kuechli's simple wood-fired bread

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 1 kg wheat flour type 405
• 800 ml water, lukewarm
• 1 cube of yeast
• 2 tsp, heaped salt, approx. 28 g
• 200 g wheat flour
• 1 tbsp, heaped bread spice mix as desired, such as ground caraway, fennel, fenugreek seeds etc., or omit completely

Instructions

Working time approx. 2 hours 10 minutes; Rest time approx. 1 hour 10 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 1 hour; Total time approx. 4 hours 20 minutes

especially good from the wood-fired oven or with firebrick in the oven

Take a large bowl in which you can mix the dough together and in which the dough can easily double in size. Dissolve the yeast well in the lukewarm water. Mix 1 kg of flour with the salt, add the yeast water and mix quickly. Since the dough is quite soft, please use a wooden spoon or dough mixer. This dough does NOT need to be kneaded for long, but rather mixed quickly. Cover the dough and let it rise in a warm place until it has at least doubled in size. This can happen in as little as 1 hour in summer, but in winter it can take up to 2 hours. During this resting time, remember to heat up your wood-fired oven or firebrick in the oven. You should allow about 1 hour for this. (Preheat the oven on full heat for 1 hour with the firebrick – light the wood-fired oven.) Line a proving basket with baking paper. Once the dough has risen nicely, dust it with 200 grams of flour and, using a dough scraper from the side of the bowl, work it in until the dough, which is still quite soft, is easy to remove. Transfer it to the baking basket and let it rest for another 10 minutes. Make sure the side of the dough that goes into the basket is well floured—otherwise, the dough will stick hopelessly. Once your wood-fired oven or oven with a firebrick is up to temperature, turn the dough out onto a bread peel and put it in the oven. Let the bread bake for about 1 hour. I would start the oven at maximum temperature and then reduce it to 200 degrees Celsius after 15 minutes. I start my wood-fired oven at 300 degrees Celsius—the temperature drops naturally during the baking time. Regarding bread spices: I like my bread on its own, without any spices. However, you can easily customize the flavor – from roasted onions to herbs or nuts, or even the well-known bread spices, which you can add individually or as a mix. Just try to find your favorite.