How do you like your bread? 

With a thick crust or thin? In Turkey, we have regular soft bread with a thin crust. The traditional rustic bread, however, is baked in stone wood ovens and it has a thick crust, which I like the best. I don't like the standardised regular bakery bread, which to me are tasteless. So as I was going with this recipe quite clumsily, I also attempted to make that rustic bread I love.

Almost every bread recipe I've seen has "active yeast" in it. I'm more of a fresh yeast girl so I used fresh yeast. To achieve the thick crust, I kneaded a very soft dough for the first fermentation process. After the dough rested and fermented for about an hour, I sprinkled lots of flour on the counter and kneaded the dough for about a 1 minute to form more stability. During this time I used, as much as flour the dough needed (probably a cup or so)

Then I shaped the dough and placed it on the generously floured tray. Sprinkled almost half a cup of flour over it and I wiped the flour to make it stick to the dough. Then let it rest for another hour or 40 minutes. Since the dough was not too dense and it still was soft and sticky, it absorbed the flour on the top layer and formed a thick exterior during the second fermentation. With a knife, I draw some made-up shape and baked it in 250C in the oven.

The result was surprisingly good so I continued using this recipe and baked four more loaves of bread until know. Once I used more flour and made it a denser dough, with that I got a thin but still crusty exterior because the dough didn't absorb the flour I sprinkled over the shaped dough. Both were good though!



Tell me how you like your loaf of bread in the comments!

SOFT LIKE CLOUDS OR THICK, CRUSTY AND MORE FILLING?

Honestly, I like them both. The other day I baked the softest and lightest brioche burger buns ever and I'm in love! That recipe and also the video of making it is also on its way.

ingredients

4 + 1/2 cup flour
20 gr fresh yeast
2 cup warm water
5 tbsp olive oil
1+ 1/2 tsp salt

method

(I personally don't like kneading the dough with my hands. It's a sticky situation and this though is extra sticky. That's why I stir it with a wooden spoon as much as I can or use a stand mixer. Also, I realised that when I kneaded the dough less and as quick as possible, it makes a better loaf of bread. Since I don't have a stand mixer, I'll describe the recipe how I made it by stirring with a spoon.)

In a big bowl, pour the warm water and fresh yeast. Let the yeast melt by stirring it with a wooden spoon and then add olive oil.

Add in 3 cups of flour and stir with the spoon. At this point, the dough is super runny and sticky.

Add in the 4th cup of flour and continue stirring it with the spoon. Try to roll the dough in the bowl like a ball and gather the flour slowly. If you think, it is too runny, slowly add more flour. You will have a still very sticky but not runny dough. If you want to knead it with your hands, sprinkle a little flour and olive oil into your hand and slightly knead the dough. Cover it with a plastic wrap and let it rest for an hour or 40 minutes.

I try to leave the bowl in a warm place. Not too hot but slightly warm, like close to a radiator or a boiling pot, if I'm cooking something.

An hour later, you will have a very much risen and too soft and bubbly dough. Put half a cup of flour onto the counter and drop the dough over it. Sprinkle another half a cup of flour and knead it quickly until it's smooth. It will still be just a little sticky. Sprinkle flour into your hands and shape the dough and place it into a floured tray.

Sprinkle more flour on top of it and slightly wiped the flour all over its top layer. If the dough is in the right consistency, you will see that the flour will be absorbed and you will feel the need to put some more. There should be a layer of whiteness.

Let it rest for another hour or 40 minutes in a warm place.

At this point, I heat the oven to 250C with fan so it can give the stone wood oven effect and bake the bread as quickly as possible.

After the second fermentation, with a knife draw some shape or just make a slight cut and bake it for 10-15 minutes, which depends on your oven. Each oven has a unique personality :)

NOTES:

This is the only recipe I used and it is so good and I didn't feel the need to try any other recipes. 

However, the amount of flour is always slight changes. That's why, always add the flour slowly as you need it. And observe the dough. 

Below is the TikTok video in which you can see the consistency of the dough. It's also on my instagram "bread"  highlight folder. Follow me on instagram to see me bake bread almost every day! DM me any questions you have or also you can send me snaps of the dough! I can answer the questions on Instagram much quicker! Would you also like a live bread making challenge? Let me know! And always have fun!