Although I've been baking yeast breads most of my life, baking artisan bread is a new adventure for me. While reading some cookbooks, I had a flash back to chemistry class. Thankfully I did discover, Flour Water Salt Yeast by Ken Forkish. He does a wonderful job of providing extensive details in an easy to understand format. The whole wheat bread above is my first attempt from his book. I'm looking forward to making notes, and diving into my next bake.
The book's recipes call for the bread to be baked in a dutch oven, which results in that crispy browned crust, and tender inside crumb we all love from our local artisan bakeries. Prior to reading his book, I did purchase on sale an Emile Henry ceramic bread cloche to achieve the same results as the dutch oven. Both the cloche and dutch oven yield superior results over attempting to create steam in the oven yourself. While, not inexpensive, it's my new favorite thing in the kitchen. Well worth the investment.
