no-knead bread?

NextSteps

I saw this recipe for no-knead bread, and lots of enthusiastic reviews of it:

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.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/08mini.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5070&en=daf21739573fc171&ex=1164344400 (free subscription required)


Has anyone tried it?

Alun

I'm wondering what the point is? Is it to avoid a few minutes of work doing the kneading, or is the end result supposed to be better than conventional recipes? Either way, I think I'll stick with my bread machine .. bung all the ingredients in and wait 4-5 hours until it beeps

Sparks

Tried it.
Not great results with the dough on the first night. Going to make a few small rolls for tonight's dinner after a few day's ferment&rise in the fridge, maybe it'll have improved, but to be honest, I'm not really that hopeful. Standard poolish sourdoughs from Crust seem simpler.

Sparks

Okay, and I totally rescind earlier comments. Avoid baking this stuff on the first day though, it was rather bland - but today, it was wonderful. A small loaf (about the size of my two fists) came out with a wonderful crunchy crust (250C for 15 mins, then 220 for another 20, then rested for 20 mins before willpower broke).
The dough is very wet, very sticky and a total pain to work, and I wasn't baking in a pot but on a pizza stone (I prefer the crust ). But it was worth it, and I'm starting another batch now for Sunday evening...

Orby

Made this several times- Great recipe. Bake in le creuset pot. Good idea is to watch the youtube video with Mark Bittman making it.

kylith

I just wanted to +1 this recipe. I have never had success with bread until I tried this, it always came out quite dense and on the doughy side. Now I just put all the ingredients together and leave it in the hotpress before I go to bed, give it a bit of a knead when I come home from work the next day and bung it in the oven. It's absolutely gorgeous with a lovely chewy crust.

I'm going to try making pizza with it next.