Italian Boules

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Italian Bread

There is bread, and there is fresh bread, then there is fresh homemade bread! I am completely and totally addicted to bread. Ever since I learned the techniques of using my Kitchen Aid mixer, I just cannot stop making bread on the weekend. This weekend was no exception. My bread making adventures continued with Italian bread! This bread’s secret is the pre-ferment ( the poolish ) that I put together the night before and placed on my countertop. The pre-ferment gives the bread its flavor and helps out the texture. Using a pre-ferment gives you many of the benefits of a sourdough, but is a so much easier!

Oven Fresh Homemade Bread

I again consulted my master artisan bread maker, Barry Harmon at Artisan Bread Baking, and decided to use the recipe for his standard Italian Boules. A boule, from the French for “ball”, is a traditional shape of French bread, but in this case I made it into Italian bread. The original recipe called to use malt, but I could not source any malt in a hurry, so I just used sugar instead. This bread recipe took the better part of 4.5 hours to complete start to finish (not including the pre-ferment) and was so delicious that I nearly consumed one boule myself within a few hours of completion!

The finished product is a great accompaniment to any meal, although I would not really recommend it as sandwich bread due to its thick, deep crust.

: Fresh Italian Boules

Poolish:

200 g King Arthur Bread Flour
200 g Water
2 g (1/2 tsp.) Dry Active Yeast

Final Dough:

890 g Bread Flour
480 g Water
15 ml (1 tbsp.) Dry Active Yeast
15 ml (1 tbsp.) Salt
225 ml (1/2 cup) Non-Fat Dry Milk
15 ml (1 tbsp.) Extra Virgin Olive Oil
15 ml (1 tbsp.) Sugar

Make the poolish, cover it, and allow it to sit on the countertop for at least 24 hours at room temperature.
The Poolish after 24 hours.
After 24 hours put the poolish, water, sugar, yeast, oil, milk powder into the mixer bowl.
Add half the flour and mix for two minutes using the paddle attachment.
Switch to the dough hook and add the rest of the flour and mix for two minutes.
Let dough rest, covered for 25 minutes (this is the autolyse).
Add the salt and knead for 8 minutes.
After Kneading, ready for first fermentation
Cover and ferment for 1 hour.
Perform a fold.
After first fermentation
Cover and ferment another hour.
Perform a fold.
After Second Fermentation
Cover and ferment for 30 minutes.
After the Final Fermentation
Shape into two equal loaves (mine was approx 880 grams each) place on parchment paper and rise for 50 minutes.
Final Risen Boule
Preheat the oven to 425F.
My NON Commerical Oven with its $5 baking stone!
Slash the loaves in three places across the top of each boule and place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes, rotate the loaves to ensure equal baking and bake for another 15-20 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 200F.
For a deeper crust, turn of the oven and let the loaves sit in the cooling oven for 5 minutes.