Rustic wheat bread, quick and easy recipe step by step

To make good bread in the oven at home, it is not necessary to be an expert in baking. Rustic wheat bread like the one we present in this recipe, or village bread, is born as a counterpart to city breads, made with more processed flours and made with the use of machines. Rustic bread, on the other hand, was made by peasants using local flour and kneaded by hand, achieving great loaves that lasted longer. Today rustic bread is better valued by using higher quality flour and working in a more traditional way.

The homemade bread recipe that we are presenting to you today uses strong white wheat flour, easily found in any supermarket, although to get better breads, you can find higher quality strong flours among local producers and stores.

We are going to bake the bread in an iron casserole, to obtain a bread with a crispy crust and a good crumb. If you do not have one of these casseroles, you can transfer the bread directly to a baking tray, with some water during the first hour of baking, to create the steam that allows the crust to be created on the bread.

Rustic wheat bread will need kneading and resting, which makes it an ideal bread to make at home when we have time and desire to enjoy a good bread for breakfast toast or any other time of the day.

recipe information

• • Preparation time: 15 minutes

• • cooking time: 1 hour

• • total time: 1 hour and 15 minutes (plus 3 hours of rest)

• • rations:6

• • Category: loaves

• • type of cuisine: international

• • Calories per serving (kcal):228

Ingredients for rustic wheat bread for 6 people

• • 12 g fresh baker’s yeast

• • 300 ml of water

• • 500 g of strong wheat flour

• • 10g of salt

Necessary utensils

How to make rustic wheat bread

The first thing we have to do is put 12 g of fresh baker’s yeast to dissolve in a couple of tablespoons of warm water (we will take this water from the 300 ml we need to make the bread). We will let this mixture rest for 10 minutes while we prepare the rest of the ingredients.

In a large bowl we put 500 g of flour and 10 g of salt. Add the yeast dissolved in the warm water.

Next, we added 300 ml of water less what we had separated to dissolve the yeast.

Mix all the ingredients and work the dough inside the bowl for 5 minutes until it forms a uniform ball where all the ingredients are well mixed and the dough is elastic. Grease a bowl and transfer the dough to that other bowl.

We cover the bowl with a cloth and let the dough rest for 2 hours in a warm place.

After 2 hours, the dough will have doubled in volume.

To form the bread, we remove the air from the dough and take it to a lightly floured table.

We form a ball again and put the ball of dough formed on baking paper. We cover again and wait another hour until we can bake it. At this time we will turn on the oven at maximum power with the heat function up and down. Depending on the type of oven, the temperature will range between 230 ºC and 250 ºC. After the hour of rest, the bread will have risen slightly. We will sprinkle it with flour.

With the help of a blade, we will make two cuts in the bread. We do this to allow the bread to rise better in the oven.

We take the bread with the baking paper to the iron pot and cover it.

Bake the bread for 30 minutes at maximum temperature. After 30 minutes, we lower the temperature to 200 ºC and remove the lid. We then continue to bake the bread for another 30 minutes, now without the lid, to achieve a crispy crust. Once the bread is baked, we take it to a rack to cool for a couple of hours before eating it. We cut the bread once the two hours have elapsed. This bread remains tender for a long time but, if desired, it can be toasted after a few days.

Easy preparation summary

1. 1. Dissolve the fresh baker’s yeast in a couple of tablespoons of warm water

1. 1. In a bowl, place the flour, salt and dissolved yeast.

1. 1. We add the water

1. 1. Mix all the ingredients and place the dough in a greased bowl.

1. 1. Cover with a cloth and let rest for 2 hours

1. 1. After 2 hours, the dough will have doubled its volume

1. 1. We remove the air from the dough

1. 1. Shape the bread into a ball and cover again. We let it rest for 1 hour. We turn on the oven with heat up and down at maximum power. Dust the bread with flour

1. 1. We make two cuts to the bread

1. 1. We take the bread to the iron pot and cover it

1. 1. Bake the bread for 30 minutes with the lid on at maximum power and 30 more minutes at 200ºC without the lid. Let the bread cool on a wire rack for 2 hours before cutting it. Cut the bread into slices