The Lazy Loaf

The Lazy Loaf is adapted from a recipe on the King Arthur Flour website and popularized in the book Artisan Bread In Five Minutes A Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François.

This will make two loaves of bread. If you are good at math, you can divide or double the recipe depending upon how many loaves of bread you want.  The loaves will typically be good for one to two days. Stale bread can be toasted or turned into bread crumbs. Do not store your bread in a plastic bag, unless freezing for later. Parchment paper or butcher block paper works nicely.

1.         Mix everything together.

Combine the following in a large mixing bowl (at least 6 quarts) or food-safe plastic bucket:

·         1 1/2 cups lukewarm water

·         16 ounces (3 1/2 to 4 1/2 cups) Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

·         1 teaspoon salt

·         1 tablespoon instant yeast

2.         Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a towel and let it rise for about two hours.

           

3.         Chill-Out. Pop it in the refrigerator overnight or up to seven days. The longer it's in the refrigerator the more tangy/sour the dough will become.

4.         Form The Loaves:     Prior to the church service, grease your hands, and pull off about 1/3 or 1/2 of the dough — a 14-ounce to 19-ounce piece, if you have a scale. It’ll be about the size of a softball, or a large grapefruit, and then plop the sticky dough onto a floured work surface and fold it into a round ball or long log. Don’t fuss around trying to make it perfect; just do the best you can.

5.         Let it Rest: Leave the loaf alone for about sixty minutes, letting it rise again.

6.         Load It:  When worship is over, load the loaf onto a peel dusted with Semolina flour or cornmeal for dusting, score the top of the loaf with a lame (this will be your unique mark so that we can tell which loaf belongs to you).

REMEMBER:  This is bread. It is a living thing. It changes depending on the weather, the humidity, the age of the flour, and you.  Every time you make it, the loaves will be a little different. It is better to think about this recipe as a guide and not an instruction booklet.  Keep in mind that the worst homemade bread will always be better than the best bread in the supermarket.