Whole Wheat Bread in 10 Minutes

Most people are intimidated by the idea of baking bread. They envision a day-long ordeal and hours of kneading, when in truth, the best bread can be made at home and requires less than 10 minutes of work. In My Bread: The Revolutionary No-Work, No-Knead Method, Jim Lahey reveals the secrets to creating delicious, artisan bread in only a matter of minutes. One of the keys to his method is baking in a cast iron pot. This acts like a mini brick oven within your oven sealing in steam and embracing the loaf in intense heat.

Pane Integrale Whole Wheat Bread
4 cups whole wheat
2 cups bread flour
2 1/2 tsp table salt
1 tsp instant or other active dry yeast
Cool water 2 2/3 cups
Wheat bran, cornmeal, or additional flour for dusting

Combine the flour, salt, and yeast in a bowl and mix together. Add the water and mix about 30 seconds until you have a wet, sticky dough. Cover and let rise until dough is doubled in size, about 12 to 18 hours.

After the first rise, dust a tea towel with flour and then gently lift the dough from the bowl and form into a loaf, tucking the sides underneath to make a round loaf. Fold the ends of the towel over the loaf to cover it and let it rise for another one to two hours or until almost doubled. It is ready if when you gently poke it with your finger, it holds the impression. If it springs back, let it rise for another 15 minutes.

Half an hour before the end of the second rise, preheat the oven to 475 degrees F with a 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 quart cast iron pot inside.

When the oven is preheated and the dough is done rising, carefully remove the pot from the oven with pot holders, remove the lid, and gently invert the dough into the pot. Place the lid back on the pot and place in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes covered and then remove the lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes more until the bread is a deep chestnut color.