Artisan Bread

Last year I tried making Artisan Bread after my sister and mom raved about it. I wasn't thrilled and thought no more about it. However, after recently reading about it once again in blog land I decided to give it a second try. This time I let my dough age for a week so I could achieve the sour smell.

When baking day arrived I started with a nice hunk.

Shaped and tucked as the instructions stated.

When the bread was ready to place in the oven I cut slits on the top.

I baked my bread in a 450-degree oven using the steam method so my crust would be crisp.
Using my broiler pan for holding the water worked perfectly.

I was impressed with how much the bread rose in the oven. It was so pretty!

The outside crust was everything I wanted it to be; the steam meathod was so worth it.

Sadly I didn't cook it long enough. What I had read was to bake it anywhere from 30 minutes to 45 minutes; I opted for 30 minutes so next time I'll try 45 minutes.

I'm still not excited with the taste. However, it was very good with honey and I imagine it would be real good with soup. I like it enough to keep trying and I like how we ate the loaf right away so there wasn't any leftovers; which is good because bread is best right out of the oven. And I plan to check out an Artisan book from the library to read more about it.