AboutHalf

Mares eat oats. Does eat oats. Little lambs eat sammiches on oat bread.

Future toast

Ingredients

• 1.5 oz rolled oats (about 1/2 cup) plus additional handful of oats to coat the loaf
• 18.5 oz flour (3 full cups, one shy cup)
• 8oz water (for the oats)
• 4oz water (for the rest)
• 1tsp active dry yeast
• 2tsp salt
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp honey

How to

Dissolve yeast into 4oz water. Stir in the tablespoon of honey and set aside. Prepare the 1.5oz of rolled oats with 8oz of water according to package directions – I microwave oats and water for 3 minutes at medium-high power. Allow oats to cool to room temperature. If the oats are too hot, they will kill the yeast.

In a large bowl mix flour and salt. Add the olive oil. Once the oats have cooled, add them to the flour mixture, then add the water/yeast/honey mixture. Stir this until it begins to come together into a loose dough. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and knead for approximately five minutes or until it passes a membrane test. This dough will be sticky at first, but it will come together after kneading.

Once the dough is kneaded, place the dough into a covered bowl and let it rise for about 2 hours. After the dough has doubled in size, turn it out onto a work surface “dusted” or scattered with dry oats. The oats will stick to the surface and be purty. Form the dough into a loaf, and roll it through any remaining oats. Place the loaf on parchment, a baking sheet, or otherwise oven-transferable surface and let rise for another two hours.

During the last hour of rising, set the oven to 450º F to pre-heat. Place an oven proof skillet or pan on the bottom rack a few ounces of water. Once the rising is complete, transfer the loaf to the oven. Turn the oven down to 400º F and let bake for 40 minutes.

Bonus round

Before putting a loaf of bread in the oven, it’s a good idea to slash the top of the loaf with a knife or a razor blade. This allows the bread to expand in the oven in a predictable fashion. Otherwise, one side will split open and your loaf will be wonky.

I like to bake bread on top of a heavy cast iron skillet or a heavy enameled cast iron casserole. I use the skillet for round boules or oval loaves, the casserole for longer loaves or baguettes. I usually place these upside down in the oven, and slide the loaf on top (so the loaf has a big flat surface to rest on). These heavy pans work just like a baking stone or a pizza stone, except that a pizza stone is a $50 rock1, and I can do other stuff with my skillet.