french bread

How To Make french bread

• Step 1
  Add the water,yeast,sugar,oil and salt to bowl,stir well and let stand for 10 min
• Step 2
  Add 5 cups of the flour and mix with the dough hook until mixed well... or mix with wooden spoon.
• Step 3
  Add the remaining flour and mix a few min with dough hook until mixed together
• Step 4
  Put dough into a well oiled deep bowl, cover with a plastic grocery sack and let rise for an hour, this will really rise up..
• Step 5
  Flour your hands really well and Then punch dough down a few minutes and divide in half...
• Step 6
  roll each half of the dough into a long roll... at this time it will be really skinny.. don't worry it's going to puff up..
• Step 7
  put loaves onto cookie sheet lightly dusted withcorn meal
• Step 8
  take 3 dish towels and roll each one and place along side the loafs and one in the center .. this will keep the bread from spreading out, the towels will help brace them as they rise up
• Step 9
  let rise again for about 45 min to an hour until doubled in size
• Step 10
  Lightly make a few diaganel slits in your loafs and brush with an egg wash... this make a nice crust
• Step 11
  Just before the second rise is complete .. crank your oven up to 400 degrees and put 2 cups of water onto boil.. place and old baking pan in the oven on the bottom rack while it's preheating
• Step 12
  make sure to remove the towels before putting bread in the oven
• Step 13
  Put the pan onto the middle rack add the boiling water to the hot pan on the bottom.. Be careful this is a hot oven and steam
• Step 14
  the steam will create a nice rise for your bread and the hot oven will create a nice crusty bread
• Step 15
  After 10 min turn your oven back down to 350-375 and finish baking for about 45min or golden brown remove and let cool on rack
• Last Step: Don't forget to share! Post a picture of your finished recipe here and on your favorite social network. Don't forget to tag Just A Pinch and include #justapinchrecipes!