Step 1

Mix all the ingredients the night before (you will prepare the dough in the morning)

Step 2

In a glass or plastic bowl, combine the water, psyllium husk flakes, honey, and extra virgin olive oil. Mix well and set it on the side. Once the psyllium husks absorb the water, this mixture will have a gel-like texture (it needs about 5 minutes).

Step 3

In the meantime, combine all the dry ingredients in a glass bowl.

Step 4

Now add the preferment to the psyllium husk gel. Mix well with a spatula or wooden spoon.

Step 5

Add the preferment gel mixture to the dry ingredients bowl, incorporate as much as possible with a spatula or wooden spoon, then start mixing with your hand. Mix well until the dough is homogeneous and has no lumps. The dough is soft and sticky.

Step 6

Now you can start mixing with the silicone or plastic dough scraper, scraping the dough from the sides of the bowl, and folding it into the center. Rotate the bowl and repeat with the same movement, for about 1 minute. Please watch the video in the post above for a visual guide.

Step 7

Cover the bowl with a plastic cover, then wrap in two extra big plastic bags and tighten the bags. From now on the fermentation starts. I keep my bowl on the kitchen counter. Ideally, it needs a place where the temperature stays constant throughout the process.

Step 8

Let it ferment for 1 to 2 hours, depending on the temperature and humidity in your house. At about 20 degrees Celcius (68 degrees Fahrenheit), it can take 2 hours. If it’s hotter than that, the time will decrease. At about 72-74 degrees Fahrenheit, my bulk fermentation takes about 1 hour.

Step 9

The videos will be the most helpful here, please watch them. Gently invert the dough on a working surface, dusted with just a tiny bit of flour. Gently lift one-third of the dough and fold it on top of itself. Then fold it one more time, so now what was on the bottom on the working surface is on the top. The following step is to shape the dough and seal the bottom part (please watch the second video to see how sealing and transferring to the proofing basket is done).

Step 10

Dust the lining of the Banneton or the towel with flour.  Now that the dough is sealed and shaped, gently transfer it to the proofing basket with the sealed side facing upward (the smooth face down), as shown in Part 2 Video. Dust the top with flour, and cover with plastic wrap or wrap it in a towel. Because my house is pretty dry, I spray a little bit of water on the towel. I cover it in the plastic wrap, and then in two plastic bags that I tight very well. Again, you might not need these extra steps in your house. The proofing time will about the same as the bulk fermentation. At 72F it might be 1h or a little more. Whenever I use teff flour in my bread, fermentation time, in general, tends to lower (read more about my fermentation times and experience in the post above).

Step 11

OVEN: You need to preheat the oven to 250C / 480F for one hour before baking, with the Dutch oven inside (both pot and lid).

Step 12

When the dough is proofed and your oven and cast iron are preheated, gently invert the dough from the basket to the middle of a parchment paper sheet.

Step 13

Dust the dough with flour (any of the flours you are using, I prefer sorghum or millet) and gently spread it on the surface of the dough with your palm. Have the razor ready for scoring.

Step 14

Now it’s time to carefully remove the cast iron and the lid from the oven, closing the door quickly. This is when you need to work pretty fast but be careful not to burn yourself.

Step 15

Make the scoring of your choice using the razor or the scoring blade (please check my suggestions in the post; keep it simple and easy in the beginning). After scoring, the dough needs to quickly go into the cast iron, covered, and into the oven.

Step 16

Lift the dough with the edges of the parchment paper and gently lower it into the cast iron. Spray the dough with water to create steam, cover it with the lid, and put it back in the oven. Alternatively, you can throw an ice cube into the pan, but not on top of the bread, somewhere next to it, below the paper.

Step 17

Bake covered for 40 minutes.

Step 18

After 40 minutes, carefully remove the lid (placing it back into the oven, so there is no sudden drop in temperature), and bake for 40 more minutes. Some ovens run hotter than others, so keep an eye on the bread after 30 minutes. If you feel like your bread gets a little dark, next time drop the temperature to 230C/446F for the last 40 minutes of baking.

Step 19

Take the pot out, and carefully remove the bread. You can check the bottom for the hollow sound.

Step 20

Let the bread rest on a cooling rack for at least 5 hours. I know it can be tempting, but don’t slice it earlier than 5 hours, as you will ruin the texture. For the best crumb, I recommend leaving it to rest overnight.

Step 21

Store the bread for 2 to 3 days at room temperature, in a paper bag, or wrapped in a cotton towel. The first and second day is great fresh, but from day 3, I prefer it toasted. You can also slice it, separate the slices with parchment paper and freeze it. I thaw it in the toaster.