Basic No-Knead Bread

For much of history and in cultures the world over, bread making has been a part of daily routine.  There are still places where this is true today, but in modern societies where “time is money” prevails, homemade bread can seem like a luxury not easily afforded.

The process of making the bread can be a pleasure unto itself; if you enjoy baking, and are fortunate enough to have time to pursue it, then fresh baked goods may already be part of your routine.  If, on the other hand, you long for homemade bread but lack enthusiasm for devoting precious “free” time to the cause, don’t despair— give this quick and easy no-knead recipe a try.  But be warned, once hooked, you may find yourself enjoying baking more than you thought you would!

 

 

Adapted from this no-knead recipe at King Arthur Flour.

First, I cut the recipe down to one-third the quantity, since there is never room in my refrigerator for a 6-quart container, but I can usually manage to accommodate a 2-quart one.  Next, I made some adjustments for using active dry, rather than instant yeast, since that’s invariably what I have on hand (increasing the quantity of yeast used slightly, and taking into account the slower reaction time of the active dry yeast).

Prepared as presented here, this recipe will yield one loaf.

Start with a 2-quart lidded container (I use a 2 quart glass measuring pitcher).Measure 11 oz. All-Purpose Flour (approximately 2 1/4 cups, but measuring by weight is more accurate) and 1 tsp. Salt.  Stir together, and make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.

In a smaller measuring glass, dissolve a pinch of Sugar in 1 cup Warm Water (105-115°F).  Add 2 tsp. Active Dry Yeast, and let stand until bubbly.

Pour the yeast mixture into the dry ingredients and stir it all together.  Make sure all the flour is completely incorporated into the dough.

The dough will not take up much space in your 2-quart container at first…

But cover it and let it stand for two hours at room temperature…

This is why it needs a 2-quart space!

Put the covered container of dough into the refrigerator for at least two hours, or up to seven days.  The longer it stays in the fridge, the more “sourdough” flavor the bread will pick up.

When you’re ready to bake, prepare a greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, or greased (and I flour mine as well) loaf pan, depending on what shape of loaf you want.  Make sure to grease thoroughly—the dough is very sticky, and will leave bits of crust stuck to the pan if you’ve missed a spot.

Word to the wise (from experience): a non-stick baking sheet still needs to be greased or lined; otherwise, the bread will come out more or less permanently fused to the pan.

Scrape the dough out onto the prepared baking surface.  I find a silicone scraper like the one pictured above to be perfect for this task.  The dough does not stick much to the silicone, and you can use it to form the dough into roughly the shape you want.

Cover with plastic wrap (greased if it will be in contact with the dough), and let rise for about an hour or until doubled.  Because the dough is cold to start with, I find that at room temperature it often takes more like two hours.  I generally give the oven a brief tweak to the “Warm” setting—10 or 15 seconds does the trick—to get the temperature to around 90°.  Alternately, you can put a pan of hot water in the oven with the dough while it rises.  Make sure the temperature does not get too hot, and make very sure to remember to get the dough back out before preheating the oven to 450°.

Place a metal pan on the bottom rack (I use an old 8″ square cake pan that I don’t use for cakes any more), and position it toward the front, so that it will still be accessible once the bread is in place.

If you want to slash the top of your loaf, now is the time to do so.  In addition to a decorative function, slashing is done to allow the bread to expand more with oven spring (a rapid expansion of the loaf in the first few minutes of baking).  I’ve found that with the slower-reacting active dry yeast, there is less oven spring, and that slashing the loaf can end up ‘deflating’ it more than it will ‘bounce back’, so I don’t generally slash mine.  I’m also using a loaf pan; slashing will have greater effect if you’re baking the loaf on a flat surface (free-form).

Place the bread in the hot oven, and toss about 5 ice cubes into the metal pan underneath, quickly shutting the door after (this will make steam, which settles on the dough’s surface, helping it to expand and giving a nice quality to the crust).

Bake for 25-35 minutes, until the crust is a nice deeply golden-brown on top.

When done, the loaf will have a hollow sound when you thump it.

Loosen carefully and remove from the pan onto a wire rack to cool (this is where you find out if you missed any spots when you greased your pan).

The aroma will be sorely tempting, but it’s best to wait for around half an hour before cutting the bread, to let the moisture content between interior and exterior balance out some, and for the interior structure to set up a little.

This recipe is also highly adaptable; I’ve made variations from Honey-Wheat to Raisin Bread, but I’ll save those for a later post.