The Best Bread in the World! a.k.a No-knead bread
Inspired by: New York Times, Sullivan Street Bakery, Gontran Charrier and many others.
It was the “no-knead” bit that attracted me here! A “sourdough” type of bread with an open holey texture, a good crust and great colour. It tastes divine and it really is very easy, it works when you don’t think it possibly could and is slightly different each time. Added bonus - the method, quantities and timings are very relaxed.
The “secret” is that it is cooked in a hot oven in a large lidded enamelled cast iron pot* I have a 28cm Le Creuset that is perfect for the job. It’s getting a bit discoloured with such hot and heavy use but that’s a small price to pay for a gorgeous loaf and I still use the pot for stews and long-cooked bolognese sauce.
475-525 gm strong white flour + a little extra
¼ teaspoon active dried yeast
1 ½ teaspoons salt
400-425 ml water, possibly a little more
Timing:
- Initial preparation: 5 minutes
- Proving: 12-18 hours
- Final rising: 30-40 minutes or so
- Combine flour, yeast & salt in a large bowl with a fork.
- Add not quite all of the water and stir through with the fork to combine. No, you don’t need to knead (sorry!)
- You are aiming for a “shaggy” sticky dough, not smooth and neat. If it’s too wet it will spread too much when cooking. So just stop at that “shaggy” stage, might even be a bit lumpy, and have faith! Scrape down the sides and cover with cling film.
- Dough is ready for the next stage when the surface looks bubbly. This will take from 12-18 hours depending on ambient temperature. If you have to leave it a bit longer, it’s not the end of the world – it will still work. Seems to me the bubblier, the better
- At this point, you can assume your bread will be ready and out of the oven in about an hour from now.
- Flour a largish 35cm/14” or so - silicone sheet (or Bake-O-Glide) and scrape out the dough mixture onto this.
- Knock it back a bit – or in other words squish it down – and lift and turn it over a few times on itself using extra flour to stop you fingers and the dough sticking to each other.
- Form into a nice round loaf shape. Put a little more flour on top.
- Leave it now for a further 20 minutes** before turning on the oven to 220⁰C/200⁰C Fan.
- Put the pot and its lid in the oven at the same time.
- When the oven has reached its operating temperature, brush away the extra flour from around the sides of the loaf. (Slide your hand underneath the silicone
- Remove the pot from the oven and slide your hand under the silicone sheet to turn the loaf over into it. It may look like a mess but it’ll be fine. Shake the pot a little if necessary to even things out a bit and centre the loaf in the pot.
- Put the lid back on and put into the oven.
- Allow 20 minutes cooking time.
- Remove the lid and cook for a further 5 -7 minutes. Or more – whatever is needed to achieve the beautiful brown crust.
- Amazingly it doesn’t stick and slides out of the pot every time. You may decide it needs to be taken out of the pot and put directly on the oven shelf for another few minutes .
- Cool on a wire rack.
*A Pyrex, cast iron or heavy ceramic pot would also work. Maybe one of those chicken bricks? Just a thought.
**Or until you can see that loaf has started to rise again. Give it a little prod and you will feel that it has softened slightly since you shaped it. It will get its extra “lift” and rise the rest of the way when you put it into the pre-heated pot.
Inspired by: New York Times, Sullivan Street Bakery, Gontran Charrier and many others.
The “secret” is that it is cooked in a hot oven in a large lidded enamelled cast iron pot* I have a 28cm Le Creuset that is perfect for the job. It’s getting a bit discoloured with such hot and heavy use but that’s a small price to pay for a gorgeous loaf and I still use the pot for stews and long-cooked bolognese sauce.
475-525 gm strong white flour + a little extra
¼ teaspoon active dried yeast
1 ½ teaspoons salt
400-425 ml water, possibly a little more
Timing:
- Initial preparation: 5 minutes
- Proving: 12-18 hours
- Final rising: 30-40 minutes or so
- Combine flour, yeast & salt in a large bowl with a fork.
- Add not quite all of the water and stir through with the fork to combine. No, you don’t need to knead (sorry!)
- You are aiming for a “shaggy” sticky dough, not smooth and neat. If it’s too wet it will spread too much when cooking. So just stop at that “shaggy” stage, might even be a bit lumpy, and have faith! Scrape down the sides and cover with cling film.
- Dough is ready for the next stage when the surface looks bubbly. This will take from 12-18 hours depending on ambient temperature. If you have to leave it a bit longer, it’s not the end of the world – it will still work. Seems to me the bubblier, the better
- At this point, you can assume your bread will be ready and out of the oven in about an hour from now.
- Flour a largish 35cm/14” or so - silicone sheet (or Bake-O-Glide) and scrape out the dough mixture onto this.
- Knock it back a bit – or in other words squish it down – and lift and turn it over a few times on itself using extra flour to stop you fingers and the dough sticking to each other.
- Form into a nice round loaf shape. Put a little more flour on top.
- Leave it now for a further 20 minutes** before turning on the oven to 220⁰C/200⁰C Fan.
- Put the pot and its lid in the oven at the same time.
- When the oven has reached its operating temperature, brush away the extra flour from around the sides of the loaf. (Slide your hand underneath the silicone
- Remove the pot from the oven and slide your hand under the silicone sheet to turn the loaf over into it. It may look like a mess but it’ll be fine. Shake the pot a little if necessary to even things out a bit and centre the loaf in the pot.
- Put the lid back on and put into the oven.
- Allow 20 minutes cooking time.
- Remove the lid and cook for a further 5 -7 minutes. Or more – whatever is needed to achieve the beautiful brown crust.
- Amazingly it doesn’t stick and slides out of the pot every time. You may decide it needs to be taken out of the pot and put directly on the oven shelf for another few minutes .
- Cool on a wire rack.
*A Pyrex, cast iron or heavy ceramic pot would also work. Maybe one of those chicken bricks? Just a thought.
**Or until you can see that loaf has started to rise again. Give it a little prod and you will feel that it has softened slightly since you shaped it. It will get its extra “lift” and rise the rest of the way when you put it into the pre-heated pot.
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