I'm sure some of you have made the recipe for no-knead bread that was printed in the New York Times a couple of months back. I've been experimenting with it for a few weeks now, and I can't believe how good it is! For those of you who aren't familiar with it, a copy of it follows. A search on the New York Times website will turn up the recipe as well as a video of how it is made. Another video of a very similar recipe which is a little easier to find is here:
http://www.breadtopia.com/
New York Times
November 8, 2006
Recipe: No-Knead Bread
Adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery
Time: About 1½ hours plus 14 to 20 hours’ rising
3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1¼ teaspoons salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.
1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.
3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.
Yield: One 1½-pound loaf.
I've found that it needs about 2 1/2 tsp. of salt instead of 1 1/4 tsp. I've also used up to 3/4 tsp. of Dry Active Yeast. I've used up to 30 % rye flour and up to 50 % whole wheat flour with great results. I've also used various combinations of seeds and different rising times etc. all with amazing results. If you've made lots of bread as I have or if you've never made bread before you will have amazing results using this recipe. I'd love to talk with anyone else who has tried it. If you've never tried it, give it a go. Please post here or if you have any questions, suggestions, or experiences.
Kurt