No Knead Bread

I have wanted to have a go at bread making for quite some time, many years in fact, but something about it has always scared me. It has always seemed to me to be such an accomplished thing with so many skills and rules to master. Of course, I bet plenty of you make bread very successfully and will happily tell me I am wrong. Nothing to be afraid of Lucy! And yet, the fear had lodged itself and would not be shaken. I have the same fear about roasting joints of meat. Fear of messing it up, of wasting precious time and ingredients and feeling like a huge big flop.

Besides, I live in a town with the most excellent local bakery just five minutes walk down the road. And what's the big deal about getting all doughy anyway? What's the big appeal?

Most likely the smell. Oh, the smell of freshly baked bread filling the kitchen is pretty high on my list of Very Most Excellent Smells. And at a time of year when we are spending many cold, wet, gloomy days confined to home, the idea of filling it with mouthwatering smells followed by warm, fragrant taste sensations is pretty appealing.

On the very last day of 2013, I threw caution to the wind and pushed my bread-making fear aside. I had been lurking in the depths of the www and somehow stumbled across this post. It describes (in beautiful, no-frills detail) how to make the sort of bread that I adore :: Artisan bread. The sort of chewy, tasty bread that has an air-holey middle and a crusty outer. The sort of simple, rustic bread that I associate with my time spent in the Greek islands. Perfect for dunking and mopping, in soups, dips and flavoured oils.

Janet made it sound sooooo simple. And the best, most wondrous thing of all, aside from the simplicity of the four basic ingredients, is that this is NO KNEAD BREAD. No knead I tell ya!!! How can this possibly be true? How can this be so easy?

But really, it is this simple. The ingredients are flour, water, yeast and salt.

That. Is. It.

Janet's recipe is written in US terms, so I had to do a little bit of research and experimentation to translate the ingredients and measurements. I'll write out my English recipe at the end of this post for you, but here are a few notes....

The flour (called "All Purpose" in the US) is basically plain flour in the UK. I have tried normal plain white flour and it worked just fine, but I had slightly better (lighter) results by using strong white flour.

The water just needs to be tepid (barely warm) from the tap.

The salt is normal sea salt.

The yeast is the dried stuff which you can buy in a sachet or a tin. It looks like little granules (as in the second picture above). If you use "active dried yeast" it works fine but you're looking at 18-24 hours rising time. If you use the finer, "instant dried yeast", the rising time is quicker, more like 12 hours.

When you mix these four things together, you get a lump of wetish, sticky, shaggy dough. Remember, no kneading! Just good mixing is all you need to do. Then you simply cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave it in a warmish place to rise. You leave it for aaaaaaaages, 12-20 hours in fact.

After that time, it looks like a bubbly, gloupy, sticky, unappealing mess. Seriously worrying actually. But persevere, and squish those worrisome feelings back down. Replace them with optimism.

Now this dough is VERY STICKY. You need to be prepared. Get some hot, soapy water into your sink ready to deal with your hands which will be covered in very sticky dough in a short while.

You need to heat your oven and your cooking vessel, heat them both up for 30 mins. You need a very hot oven, and a suitable pot/substantial dish with a lid. Something like a casserole pot.

Prepare your work area - a sheet of greaseproof paper or baking parchment and LOTS of flour. Scrape your dough out of the bowl. It will by floppy and sticky and wet. Flour your hands, and gently shape the dough into a smooth ball. Plenty of flour, you are only shaping, not kneading.

It should look something like this. Not bad eh? Optimism, remember! Cover it with clingfilm and leave it rest for 30 mins while your oven and casserole pot heat up. Now go wash your sticky, dough-covered hands, and be glad that I told you to have some hot soapy water ready.

After 30 mins, the dough can go into the casserole pot. Before you plop it in, take a strip of baking parchment about 4 inches wide and lay it across the bottom of your pot (this will enable you to lift your loaf out when it and the pot are both red hot). Now plop your dough in, it'll lose it's shape a bit, but don't worry. It'll be fine.

Put the lid on and put the pot straight back into the hot oven.

You have 30 minutes to wait.

Go and do something AbSoRbiNg to take your mind off worrying about the success/failure of your Artisan Loaf.

Now this next bit is pretty amazing. Take your pot out of the oven and remove the lid...........

.........WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The transformation is so completely fabulous, you will be gasping with pleasure and hopping with delight! Leave the lid off and put it back into the oven for 15 more minutes to brown up the crust.

Ta-dah!!!!!!!!!!!!!! One gorgeous loaf of Artisan Bread. It really IS this simple.

And it really DOES look (and smell) this good.

I honestly couldn't beleive it when I made this first loaf. I was incredulous. It didn't seem possible that this good looking loaf could be made with such simple ingredients and equipment and so little work!

I managed to let it cool for maybe 15 minutes before cutting into it.

The texture inside is wonderful. It is full of air bubbles and soft and chewy.

My very first slice was slathered liberally in butter. Oh my.

It was really very, very, very good. Very good indeed.

This robust, rustic loaf of homemade bread made me so VERY happy last week, it really did.

Of course, we all devoured it in a single day, it was just too good to leave alone. So that evening I mixed up a second batch of dough so that it could sit over night. It takes maybe 5 minutes to weigh out and stir up the ingredients, it is so simple and so quick.

My second loaf was made the same as my first, but with poppy seeds pressed onto the surface.

That really did make a fantastic bread even more awesome.

My third loaf the very next day had sunflower seeds added in. Super good. And after a little bit of research on the www, I have compiled a little list of potential add-in ingredients to try in the very near future....

lemon, rosemary and gruyere

cranberry, orange and almond

Jalapeno cheddar

raisin, walnut cinnamon

pumpkin, sunflower and poppy seed

mixed herb with rosemary, chives and thyme

sun dried tomato and basil

olive, garlic and rosemary

Here is my UK recipe conversion, I urge you to give it a try.

400g strong white bread flour

1/2 teaspoon instant dried yeast

1 tsp sea salt

300ml tepid water.

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave for 12-18 hours in a moderately warm place. My kitchen is freeezing (no heating) so I stand my bowl near the radiator in the living room.

You need a casserole pot or pyrex dish, something with a lid that will withstand high heat.

Oven temp is hot! 450F / 230C / Gas 8

Heat the oven and the pot for 30 mins before the bread goes in.

Shape the dough into a ball, cover with clingfilm and and leave it to rest for the 30mins it takes to heat the oven and pot.

Bake for 30mins, remove the lid, bake for a further 15 mins. Remove to a wire wrack to cool slightly.

Slice, and enjoy every mouthful.

xxxxxxxxxxx

ps more info about the origins of no-knead bread can be found here.

PPS the US version of the recipe can be found here.

 

 

 

Comments

[Sharyn]

I am now baking this bread everyday as it's sooo easy and delicious. It only lasts the day as everyone just gobbles it up. Thanks so much for the recipe:-)

[Purple princess]

So. I have done the salt, yeast and flour mix. Under the influence of wine and gin. Wonder how this turns out tomorrow...

[Brenda]

Thank-you for turning me on to this bread. Your blog was the first place I heard of it and I LOVE it! Can't stop making it. I'm so glad I found you.

[Annie]

So easy and not as messy as it sounded. Our bread was lovely!

[Elena Andreou]

Hi Lucy, I've followed you blog for years but have never had the guts to write a comment! Just want to say how wonderful everything is and how inspiring you and your projects are. Also a quick question, if you want to make a larger loaf, is iyt ok to double the ingredients? Much love Elena

[Katherine of Kitten's Lost Her Mittens]

Thank you for posting this recipe, and the link to where you found it! I have made bread once before, and although it tasted delicious, it didn't look fabulous (which is fine, but you know… it's nice when it's pretty, too). Also, the recipe was easy, but the timing for it was tricky. And so I just never made it again. But then you posted this, and it just looked so easy! I made the dough Sunday and baked a loaf of bread yesterday, and it was fabulous!!! So last night I started more dough rising, and just popped it in the oven today! I can tell that this is going to be a very regular thing in our household, and I can't wait to start experimenting with different flavors. Thank you!

[Jen]

I've found that I can avoid most of the gloppy hands issue by disengaging the dough from the bowl and shaping it with a rubber spatula.

[Mady]

I just made my first batch of this bread this morning - it's gone already. It was gorgeous :-)

[winifred]

Oh my goodness. Looks fabulous, I must give this a try. Thanks for taking the time to write this up.

[Strigla]

Just to add to my embarrassment, it doesn't look as if anyone else has failed with this recipe!

[Strigla]

Mine tasted really nice but is more like a flatbread than the photographs. When I tipped it out of the bowl, it looked like a pizza base! It looked pretty much the same after it was cooked! I used the exact recipe and proved it for about 15 hours. I'd like to make it again but where could I have gone wrong?

I've been baking for many years so thought I'd find my way round this recipe! I was very annoyed with myself for failing!

[Jenny Smith]

This looks great Lucy, must try it. I will go searching for a suitable casserole to cook it in. Also, thank you for doing this wonderful blog, I love it. Your crochet patterns are inspiring, your home looks a real home - all nice and cosy and filled with love (and colour). Thanks again x

[Rebecca]

Yummy just made it this afternoon - so easy! My next batch will have a little more salt but its lovely thank you!!

Now to crack on with the autumn wreath I'm attempting being new to crochet!!

Rebecca, Northumberland

[Tawnya]

I just found this and made it yesterday afternoon and bakes it this morning. I live at a mile high and bread baking tends to be an exercise in frustration. Not on this one! I only reduced the yeast by about half and it made a perfect loaf.

[Kathryn Payandeh]

Have been trying to make Artisan bread for ages with various results.Just tried your recipe amazing worked first time.Just waiting for my loaf to cool so I can try it

[MAIREAD LUCEY]

Hi Lucy-had a go after seeing your notes and photos and have now made 2 loaves. They were wolfed down by my family. Like you I had a notion that making yeast bread was beyond me. Now delighted to have a great recipe. Thanks

[Row]

I can see this has been a popular post for many people! I have been making bread using this method for about six years now, and have shared the method with family and friends. I would recommend using active dried yeast - the orange packets from Doves Farm are excellent - strong flour (a protein content of at least 12%) to make this bread, and to leave it at least two hours after the original mixing up time to prove. I have also found that once you shape it to bake (either into a hot casserole dish, or greased loaf pans) that it will need a second rise, to get the best texture. The book 'Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day' is a great reference, and the authors have a great website with tips and recipes too. If you bake a lot, you will know that the temperature, humidity and your height above sea level can all have effects on your own dough - experiment! You might have to add more or less water or flour to get a really good dough. You can also freeze the dough in plastic bags weighed into loaf quantities, and then defrost, shape, rise and bake. Enjoy!

[Jesse]

Lucy, you have a bunch of fans in New Zealand where I live, and I look to your inspiration frequently. I love the way you write. It makes me so happy to see you have discovered the joys of this bread! Friends and I make it regularly. I also have made knead bread and breadmaker bread (a lot!) but there is something super special about this no-knead recipe isn't there? it's delicious.
Thank you so much for all you do.

[Curly]

I made two at the weekend! Why haven't I heard of this before? Didn't even get my hands in the dough; it's so sticky I used a spatula all the time. My husband loves it. So delicious.

[Kelly Nordwall]

Thank you for sharing this. I love making bread, too, and look forward to trying all of the different "flavors". Below is a link to another great and easy bread and I'm sure the orange peel and dark chocolate would be good in your recipe, too.
http://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/soda-bread-with-dark-chocolate-and-candied-orange-peel

[Kristen]

Have mercy! That is so delectable. I am imagining that wonderful, fresh-bread smell right now, getting a little teary eyed about it, too, to be honest. Yum and yum! :)

[Sue]

Thank you so much for this bread reciepe I have made my first loaf of bread and it was absolutely lovely xx

[Liz]

On a cold rainy morning here in Tuscany what better to do than give your bread a go. It looks like the photos so far..i.e. a sticky, claggy mess in a bowl. Leaving it by the fire 'till tomorrow morning. i dont have those fancy french cast iron pots. We use brown glazed terracotta pots with lids for slow cooking casseroles or lentils on the hob or in the oven. Hopefully they will stand up to the heat. Thanks for brightening up my day and keeping me in touch with the passing seasons back home. I love your blog.

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