04Let the dough rise. Grease a large bowl with canola or olive oil. Remove the dough from the mixer, and form it into a ball, punching it down so that it becomes smooth. Then place it in the bowl seem side down and cover it with a clean dishtowel.Place the bowl in a warm corner of your kitchen and let rise until approximately doubled in size. The rise may be different each time and will vary depending on where you live.
05Form loaves of bread (or buns). Once the bread rises, it’s time to form the dough into desired shapes. Prepare bread pans or jelly roll pans with baking spray.Add a little oil to a pastry mat or a large flat surface (a cutting board works too), and form sections of dough into oblong shapes for large French bread, or into smaller shapes for buns or smaller loaves. Another option is baking a round of dough in a cast iron skillet.
06Let rise again. Cover dough with clean dish towels and let it rise again, until almost doubled in size.
07Prepare for baking. Use a sharp serrated edge knife (or a bread lame) to cut diagonal slits in the tops of the bread. Beat one large egg (with a splash of water), and using a pastry brush, spread a thin layer over the tops of bread/rolls. Add a sprinkle of kosher salt.When scoring the bread, make sure you use a very sharp knife or a bread lame (with a razor blade) to ensure that the cuts are quick and to avoid deflating the loaves.
08Bake. Bake bread in a preheated 400 degree oven, until done, approximately 25 minutes. The bottoms should be slightly browned, and the tops a nice golden brown. Remove bread to a cooling rack.