Yogurt​ Bread

Method

• Prepare the dough: Put flour in a large mixing bowl. From the measured-out water, set aside about 4 tablespoons and dissolve the yeast in it. Add salt to the remaining water, stir to dissolve the salt, and add to the flour. Add the dissolved yeast and yogurt to the mixture. Knead briefly by hand until the dough is smooth and slightly sticky. Cover the dough airtight with a lid or aluminum foil. The surface of the dough shouldn’t get dry. Allow the dough to rest and mature for 24 hours at room temperature (at least 22C / 72F).
• Stretch and fold the dough: During those 24 hours stretch and fold your dough every 8 hours, the first time after 8 hours of resting and again after 16 hours of resting. To stretch and fold the dough first, dip your hand in water. It will prevent the dough from sticking to your hand. Then push your hand deep under the dough, pull the dough to you, and fold it over the rest of the dough. Repeat the process from all sides until the whole dough is folded and lies round and tight in the bowl.
• Form a loaf: Transfer the dough onto a flour-dusted workspace and, depending on what kind of baking pot you are using, form a round or oblong loaf. Generously sprinkle the loaf with flour and gently rub the surface with your hands. Place the dough, seam-side down, in a proofing basket dusted with flour. Cover the basket with a clean cloth and set aside for 1 hour.
• Preheat the oven, with the pot in it, to 250C / 485F.
• Bake: Take the hot pot out of the oven, let the dough fall out of the basket directly into the pot, cover the pot with a lid, and put it back in the oven. Adjust the temperature to 240C / 465F and bake for 30 minutes, then take off the lid and continue baking for another 15 minutes. Let the bread cool down on a wire rack before slicing.