The Bread Basket -- No-Knead Bread

I decided to try this bread, not because I don't like the kneading part.  That can be quite theruptic after a long day at the office.  But everywhere I looked, I saw this receipe or a variation of it so I thought I'd try it. 

I got to use my Dad's big brown crockery bread bowl, so that was an added bonus.  I have punched down more batches of bread that I can count and it was fun to watch the Little Mouths plunge their little fists into the soft warm dough and watch it colapse around their hands. 

There couldn't be an easier recipe and while it does take about 24 hours to make, it only takes minutes of actual work.  And the bread was JUST BEAUTIFUL!  A first for me.  Every recipe I've tried has tasted good, but has left quite a lot to be desired in the looks department.  This bread was lovely, though.  Don't you think?

No-Knead Bread (New York Times)

3 cups bread flour
1/4 teaspoon yeast
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 2/3 cup cool water

Mix everything together and cover with plastic wrap.  Put somewhere warm overnight.  I put it in the laundry, which is the warmest place in our house.  I mixed it together at about 7 PM and in the morning it looked like this:

It scared the Little Mouths, I think.  It looked a lot like spoiled eye of kneut or which's brew or something.

After about 18 hours or so, turn the bread out onto a well floured surface and fold over a few times.  Cover with the plastic again and let it rest for 15 minutes.

Now the recipe says to put flour on a towel, but the bread on it and cover with another towel.  This is recomended, because you have to get the bread into the preheated dutch oven and the towel acts like a little sling.  I did this the first time I made it and the bread stuck to the towel and made a big mess.  This time I oiled my original bowl, added a bit of parchment paper, and slipped the bread back in.

So either do the towel/sling thing or the parchment thing and let it raise for about 2 to 2.5 hours or until the loaf has doubled in size.

When it was time to transfer to the dutch oven preheated to 450 degrees in the oven, I just held the bowl over the pot resting on the oven rack, tilted the bowl and tugged on the corner of the parchment.  It slid east as can be into the pot and I removed the parchment.

Bake at 450 degrees for 30 mintues with the lid on and 15-30 minutes until the crust is brown and crunchy.  It tasted as good as it looks and got thumbs up from Big Mama and the Little Mouths devoured it. 

So good!


This recipe is posted at all or some of the WONDERFUL blogs on my "Looky Here" page.