A day or two early

[madbaker]

This Next week's Resolution Recipe: (Yeast) Hearth Bread.
This was made, so here it is.

Starter
1 cup flour (I used wheat for a bit more flavor)
2/3 cup cool water
1/8 tsp instant yeast

Dough
starter
1 1/2 c water
5 c flour
2 tsp instant yeast
pinch salt

Combine the starter flour, water, and yeast. Cover the container and rest for 12-16 hours at room temperature. It should be doubled in size and filled with large bubbles.

Stir the flour (and water!) into the starter mixture. Cover the bowl, and allow the mixture to rest for 20 minutes; this gives time for the flour to absorb the liquid (which is difficult if you didn't add it) and the gluten to start its development.

Add the yeast and salt and knead the dough until it's fairly smooth, about 5-7 minutes by hand or 3-4 minutes in a mixer. Place in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and allow to rise for 30 minutes. Turn the dough by gently folding all four sides into the middle, and turn the dough over. Repeat this process twice more for a total rise time of 1 1/2 hours.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and shape into two balls. Place smooth-side down in brotform baskets. Loosely cover and allow to rise at room temperature for 1 1/2 to 2 hours; it should be puffy but not doubled.

Heat the oven to 425. Turn the dough out onto a peel dusted with semolina or cornmeal, or onto a piece of parchment, and transfer the dough to the oven (preferably on a baking stone). Bake with steam for 30-35 minutes, deep golden brown and crusty.

What worked: By bread standards this was a pretty quick recipe. That's the benefit of dry yeast over sourdough. It was easy and produced a very light loaf; I was pleasantly surprised by the flavor. Normally you don't get much from dry yeast but there was a noticeable tang from the overnight sponge.

What didn't: Good thing I read through the recipe critically before starting, or I would have missed their omission on the water. That would have made life significantly more difficult.
The dough deflated when I inverted the brotform baskets to drop the dough onto the peel. Oops. I wonder if it has enough structure to rise on its own? That would allow me to slide the peel under without deflation. I suspect they don't, though. Either way you're getting a slightly flat loaf.

Will I make it again? Probably. I try to rotate through the types of bread I make and this is a decent alternative to sourdough.