The first recipe we offer is Tuscan bread, maybe because it’s the one we like the most. This type of bread has a crisp, crumbly crust and your palate will recognize it for its unmistakeable slightly acidulous and unsalted flavour.
According to the most established historical sources, bread began without salt, but the debate is still open since in the 12th century Pisa made Florence pay a “salty” price for the salt that landed in their port. The citizens of Florence responded to this position with their typical style, producing bread without salt.
Please note: We are talking about biga here: in bread making it is used when working with the indirect method.
Obviously, this procedure lengthens the processing time. But we’re not in a hurry, right?
Ingredients
for a 750 g loaf
Organic type “0” soft wheat flour
water
fresh yeast
Bread yeast (biga)
Prepare the biga with: 2 g of yeast, 100 g of Manitoba flour, 50 g of water.
Dough
500 g of type 0 flour
100 g of biga
320 g of water
Method
Creating the biga
- Dissolve the old dough in the water, add the yeast and then the flour.
- Briefly and lightly knead.
- Allow to rest in a container, preferably wood, for 8 – 10 hours at 22 – 25°C.
Creating the dough
- Mix the water, bread yeast, and yeast in the kneading machine (or knead by hand on a surface or in a large metal bowl) until completely dissolved, add the flour and start kneading.
- Knead slowly for about 20 – 25 min, drying periodically with small dustings of flour.
- Final dough temperature: 22 – 24°C.
- Do not allow the dough to rest.
Final steps
- Make balls with the dough, cover with flour, and allow to rest for a few minutes on a well-floured worktable.
- Make loaves and cover with a cotton cloth.
- Allow to rise for about 60 – 75 min.
- Uncover a few minutes before putting in the oven to promote the formation of a slight skin.
- Put in a hot oven (230 – 240°C) with the vent open.
- After 15 minutes, turn the oven off and finish cooking as the temperature drops.
- Approximate cooking time 25 – 30 min.