**The Art of Making Perfect Italian Bread**
Making perfect Italian bread is a labor of love that requires patience, practice, and attention to detail. In this article, we will guide you through the process of creating a delicious and authentic Italian bread, from scratch.
**Step 1: Creating the Well and Melting Butter**
To begin, create a well in the center of your flour and warm up some whole milk set over a low burner. Melt in a couple tablespoons of butter until it's just melted. This mixture should be between 85°F and 95°F. Once the butter is just melted, turn off the fire and let it cool slightly. Pour this warm mixture into the well in your flour slowly, working it into a slurry. When done, it should look almost like a batter.
**Step 2: Mixing with Bread Flour**
Now it's time to incorporate 5 to 6 cups of bread flour about a cup at a time. We've reserved one cup of our measured flour so we can blend some salt into it for the next phase of the recipe. As you blend in each cup of flour, the dough should look pretty moist and shaggy, like a thick batter.
**Step 3: First Rise**
Loosely cover the bowl with a damp tea towel or flour sack towel and let it rest for 25 to 30 minutes. After the first rise, your dough should have risen a little. It's time to add in our reserved cup of bread flour that we've pre-blended with a tablespoon and a half of salt.
**Step 4: Kneading and Shaping**
Now we're ready to knead and shape the dough. We need to knead just until you have a supple and just barely not sticky dough. This should take around 8 to 10 minutes. Once you've reached this point, flower your work surface and turn the dough ball out. Begin kneading and knead until you achieve the desired texture.
**Step 5: Proofing and Division**
Once you've kneaded the dough, flower the inside of your dough mixing bowl or a straight-sided plastic container and place the dough inside. If using a straight-sided container, you can easily mark the level where the dough should be once it's doubled in size. Cover with a damp towel if using your mixing bowl or put the top on it if using your plastic container. Allow the dough to rest until it's doubled in size.
**Step 6: Dividing and Shaping**
Once you've checked that the dough is ready, cut it into three equal portions or as close as you can come to three equal portions. You now have several options for shaping your loaves. You can form each loaf to be baked in grease loaf pans or Pullman loaf pans. Alternatively, you can make rustic loaves without a pan.
**Step 7: Baking**
Turn your loaves over and make a seam along the bottom by pulling the sides in and pinching them together with your fingers. Tuck it into itself when you're finished. Place the loaves in loaf pans or on the back of an upside-down sheet pan with the seam side down. Dust with a little flour, cover with a damp towel, and let them rest for about 45 minutes to double-check the dough after resting.
**Step 8: Thump Test and Baking**
After letting the loaves rest, give them the thump test. If it's ready, the thump should sound hollow almost there. Bake the bread in a preheated oven set at 375°F with a heat deflector and a pizza stone. Rotate the loaf so you can see the other side. Check on it after about 20 minutes.
**Step 9: Finishing Touches**
Once the bread is done baking, bring it inside to cool for about 45 minutes while you continue cooking on the inside. This will allow the bread to set and make it easier to slice. Once it's cooled, take a look at the inside of your loaf. It should be soft and airy.
The final result is a delicious and authentic Italian bread that's perfect for snacking or serving with your favorite sauces and dips. With practice and patience, you'll master this recipe and become a skilled bread maker. Happy baking!
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhi I'm Chef Tony Matas with bbqguys.com a shoer ro.com site in this video we're going to be making white loaf bread that we can make sandwiches with I'm thinking something like pulled pork let's get started by blending our dry ingredients together we'll have some allpurpose flour first a little yeast and a little sugar blend this together well once Blended make a little well in the center and warm up some whole milk set over a low burner melt in a couple tablespoons of butter this only needs to be between 85 and 95° so once the butter is just melted you can turn off the fire and just cool slightly pour this warm mixture into the well in your flour slowly work it into a slurry when done it should look almost like a batter now we'll begin to incorporate 5 to 6 cups of bread flour about a cup at a time I've reserved one cup of my measured flour so I can blend some salt into it for the next next phase of the recipe when you've Blended in about 4 cups of bread flour the dough should look pretty moist and Shaggy about like this it's time for the first rise just Loosely cover the bowl with a damp tea towel or flour sack towel and let it rest for 25 to 30 minutes after the first rise your dough should have risen a little this is when we'll add in our reserved cup of bread flour that we've pre-blended with a tablespoon and a half of salt we've now Blended in a total of 5 cups of bread flour and I'll show you why I always reserve one cup of flour from my bread recipes until the end this dough is ready to be kned and this is the rest of the original measured six cups of bread flour that's why it's good to know what your dough should look like through the various stages flower your work surface and turn the dough ball out begin kneading and knead just until you have a Supple and just barely not sticky dough this should take around 8 to 10 minutes when it's soft and not sticky flower the inside of your dough mixing bowl or a straight sided plastic container and place the dough inside if you use a straight sided container you can easily Mark the level where the dough should be once it's doubled in size if using your mixing bowl cover with a damp towel if using your plastic container just put the top on it and allow it to rest until it is doubled in size looks like it's doubled but if you'd like to double check you can poke the dough in with a flowered finger and if your dough is ready the hole shouldn't spring back turn it back out and press it out removing any large air bubbles divide it into three equal portions or at least as close as you can come to three equal portions once you have your dough cut you have a few different options you can form each loaf to be baked in grease loaf pans or Pullman loaf pans or you can make rustic loaves without a pan like I'll be doing today that can be baked on a baking stone in your oven or on a komato grill form your loaves as thick or as long as you'd like then turn them over and make a seam along the Bottom by pulling the sides in and pinching them together with your fingers tucking it into itself when you're finished place in loaf pans or on the back of an upside down sheet pan with the seam side down dust with a little flour cover with a damp towel and let them rest for about 45 minutes to double check your dough after resting you can give it a little poke again and it should spring back about halfway this one is ready for the kado our kado Joe is preheated to 375 and set up with the heat deflector and a pizza stone just place it straight on the Stone close the lid and we'll come back and check on it about 20 minutes so far it looks great it's baking perfectly even but I'll turn it around just so you can see the other side nice should be ready in another 10 to 15 minutes it looks ready but I'll give it the thump test if it's ready the thump should sound hollow almost there I'll let it bake for another 2 to 3 minutes this loaf took right at 35 minutes but depending on your setup it could take 40 to 45 minutes to bake Once you pull the bread from the Cado I know if you haven't done bread with before you'll want to Dive Right In but you need to I'm going to bring this inside you need to do the same thing cover it with a towel and let it rest for about 45 minutes while I continues to cook on the inside the Moment of Truth looks great but let's see what the inside looks like I'll save this little piece for me I would love to stick around and put all of that butter on this but I have to make pulled pork to make sandwiches thank you for watching today hope you enjoyed it and hope that you'll check back often and let us know what you would like to see I'm Chef Tony Matassa and remember at bbqguys.com we smoke the competitionhi I'm Chef Tony Matas with bbqguys.com a shoer ro.com site in this video we're going to be making white loaf bread that we can make sandwiches with I'm thinking something like pulled pork let's get started by blending our dry ingredients together we'll have some allpurpose flour first a little yeast and a little sugar blend this together well once Blended make a little well in the center and warm up some whole milk set over a low burner melt in a couple tablespoons of butter this only needs to be between 85 and 95° so once the butter is just melted you can turn off the fire and just cool slightly pour this warm mixture into the well in your flour slowly work it into a slurry when done it should look almost like a batter now we'll begin to incorporate 5 to 6 cups of bread flour about a cup at a time I've reserved one cup of my measured flour so I can blend some salt into it for the next next phase of the recipe when you've Blended in about 4 cups of bread flour the dough should look pretty moist and Shaggy about like this it's time for the first rise just Loosely cover the bowl with a damp tea towel or flour sack towel and let it rest for 25 to 30 minutes after the first rise your dough should have risen a little this is when we'll add in our reserved cup of bread flour that we've pre-blended with a tablespoon and a half of salt we've now Blended in a total of 5 cups of bread flour and I'll show you why I always reserve one cup of flour from my bread recipes until the end this dough is ready to be kned and this is the rest of the original measured six cups of bread flour that's why it's good to know what your dough should look like through the various stages flower your work surface and turn the dough ball out begin kneading and knead just until you have a Supple and just barely not sticky dough this should take around 8 to 10 minutes when it's soft and not sticky flower the inside of your dough mixing bowl or a straight sided plastic container and place the dough inside if you use a straight sided container you can easily Mark the level where the dough should be once it's doubled in size if using your mixing bowl cover with a damp towel if using your plastic container just put the top on it and allow it to rest until it is doubled in size looks like it's doubled but if you'd like to double check you can poke the dough in with a flowered finger and if your dough is ready the hole shouldn't spring back turn it back out and press it out removing any large air bubbles divide it into three equal portions or at least as close as you can come to three equal portions once you have your dough cut you have a few different options you can form each loaf to be baked in grease loaf pans or Pullman loaf pans or you can make rustic loaves without a pan like I'll be doing today that can be baked on a baking stone in your oven or on a komato grill form your loaves as thick or as long as you'd like then turn them over and make a seam along the Bottom by pulling the sides in and pinching them together with your fingers tucking it into itself when you're finished place in loaf pans or on the back of an upside down sheet pan with the seam side down dust with a little flour cover with a damp towel and let them rest for about 45 minutes to double check your dough after resting you can give it a little poke again and it should spring back about halfway this one is ready for the kado our kado Joe is preheated to 375 and set up with the heat deflector and a pizza stone just place it straight on the Stone close the lid and we'll come back and check on it about 20 minutes so far it looks great it's baking perfectly even but I'll turn it around just so you can see the other side nice should be ready in another 10 to 15 minutes it looks ready but I'll give it the thump test if it's ready the thump should sound hollow almost there I'll let it bake for another 2 to 3 minutes this loaf took right at 35 minutes but depending on your setup it could take 40 to 45 minutes to bake Once you pull the bread from the Cado I know if you haven't done bread with before you'll want to Dive Right In but you need to I'm going to bring this inside you need to do the same thing cover it with a towel and let it rest for about 45 minutes while I continues to cook on the inside the Moment of Truth looks great but let's see what the inside looks like I'll save this little piece for me I would love to stick around and put all of that butter on this but I have to make pulled pork to make sandwiches thank you for watching today hope you enjoyed it and hope that you'll check back often and let us know what you would like to see I'm Chef Tony Matassa and remember at bbqguys.com we smoke the competition\n"
