Pain sur Poolish (Daily Bread)

I found this wonderful website: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/ and decided  I simply had to spend some time on it. There is a great basic recipe for "Daily Bread" or Pain sur Poolish. This is where I started my adventure Fresh Loaf.

As the commentary predicted, it is WET. So I added enough extra flour to get it to together. Also since I have Active Yeast, not instant at the house I added an extra 1/2 teaspoon of that to main Dough. It rose as at should, shaped and let it go for it's final rise. Before putting it in the oven I brushed it with egg yolk and sliced it. My oven goes up to 550, so I started it there with one loaf on each cooking stone and with about 4 ice cubes for steam.  It baked for 5 minutes at the high heat, then I cut the heat to 475 and baked for the remaining time.

This is easily the best tasting, best looking, and best bread I 've ever made. Great flavor, nicely chewy crust, gorgeous crumb. I'll definitely have to make it again -- tomorrow. :)

In the event the recipe gets moved from the original blog, I've reproduced it here. You owe it to yourself to read the commentary on it from the original site here. My comments are in italics.

Pain Sur Poolish (Daily Bread)

Poolish

1 cup flour

1 cup water

1/4 tsp instant yeast

Final Dough

1 lb flour

10-12 oz water (I used 10, and would try 8 next time)

1 tsp instant yeast (I used 1-1/2 tsp Active Dry Yeast)

2 tsp salt

all of the poolish  

1. Combine the ingredients for the poolish in a small bowl the night before baking. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave the poolish out at room temperature overnight.
2. The next day, prepare the final dough, either by using the autolyse method of flour and water first then the rest of the ingredients with minimal mixing or by combining them all and mixing until you have decent gluten development (8 to 10 minutes).
3. I typically fold the dough once an hour twice during primary fermentation, then shape the loaves and give them a longer final rise, typically around 90 minutes. Meanwhile, my oven and baking stone are preheating as hot as they can safely go. (550 is the hottest my oven will go. Brushed with an egg yolk before docking. Incidentally couldn't dock with a razor blade - docked with a serrated knife instead).
4. Baking, with steam, takes me 20 minutes, 5 minutes or so at maximum oven temperature, the remainder at 450-475. I rotate the loaves once half way through the baking.
5. That is it. Simple, tasty, and a great recipe to practice with.

Yield: 2 loaves