(by 36 people)
You CAN make fresh homemade bread easily... What I'm about to tell you does NOT involve a bread machine, and there's NO laborious kneading either!
This lens will tell you how you can bake fresh, flavorful, healthy bread with an awesome crust, and all it takes is just a touch of planning and about an hour's worth of actual effort.
My Newest "Old Thing"
overwhelmed by the ease of bread-baking
I first made my own bread when I was in high school. It was a production number that my mother helped me stage and cook, and I had a good time. But it seemed like too much to do.I tried it again in college, especially once I was gifted with a huge ceramic bread bowl. I finally had a proper bowl to manage rising bread dough and it helped make the whole thing more fun, easier and my bread came out better. I also got the Tassajara Bread Book, since I'd eaten at the related Greens Restaurant in San Francisco. I had a good time with some of those breads, and many of the techniques for how to actually make the bread were easier than whatever I'd done before.
And then I didn't bake bread for at least a decade or so. Until November 8, 2006.
I've baked loaves a couple times a month ever since. New York Times writer Mark Bittman had an article featured about baker Jim Lahey who has a recipe and technique for bread that doesn't require any kneading. I read the article and was totally captivated. I even convinced my mom to loan me a piece of her Le Creuset cookware to use for my bread pot.
It's worked perfectly every single time right from the start! And the raving about the crust is very justified.
So, are you ready to give no-knead bread-baking a try?
(P.S. You'll have to be signed-up with the NY Times to read their articles. Or you can just go further down this lens and I'll fill you in on all the good stuff!)
Getting Started
bread cookbooks and basic ingredients
I love Bob's Red Mill flours for baking bread. The results are both consistent and tasty! I often blend different types of flour when making my bread to combine the good qualities of multiple grains.
How To Bake No-Knead Bread
About 30-60 minutes work plus 14 to 20 hours' total bread rising time.
3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1¼ teaspoons salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.
The type of flour used can be varied as you wish: white, whole wheat, or blends. The yeast MUST be instant or it's not going to work.
Starting The Bread Dough:
Mix your flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and mix ingredients gently until blended. The dough is a very wet and sticky one. Put a piece of plastic wrap over the bowl to cover it and then put it somewhere that's at least 70 degrees for the next 12 to 18 hours.
Preparing The Dough:
When you come back and check on your dough, it should be larger and sort of puffy-looking with lots of bubbles all over. Sprinkle some extra flour on a work surface and scoop the dough out of the bowl on the surface. Sprinkle the dough with a bit of the flour and fold it over just one or two times. Cover it with the plastic wrap that was on the dough bowl and let it sit there for about 15 minutes.
Shaping:
Lay out a clean cotton towel (a smooth texture one) and sprinkle it with flour/cornmeal/bran. You don't want to add too much flour at this point, so, using just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to your hands, roll the dough into as tight a ball-shape as you can. Put the messier/seamed side of the ball down on the towel, sprinkle the dough with cornmeal/bran and cover with a second towel. Let the dough sit like this for two hours more. It should get a bit larger in size during this last rising.
Baking the Bread:
After the dough has risen for about 90 minutes of the two hours, start the oven pre-heating. Set it to 450 degrees AND put the pot you're going to bake the bread in into the oven to heat up too.
When the dough finishes rising, take the pre-heated pot out of the oven. Carefully flip the dough off the towel and into the pot, which should make it seam-messy side up when it winds up in the pot. If the dough is crooked, wiggle the pot a bit. Then put the lid on and put it into the oven.
Bake for 30 minutes, then open oven and take off the pot lid. Bake for 15-30 minutes more until loaf is browned. Remove from oven, tip out of pot and cool on a rack.
Makes one loaf, about 1.5 lbs.
A Heavy Pot Makes The Beautiful Crust
this is the cookware that Jim Lahey uses in the NY Times article
I got my mom to give me a older piece of Le Creuset cookware to use for baking my bread. It's a pot that has a skillet which goes on as the lid and the two then form a little dutch oven. And the whole thing is even in the signature "flame" finish. It's so retro, I'm making sure I abscond with this piece into my own kitchen collection.
Jim Lahey says to use a 6-8 qt pot in the original article, but I found that the loaf of bread made by the squarish dutch oven I used at that size made a loaf that was flatter than I really would have liked. So, I'm now using a smaller pot and the bread almost fills the whole thing when it bakes. You don't have to go that much smaller, but I found a bit of a reduction in cooking pot size worked for me.
The outer skin of the dough naturally splits on top as it bakes, and the look when you take the lid off after the first half hour is just spectacular. I go for a medium brown on the outer-most crust when I do the final 15-30 minutes of baking. On average, I'd say my breads tend to take only about 45 minutes of baking altogether.
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See How Easy It Is To Bake Bread
follow along with me as I make a loaf
Be sure to take a look at the dough closeup after it's risen overnight so that you can see how airy and bubbly the dough gets at that stage.
A few comments on crust "finishes." You can dust the loaf with a variety of things for the final rise and each changes the nature of the finished crust a bit. You can use cornmeal, bran or flour. I find the cornmeal makes for a bit of a crisper crust and it also sheds a bit more. Using wheat bran makes for a chewier crust with a softer finish. I like using bran when I bake whole wheat breads. And you can also just use a dusting of plain flour. I like this finish better when I do it on an all-white flour bread, for a homey artisan feeling.
Mixing Dough
Sticky Dough
Cover and Let Rise
Risen Dough
Dough Closeup
Cover and Let Rest
Form a Dough Ball
Cover Again and Let...
Pre-heat and Bake
Bake the Bread
Uncover After 30 Min...
Take Out of Oven
Cooling
Eat and Enjoy!
No-Kneading Bread Legion
- Bittman's No-Knead Bread Phenomenon
- Have you tried it yet? Mark Bittman shared this minimalist no-knead bread in The New York Times Dining Section a week ago today. The recipe, adapted from Jim Lahey of the Sullivan Street Bakery, is unique because it doesn't require kneading
- No-knead bread takes over the world - Slashfood
- The absolutely stunning crust and crumb you see in the photo above is a direct result of Not Martha's highly successful attempt at making the No-Knead Bread that Mark Bittman talked about in the New York Times last week. The bread was, to quote NM, "awesome," with a crunchy crust and an open, chewy interior.
- The Wednesday Chef: Jim Lahey's No-Knead Bread
- I imagine many people's weekends were spent like mine - with a bowl of flour, instant yeast and water fermenting in a warm corner of the kitchen as they went about their business, courtesy of Jim Lahey and that kitchen imp, Mark Bittman.
- Brownie Points » No-Knead Bread Revolution
- Mark Bittman's New York Times article The Secret of Great Bread: Let Time Do the Work (use bug me not for a site password) is inspiring an uprising in the culinary world.
- The Kosher Blog » Archive » No-Knead Bread
- If you read food-blogs (and since you're here, you probably do) or baking-blogs, you've probably seen the No-Knead Bread recipe by now.
- Bittman's No Knead bread is out of the oven - anyone else? - Chowhound
- I threw together the dough last night in a free minute and put it above the fridge. I used 1 cup whole wheat and 2 cups white flour - no bread flour, though I can't imagine where it went to!
Bread Accessories
bread boards, bread knives, bread boxes and more
For the Journeyman Baker
Kitchen items for flour storage and bread-baking tools
Polder 3-pc. Canister Set, Red
Price: $39.95
Brighten your kitchen countertops with these red canisters. They have varying heights and capacities of 2-, 3- and 4-quarts. The narrow, capsule windo... more »
Oggi 4-pc. Canister Set, Black
Price: $24.95
A contemporary looking canister set for storing everything from flour to sugar to cookies and grains. The set, made of black ceramic, features four gr... more »
Sango 4-pc. Nova Canister Set, Blue
Price: $29.95
A set of four canisters for keeping flour, sugar, tea and more fresh. From the Nova series from Sango, the canisters (with tight-sealing lids) feature... more »
Best of Mickey 3-Pc. Canister Set
Price: $24.99
Every piece is magical in our self-sealing canister set. Perfect for stowing your kitchen staples, they give more power to flour, make rice stay nice... more »
Baker's Corner
comments and questions about no-knead bread-baking
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clouda9
This sounds absolutely fantastic. Gotta try this recipe sometime this week! Thanks for sharing. Posted July 24, 2008 |
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tripznow
You have inspired me to try breadmaking again. I have not done so for over 15 years. You make it so easy. Thanks for the tips and I have the dutch oven already. Great Lens! Posted July 21, 2008 |
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beeobrien
I've added this lens to my "Great recipe lenses" module at Incredibly Good Recipes. Posted April 27, 2008 |
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carrieokier
Great lens. 5 stars! I loved your alchemy lens too. (It had no guestbook- so I had to mention it here.) Posted April 23, 2008 |
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giddygabby
Mmmm. I'm going to have to try this one next weekend. Sounds so good! Thanks for putting this recipe on Squidoo. Posted April 05, 2008 |
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