds and then slash it.Once slashed allow to rise for about 10 minutes then place in the oven.
Bake the bread at 230 degrees for about 20 minutes and then turn the oven down to 200 degrees for a futher 25 minutes. If a nice thick crust is desired place a bowl in the oven when heating up and when the bread is put into bake add cold water to it to create steam.
Once baked place on a rack to cool for at least two hours, you may hear the bread cracking as it cools down, this is a sign of a really good crust.
