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Bread in the oven at home
Instructions
The flour should be sifted in advance and left on the table to warm up. Prepare the salt and yeast as well. You can use either dry or fresh yeast for this recipe — both produce excellent results, though fresh yeast may give a slightly more aromatic loaf.
Take warm water, but not hot. In the container with water, add salt and then the yeast, and mix until everything dissolves. You need to do this quickly so the salt does not have time to react with the yeast. Salt is a yeast killer in close direct contact, so the rapid stirring step matters.
Pour the liquid with yeast and salt into the bowl with flour. Using a spoon, mix everything until homogeneous. The dough at this stage should be slightly sticky and shaggy — do not worry about appearance, time will do the rest of the work.
You do not need to knead the dough for a long time; it is enough just to combine everything into a uniform mass. Long kneading is unnecessary for this no-knead style recipe. The slow fermentation will develop gluten naturally during the long rise.
Tightly cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and place the container in a warm place without drafts. Forget about the dough for two hours. How much time did you spend kneading the bread? About three to five minutes, no more — the patience belongs to the dough, not the baker.
After two hours, the dough has increased two and a half times in volume, which is exactly right for the next stage. The surface should look bubbly and the dough should pull away cleanly from the sides of the bowl when poked.
We proceed to shape the bread. The working surface should be dusted with flour and all the dough placed on it. Simply stretch the dough into a rectangle shape using your hands. There is no need to use a rolling pin at all — gentle stretching preserves the air bubbles built up during fermentation.
Fold the dough into an envelope. Take the edge of the dough with your right hand and gently pull it to the side; the dough is pliable and stretches well. Fold the stretched edge over the main mass. This folding builds tension on the surface that helps the loaf rise upward in the oven instead of spreading sideways.
Now with your left hand, stretch the edge of the dough and fold it over the main mass, as shown in the photo. Each fold strengthens the gluten network and gives the finished bread its characteristic chewy crumb.
Repeat the fold downwards, towards yourself. Three rotations of folding give the dough good structure without overworking it — the goal is gentle shaping, not hard kneading.
Fold the top edge in the same way. In the end, you have formed an envelope from the dough. If you plan to bake the bread in a square shape, this shaping is enough; just tuck the sides of the dough underneath to make the loaf flat and tidy on the bottom.
We will bake the bread in a round shape, so we need to shape the dough into a ball. Fold all the edges of the dough into a “bag,” like khinkali, and then place the dough seam side down. The result is a smooth ball or bun. During the shaping, dust the table surface with flour. Dust your hands and the dough itself to prevent sticking. The surface of the ball should be lightly floured. The whole shaping takes about five minutes.
Transfer the future loaf to parchment paper, on which we will bake it. First, grease the paper with vegetable oil. Cover the dough with a bowl and let it rest on the table for thirty minutes. During this time, turn on the oven to heat along with the baking form. Set it to 230°C.
After thirty minutes, pour three hundred milliliters of hot water into any metal mold or bowl and place it in the oven on the lower rack. We will bake the bread with steam — the moisture in the oven creates that signature crackling crust that bakery loaves are famous for.
Take out the heated mold from the oven, preferably cast iron. Together with the parchment paper, transfer the dough into the hot mold. Make random cuts on the bread with a sharp knife or a special blade. The cuts allow the loaf to expand cleanly during baking instead of cracking unpredictably.
Keep the oven at 230°C and bake the bread for forty-five to fifty minutes. During this time, the container with water should remain in the oven. Check for readiness using a skewer — it should come out clean from the deepest part of the loaf when the bread is fully baked.
The bread is ready. Transfer it to a rack to cool and cover it with a cotton towel. Leave it for twenty to thirty minutes. Cooling on a rack lets steam escape from underneath; on a flat surface the bottom would turn soggy. The cotton towel softens the crust slightly into the perfect chewy texture.
The fragrant homemade bread is ready. We spent at most ten minutes preparing it; the bread proofed and baked itself without us. The result is incredibly delicious bread with a crispy crust. Slice once it has cooled to warm, slather with butter, and watch the loaf disappear faster than the time it took to make it.
Tips
- 1
Use the freshest yeast you can find. Yeast loses potency over time, especially after the package is opened. Test dry yeast by stirring half a teaspoon into warm water with a pinch of sugar — if it does not foam within ten minutes, it is dead. Old yeast produces flat, dense loaves no matter how perfect the rest of your technique. Storage in the fridge or freezer extends its life.
- 2
Steam in the oven is non-negotiable for a crackling crust. The pan of hot water creates the humid environment that delays crust formation, allowing the bread to expand fully before the surface sets. Without steam, the crust forms too quickly and limits the rise. Spray the oven walls with water at the start of baking for an extra burst of steam, similar to what professional bakers do for great Ossetian pies.
- 3
Resist the urge to slice the bread while it is hot. The interior is still cooking from residual heat in the first thirty minutes after leaving the oven. Cutting too soon releases steam, leaving a gummy crumb and a dried-out interior. Wait at least twenty minutes — an hour is even better. The aroma is torture, but the wait pays off in texture.
- 4
Use a kitchen scale, not measuring cups. Bread baking is a chemistry experiment, and small inconsistencies in flour-to-water ratio show up as big differences in the final loaf. A scale takes seconds, eliminates errors, and produces reliably excellent bread loaf after loaf. The same precision pays off in American pancakes and any baking that depends on ratios.
FAQ
Why did my bread turn out dense and heavy? +
Three common causes: the yeast was old or dead, the dough did not rise enough, or the kneading was insufficient. Verify yeast freshness with the foam test, give the dough a full two hours in a warm draft-free spot, and ensure the folds during shaping created enough surface tension. Another sneaky culprit is salting too soon or too directly — salt in direct contact with yeast slows or kills fermentation, sabotaging the rise.
Can I substitute whole wheat or rye flour for some of the white? +
Yes, with adjustments. Replace up to one-third of the white flour with whole wheat or rye for a heartier loaf. These flours absorb more water, so add 30-40ml extra liquid to compensate. The texture will be denser and the flavor more complex. For a fully whole grain loaf, expect a heavier crumb and a longer rise time. Many bakers prefer a 70/30 white-to-whole grain blend as the perfect compromise.
How should I store homemade bread? +
Once fully cooled, wrap the loaf in a clean cotton or linen cloth and keep it at room temperature for up to three days. Plastic bags trap moisture and accelerate mold growth. For longer storage, slice the bread, place in a zip-top bag, and freeze for up to three months. Thaw individual slices in the toaster — they emerge nearly indistinguishable from fresh-baked bread, with the same crisp edges and tender middle.
Why does my crust turn soft instead of crispy? +
Soft crusts result from too little oven heat, insufficient steam, or storing the bread incorrectly. Make sure your oven hits a true 230°C — many home ovens read inaccurately, so check with a thermometer. Use the steam pan technique faithfully. After baking, cool the bread on a wire rack rather than a flat surface so steam escapes from underneath. Storing in plastic also softens the crust over a few hours.
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