John Kirkwood Bread Making Recipes

CRUSTY FRENCH BAGUETTES 4 HOUR RECIPE - NO STARTER NECESSARY

Steps:

• Whisk together water and yeast in the bowl of a stand up mixer; let sit until yeast is foamy, about 10 minutes. Add flour, salt, and stir with a fork until dough forms and all flour is absorbed; let dough sit to allow flour to hydrate, about 20 minutes. Attach the dough hook to your mixer begin to mix the dough. Continue to knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.
• Spray a large bowl with the vegetable spray and transfer the dough ball to it. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap (we use a shower cap -- the kind you get in the hotels, they work perfectly) and place bowl in a cold oven.
• Let dough rest until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.
• Transer dough to a lightly floured work surface, and shape into an 8" x 6" rectangle. Fold the 8" sides toward the middle, then fold the shorter sides toward the center, like a T-shirt. Return the dough, seam side down, to the greased bowl. Cover with plastic again, and return to oven. Let sit until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
• Remove the bowl with dough from oven, and place a cast-iron skillet or heavy pan on the bottom rack of your oven; position another rack above the skillet/pan, and place a baking stone or upside down rimless sheet pan on it.
• Heat oven to 475 F. Transfer dough to a lightly floured work surface, and cut into three equal pieces; shape each piece into a 14-inch-rope. Flour a sheet of parchment paper on a rimless baking sheet; place ropes, evenly spaced, on paper. Lift paper between ropes to form pleats; place two tightly rolled kitchen towels under long edges of paper, creating supports for the loaves. Cover loosely with plastic wrap; let sit until they double in size, about 50 minutes.
• Uncover; remove towels, and flatten paper to space out loaves. Using a sharp razor, knife, bread lame, or scissors, slash the top of each baguette at a 30-degree angle in four spots; each slash should be about 4 inches long. Pull out the oven rack with the stone or baking sheet on it and, using the corner of the parchment paper as a guide, slide the loaves, still on the parchment paper, onto the baking stone or pan.
• Place ice cubes in the skillet or pan (this produces steam that lets the loaves rise fully before a crust forms.)
• Bake the baguettes until darkly browned and crisp, 20 to 30 minutes; cool before serving.

CHEF JOHN'S SOURDOUGH BREAD

Steps:

• Measure out starter into a bowl. Add water, salt, and bread flour. Mix until ingredients are well blended into a very sticky dough. Cover with aluminum foil; let rest 4 hours at 70 to 75 degrees F (22 degrees C).
• With wet hands, fold dough over on itself 3 or 4 times. Cover with foil and allow dough to ferment for 2 more hours.
• Generously dust a bread form with rice flour (see Chef's Note for banneton substitution).
• Scrape dough out onto a lightly floured work surface (you can use bread flour or all-purpose flour). Shape into a ball with a smooth, unbroken surface, using just enough flour on the surface to keep it from sticking. Transfer smooth-side down to banneton. Pinch together the rougher edges of the surface toward the center to smooth them and maintain the round ball shape.
• Cover and refrigerate 12 hours to slow the fermentation process.
• Remove loaf from the refrigerator and let it rise in a warm spot until the dough springs slowly back and retains a slight indentation when poked gently with a finger, about 3 to 5 hours.
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Dust surface of dough with flour. Gently invert banneton over the baking sheet and transfer dough onto parchment paper. Gently brush off excess rice flour. Score the top of the dough about 1/8-inch deep with a sharp knife to create a shallow slit running across the center. Mist entire surface lightly with water.
• Bake in the center of preheated oven until beautifully browned, 25 to 30 minutes.
• Transfer to a rack to cool completely (do not slice loaf while it is still warm).

CHEF JOHN'S NO-KNEAD CIABATTA

Steps:

• Place white and wheat flour in a large bowl. Add salt, yeast, and water. Mix until a wet sticky dough comes together, about 5 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl. Cover with foil. Allow dough to rise for 18 hours at room temperature. It should not be too warm.
• Punch dough down with a spatula and fold it over a few times.
• Lightly grease a heavy-rimmed baking sheet with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with cornmeal.
• Lightly spray a work surface with water. Place a long sheet of plastic wrap on the damp surface to hold it in place. Sprinkle plastic wrap with flour. Scrape the dough onto the floured surface. Sprinkle flour on top of the dough. Gently stretch and pull dough into a long, flat rectangular shape, 12 to 15 inches long. Bring plastic sheet to edge of prepared pan and flip the dough into the prepared pan. Reshape the dough, if necessary. Dust with flour. Cover with a light dry towel. Let rise about 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Bake dough in preheated oven until loaf is nicely browned, 35 to 45 minutes.

FRENCH STYLE BAGUETTE

Steps:

• Measure out all the ingredients using the kitchen scale.
• Combine the 100 mL boiling water and 200 mL cold water together in the 3.5 quart bowl.
• Add the 2.5g active dry yeast and the 7g kosher salt to the water, and mix until combined.
• Add the flour to the yeasted water mixture.
• Use the handle of a wooden spoon to combine the ingredients.
• At some point, you won't be able to combine any more. Just flip the bowl contents onto the counter and use your hands and knead for three to four minutes. To knead, use your palm to press into dough ball, and push away from your body. Then bring the outside edge of the dough (farthest from you) and fold it back towards your body. Repeat.
• You don't have to fully knead (like a typical dough). This will be a sticky, imperfect mess. You just want the dough to combine together.
• Cover the dough with the Press'N'Seal wrap (or cling film, or even clean shower cap), and leave in the fridge for 18-36 hours.
• The longer you can leave the dough, the better. Just don't go over 36 hours.
• Measure out all the ingredients for the "Main Dough" using the kitchen scale.
• Take the pre-fermented dough out of the fridge. It should have doubled in size.
• Scrape the dough out of the dough, using hands or the bench scraper, and re-form into a ball. Cut the pre-fermented dough ball into small pieces. This will make it easier to add to the main dough.
• Combine the 100 mL boiling water and 200 mL cold water together in the 3.5 quart bowl.
• Add the 5 g dry yeast and 10 g salt to the water and mix with whisk until combined.
• Add the flour to the yeasted water mixture.
• As the flour mixture is coming together, add the bits of the pre-fermented dough bits.
• Once the mixture has roughly balled together, flip (or scrap) onto the clean counter.
• Knead the dough for 8-10 minutes. To tell if the dough is done, cut a smallish (210-260g) piece of dough and stretch out from the middle, like you're forming a pizza. The center should allow some light through. The dough will be very sticky. Do not add more flour or it will become very dense.
• Place into a well oiled bowl, cover with cling wrap, and leave overnight* in the fridge. * If you are really pressed for time, you can leave the dough to proof at room temperature for 2 hours. However, it's best to leave the dough in the fridge overnight to develop the best flavor.
• Remove the dough from fridge and turn out onto a clean work surface.
• Divide the dough into six equal balls, about 240-260g each, using the bench scrapper. Try to get the dough bits as equal as possible.
• Once the dough balls are cut, shape each of them into a ball, and let it rest for 5 minutes. This will let the gluten within the dough relax and will help you when you're shaping your dough.While you're making the indiviudal dough balls, cover the rest of the dough with a tea towel to prevent a crust from forming.
• Flatten each dough ball into a rectangle. Take the two ends of the dough and slightly stretch the dough width wise out. Take the two "handles" and fold in. Then take the edge length-wise closest to you and fold in half. Roll the dough over to form a rectangular square.See the 'gif' below of how Patrick Ryan turns the dough ball into a rectangular "pre-baguette" shape:
• Repeat for all six dough balls. Once complete, let them rest for 10-15 minutes.
• During this time, take a baking sheet cover with your couche (pillow case). Sprinkle some extra bread flour.
• Then take the dough, and start to form into a baguette. Step 1: Take 1 dough ball and fold in about a quarter of the way, away from you. Repeat three times, sealing off the edge. Step 2: Roll the dough out. See the gif below for a clear example off rolling out the baguette shape (John Kirkwood)
• As you finish each baguette, place on the couche. Create folds with the cloth to separate each baguette. This will allow the baguette to rise up and not out. I recommend placing a well-oiled layer of cling film on top of the baguettes to prevent a crust from forming.
• Leave the baguettes to prove for about 50 to 60 minutes. They should slightly increase in size.
• Preheat the oven to 425°F or the highest setting
• Fill the baking pan with boiling water.
• Once the dough has risen, use the pizza peel (or your hands) to transfer the dough to a baking tray seem side down.
• Use the razor to score the bread. John Kirkwood made a great diagram below:
• Place the baking tray with the baguette and the baking pan with boiling water into the oven.
• Bake for 15-25 minutes
• I personally set the timer in 6 minute intervals. Resist the temptation to open the oven and release the steam. Remove the baguette when it's golden brown.If you are want to make extras for later, reduce baking by five minutes.
• Serve warm and eat immediately.