Puff or Puffy Bread
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Preparation time: 30 minutes plus minimum 24 hours proofing in fridge
Cooking time: 2 minutes per bread
Makes: 5 puffy breads
- 750g/1.6lbs bread or baker's flour
- 9g/0.3ozs instant dried yeast
- 450ml/0.9pint lukewarm water
- 50ml/1.7flozs olive oil
- 16g/0.6ozs fine salt
- Semolina to dust
- Extra virgin olive oil and flakey salt
Step 1 - Place the flour and yeast in the bowl of an electric mixer and whisk to distribute the yeast. In a jug measure the water, olive oil and whisk in the salt to dissolve. Add this mixture to the flour and stir with a spatula to combine. It will be a shaggy mixture. Then knead with a dough hook for 8-10 minutes until you get an elastic texture. You may be tempted to add more liquid or flour but only do this after 5 minutes and just add a little if you need it and the dough is too sticky (flours vary even from bag to bag within a brand).
Step 2 -Oil a large bowl and shape the dough into a ball with no cracks at the top. Cover and allow to rise for 1 hour in a warm, draught free area.
Step 3 -Have 5 containers with lids ready or 1 extra large container to house your dough balls. Have a bowl of semolina flour ready and dust a surface with it quite generously. Divide the dough into 5 equal pieces (you should get 5x250g/0.5lb balls of dough). Dust the bottom of the containers with semolina flour and place each dough in the container. Cover and place in the fridge at least overnight. You can keep this dough in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Step 4 -When you want to make it, preheat your Gozney. You want it to be 350C/662F and once it reaches that turn the flame down low. Take the dough balls out of the fridge and then reshape them all so that they're balls with no cracks on the base or top. Let rest for 10 minutes. Make sure that the dough is used within 25 minutes of taking it out of the fridge.
Step 5 -Then flour the surface generously with semolina flour and roll out so that the dough is thin, around 2/3 centimetre/0.3inch in thickness. Lift and place on the pizza paddle and bake until it starts to colour on one side (1-2 minutes). Once it turns colour on one side, use the pizza turner to turn it halfway and then turn up the flame so that both sides are burnished. It should be puffy and high. Drizzle with olive oil and salt and serve! The bread will stay puffed for around 3-4 minutes.
Storage: Because this bread doesn't have any preservatives it does get stale within a couple of days. I like freezing any leftover baked bread. Take it out of the freezer that morning and it will be defrosted and ready for lunch (honestly just microwave it for 20 seconds to make it soft again).
Troubleshooting Puffy Bread:
1 - The dough in the bulk proof in step 2 doesn't rise: Make sure that your yeast hasn't expired.
2- The dough balls don't rise fully when baked: The dough has to be cold and the oven very hot to rise. Make sure to use the dough within 25 minutes of taking it out of the fridge. Make sure that the pizza oven is at the right temperature.
3 - The dough rises and then falls when baked: There is a crack in the dough. Make sure that the dough balls are smooth and have no cracks before rolling them out.