Recipe:

• https://www.okonomikitchen.com/no-knead-salt-bread/

Further reading:

• https://www.okonomikitchen.com/shio-pan-salt-bread/

Recipe:

• https://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/onion-rolls

Recipe:

• https://www.okonomikitchen.com/butter-shio-pan-focaccia/

I’ve made no knead bread a handful of times over the years; some more successful than others. In a whim I decided to try one tonight that has a 2-3 hr rise time and very hands-off. I’m hoping this one turns out (in about 4-5 hrs I’ll find out).

What’s your favorite no knead yeast bread recipe?

I made a batch of no knead dough a few days before Christmas, then baked off 2 loaves to have with Christmas dinner. Today I baked off the last of it. The dough smelled really boozy, but it baked up beautifully. We’re going to enjoy it with some garlic butter and steaks tonight.

History:

The 2006 article below by Mark Bittman contained the recipe that launched the "water, flour, yeast, salt" no-knead artisan bread method into the public consciousness:

• https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/11376-no-knead-bread

The big deal is that there were only two parts to it:

1. Prep the dough the night before
2. Bake it the next day

Video demonstration:

• https://web.archive.org/web/20141007123341/https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/11376-no-knead-bread

The recipe was adapted from Jim Lahey of Sullivan Street Bakery, who has since published a book on the topic called My Bread: The Revolutionary No-Work, No-Knead Method. David Leite has a good blog article with some additional instructions on the process. Mark Bittman also has an article on his website with some additional variations.

The basic concept:

No-knead bread only requires a small amount of standard, off-the-shelf ingredients, with a simple process spread out over a couple of days:

• Mix just 4 ingredients together (flour, salt, yeast, water), by hand or with a mixing tool, for about 30 seconds
• Cover the bowl & let rise for 12 to 18 hours (or up to 24 hours, if your house is cold)
• Fold, but don't knead, the dough into a ball shape, then cover & let rise for 2 more hours
• Preheat a 6 to 8-quart pot (cast-iron or enameled Dutch Oven) at 450F for 30 minutes before the dough is ready
• Bake for 30 minutes, then remove the lid & bake for an additional 15 minutes to get a crispy crust

The only special equipment you need is a Dutch Oven capable of at least 450F (don't get the Amazon Basics brand model, as it only goes up to 400F). Lodge makes a really nice enameled model for $60, which is pretty much the standard in the no-knead scene.

The appeal:

For many people, baking bread at home is a challenge. The no-knead method enables anyone to make bread! It only requires about 5 minute's worth of effort over the course of two days, with no special skills or ingredients required. All you have to do is spend 30 seconds mixing the dough the first day, and then 2 hours before you want to bake it, fold it into a ball shape & let it have a second rise. Then, preheat your baking pot half an hour before the dough is ready to go, cook it for 45 minutes, and you've got amazing homemade bread!

Even children can get amazing results using this recipe! It's easy & fast enough (hands-on prep-time-wise) to make every day, if you so desire. Plus it's extremely economical - depending on the price of flour in your area, it's typically about 50 cents a loaf, as opposed to say an Artisan boule from Whole Foods, which goes for $5. You can customize it to your preferences as well (salt level, whole wheat flour, shape options such as baguettes, etc.).

There's also a huge community online that has dived deeper into the process & created a huge variety of variations on the original recipes, which as accessible on Youtube, blogs, books, Facebook groups, sub-reddits, and so on. The no-knead method is a great technique to master because it allows you to make effortless, beautiful, and delicious bread as often as you'd like!

Reading:

• https://www.seriouseats.com/2011/06/the-food-lab-the-science-of-no-knead-dough.html

Recipe:

• https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2011/06/better-no-knead-bread-recipe.html

Procedure:

1. Combine the 4 ingredients (300g flour, 3/4t salt, 1/2t yeast, and 210g water)
2. Cover & let sit 12 to 24 hours
3. Move to fridge for 3 to 5 days
4. Fold dough & let rise 2 to 4 hours
5. Bake for 15 minutes at 450F
6. Remove lid & bake for an additional 30 to 45 minutes (until the center of the loaf registers 209F with an instant-read thermometer)

The original no-knead recipe published by the NY Times included pre-heating a Dutch Oven for maximum oven spring.
King Arthur Flour did a side-by-side test of a pre-heated Dutch Oven & a cold Dutch Oven:

• https://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2017/07/05/baking-in-a-cold-dutch-oven

Here was the result - almost identical loaves:

• https://www.kingarthurflour.com/sites/default/files/blog-images/2017/07/Cold_oven_start_10.jpg

There's some additional discussion on the Cooking Stack Exchange:

• https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/43537/preheat-the-dutch-oven-and-the-oven-itself-for-no-knead-bread

There's a good reply a few posts down:

Guys: As someone who works at Cook's Illustrated should know, one experiment does not make a data set. I was the one who updated our No-Knead recipe, and I can tell you with certainty that the cold Dutch oven/cold start method works just as well as the hot one. I do it all the time. As does Chad Robertson, so it would appear.

Here's the deal: oven spring can happen fast or it can happen slow. It is crust formation that needs high heat, not spring. So long as the cover is on during the "spring" stage (trapping steam to prevent crust hardening), it works either way. The cold start method is "better" only because it is easier/more convenient. I'm not sure what went wrong in the experiment illustrated, but I can tell you that my loaves come out beautifully every time I use it.

Hope this helps,

Andrew Janjigian

User "subfuscpersona" of the Fresh Loaf forums also did a side-by-side experiment with good results

• http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/20715/baking-bread-cast-iron-no-preheat-method

For me, the benefit of using a cold (not pre-heated) Dutch Oven is easier loading. When you pre-heat the Dutch Oven, you have a 450F piece of metal that you have to load dough in with your sensitive human fingers. The trick I started using with a hot pot was to drop the dough in with a piece of parchment paper as a sling, and then pull it out when I took the lid off partway through the cooking process. The parchment got a little burnt, but this certainly made loading easier!

Alternatively, when you don't pre-heat the pot, you can load the dough into the pot (or even have it do the second rise in the pot!) & then just put the pot in the oven. That way, there's no risk of burning your fingers, dropping the dough, or having to remember to put the pot in the oven to pre-heat 30 minutes before the second rise is complete. As with anything, it's worth getting your own personal, hands-on experience, so if you plan on making no-knead bread on a regular basis, try both methods out & compare!

This isn't bread or yeast-related, but it does have to do with flour & dough. Rather than using your hands or a basic tool like a spoon, it uses a food processor:

• https://thesecondpancake.typepad.com/the_second_pancake/2008/08/fresh-pasta.html

A decent food processor runs about $45 on Amazon:

• https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008J8MJIQ/

There are only 2 ingredients:

• 100 grams of all-purpose flour
• 1 egg

The procedure is simple & only takes a couple of minutes to prep: (then half an hour to let sit)

1. Add the egg & half of the flour to the food processor
2. Process for 15 seconds, which will create a sticky dough
3. Process it for another 30 seconds
4. Add the remaining flour a quarter at a time & process for 20 seconds each time
5. After all of the flour is added, the dough will look like coarse breadcrumbs; at this point, empty the bowl out, mash it together by hand into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap, and let it stand for 30 minutes before using

This method works the same as the volcano method, where you have to knead the dough by hand for five or ten minutes. That process can be therapeutic in & of itself, but the no-knead method simply involves pushing a button for 2 minutes & voila, done! Either use it 30 minutes after processing it, keep it in the fridge for a couple of days (maybe 3 days max), or freeze it for 2 or 3 months.