Authentic Italian Bread
- 1 teaspoon yeast, active dry
- 1 teaspoon barley malt syrup
- 13 cup water warm
- 23 cup milk at room temperature
- 1 cup flour, all-purpose
- This takes 2 days but is worth the wait.
- Makes 2 round loaves Starter Stir the yeast and malt into the water; let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes.
- Stir in the milk and beat in the flour with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon about 100 strokes until smooth.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let stand until bubbly, at least 4 hours but preferably overnight.
- Dough 2 cups water, at room temperature 6 1/4 cups (860 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon salt Cornmeal Mix the starter and the water in a mixer until the starter is well broken up.
- Add the flour and salt and mix for 2 to 3 minutes at low speed.
- The dough will be smooth but won't pull away from the side of the bowl.
- Change to the dough hook and knead at medium speed, scraping down the side of the bowl as necessary, until the dough is elastic but slightly sticky, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Finish kneading by hand on a floured work surface.
- First rise Place in a well-oiled bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours.
- The dough is ready when it is very bubbled and blistered.
- Shaping and second rise Cut the dough in half on a floured surface and shape into 2 round loaves.
- Place on an oiled cookie sheet sprinkled with cornmeal.
- Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
- Baking Preheat oven to 400F (200C).
- Bake about 1 hour and cool on racks.
- To get a really good crust spray the loaves with water 3 times in the first 15 minutes of baking.
yeast, barley malt syrup, water, milk, flour
Taken from recipeland.com/recipe/v/authentic-italian-bread-3583 (may not work)