How to make artisan bread if sourdough is too much of a commitment

If you’ve wanted to dive into the process of making homemade bread at home, you have a lot of different directions that are possible. 

Each type of bread comes with its own set of directions, ingredients and difficulty level when making it at home by yourself. 

One trend that has spread widely on social media is making sourdough bread at home. 

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The taste of a fresh loaf of sourdough is one favored by many. Plus, ingredients you can add to sourdough bread for unique flavors are endless, from chocolate to shredded cheese and jalapeños.

One thing that beginner bakers may not know about making sourdough bread is that there is a large time component involved. 

Artisan bread is easy for beginners, requiring few ingredients and little time from start to finish. (iStock)

When you make sourdough bread, you don’t use traditional yeast. 

Instead, you use a sourdough starter, which is a combination of flour and water. The yeast and bacteria in the sourdough starter help your dough to rise. 

If you’re just starting out with your sourdough starter, it takes several days of preparation before it’s finally ready to use. 

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The process of establishing a sourdough starter consists of discarding some each day, and adding in fresh flour and water. 

Then you must maintain your sourdough starter by “feeding” it regularly. 

If you don’t want the commitment of caring for a sourdough starter, artisan bread shares similarities but can be made the same day you start preparing it. 

Instead of using a sourdough starter, artisan bread uses instant yeast. (iStock)

Artisan bread requires very few ingredients to make. 

When executed properly, artisan bread has a nice crunchy outside and a soft inside. 

The ingredients required to make artisan bread are bread flour, instant yeast, salt and warm water. 

To make artisan bread, combine all your ingredients and mix until everything is well combined. You can mix your ingredients together with a wooden spoon or with a stand mixer with a dough hook attached.

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Once your ingredients are well combined, the most timely part of the process begins. Luckily, this step requires no extra work from you. 

Put your dough into an oiled bowl and cover it until it has doubled in size. 

The longest part of making artisan bread is waiting for the dough to double in size, which usually takes a couple of hours. (iStock)

Artisan bread, similar to sourdough bread, is baked in a Dutch oven. Once your bread has risen, place your Dutch oven, with the cover intact, in your oven once it has reached 450 degrees. 

Now, it’s time for stretch and fold. Stretching and folding the dough is a practice done in the preparation of sourdough bread as well. 

Wet your hands with a little bit of water or dust with flour to make the dough easier to work with. 

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Then pull up the dough from one side and gently fold the dough over itself. After, turn your bowl, stretch this side of the dough up, and again, fold it over itself. Then, rotate and repeat. You’ll want to do this at least four times. 

Then, work your dough into a loaf shape and put it onto a piece of parchment paper and allow it to sit for 30 more minutes. 

Artisan bread is baked in a Dutch oven. (iStock)

Once your half hour is up, you can use a knife or a bread lame to create a score in your bread, which are cuts along the bread. 

You can create a single long score along the bread, or you can also use decorative scores to make unique designs. 

At this point, carefully remove your Dutch oven from your oven. Don’t forget your oven mitts.

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Then you’ll gently pick up the parchment paper with the loaf on top and place it inside the Dutch oven. 

Typically, 30 minutes of baking in the oven with the lid on the Dutch oven, and an additional 10 with the lid removed, will help your bread become the perfect loaf.