Pan de Cristal Glass Bread with a Crackling Crust

What you need

• 550 g (about 4 1/2 cups) bread flour, 500 g for the dough, the rest for dusting
• 500 ml (2 cups plus 3 tbsp) water, lukewarm, about 30 °C
• 2.5 g (3/4 tsp) instant yeast
• 10 g (2 tsp) fine sea salt
• 1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for serving

Method

Restated from the original video

1. 1

   Whisk 500 g of the flour with the water, yeast and salt in a large bowl until no dry patches remain. The dough is very wet and loose, closer to a thick batter.

2. 2

   Brush a 20 x 25 cm (8 x 10 in) baking dish with the olive oil. Scrape the dough into it, cover and rest for 20 min.

3. 3

   With wet hands, grab the edge of the dough, stretch it up and fold it over the middle. Turn the dish a quarter turn and repeat 8-12 times all around. Cover and rest for 20 min.

4. 4

   Repeat the stretch and fold three more times, resting 20 min between rounds. Use fewer folds each time as the dough tightens and holds its shape.

5. 5

   Cover and leave the dough until puffy and full of bubbles, about 80 min.

6. 6

   Dust a work surface heavily with flour. Invert the dish to turn the dough out gently, without pressing out the air.

7. 7

   Dust the top with flour and cut the dough into 4 rectangles with a floured bench scraper. Slide each onto its own sheet of parchment and dust the tops generously with flour.

8. 8

   Leave the loaves uncovered for about 2 hours.

9. 9

   Meanwhile, put a baking stone or an upside-down baking sheet on the middle oven rack and an empty metal tray on the bottom rack. Heat the oven to 245 °C (475 °F) for at least 30 min.

10. 10

    Slide 2 loaves on their parchment onto the hot stone, drop a cup of ice cubes into the bottom tray and shut the door. Bake for 15 min.

11. 11

    Open the oven briefly to let the steam out, pull the parchment from under the loaves and bake until the crust is deep golden and crisp, 15 min more. Bake the other 2 loaves the same way.

12. 12

    Cool on a wire rack for 20 min. Split the loaves and drizzle with olive oil to serve.

Imported from karenskitchenstories.com. Recipe Grab pulled out what you need to cook it; the video stays where its author put it.