Initial reaction: HARUMPH!!!
No kneading? What is this silliness?
But the photos look good, especially the air holes in the crumb. Plus, if the bread didn't turn out, I'd only lose about 20 minutes hands-on time. So I gave it a shot. The recipe came from Jim Lahey and took off when featured by Mark Bittman.
A few pics of the process (and one of the bread maker [Yes, hat and scarf, inside the house. I'm a heat miser. But aren't they pretty? Mom made them. Anyhoo...]). The ingredients...
Mixed briefly...
Don't lick the spoon...
Covered w/ plastic...
20 hours and 45 hands-off minutes later, I prepared an old pillow case to act as a floured cotton towel...
Loaf went on, more flour on top...
Covered for another 2 hours...
At 1.5 hours, I preheated this enameled cast-iron pot (w/ lid) in a 450F oven. At 2 hours, I tipped the risen loaf in and put the lid on...
After 30 minutes, I took off the lid...
After a final 15 minutes (no lid), the loaf came out. It immediately began to crackle, causing flour to sift down onto the table. Impatient wait began...
The wait didn't last long...
Thoughts:
The salt level is fine. I'd read that folks thought this recipe didn't have enough, but I think the bread's fine by itself and with condiments / other courses / etc.
The crust is dreamy -- chewy and crispy, not too thick -- exactly what I love about European-style artisan loaves.
The crumb is lush -- chewy and moist -- very similar to the glossy crumb of ciabatta.
I want to try flavor variations -- dried fruit + nut, sun-dried tomato, roasted pepper, garlic + rosemary, olive + thyme, whole grain w/ seeds, etc -- but I'm happy with the rising and baking times.
I need to start running again, because I see a lot of this bread in my future.
No kneading? What is this silliness?
But the photos look good, especially the air holes in the crumb. Plus, if the bread didn't turn out, I'd only lose about 20 minutes hands-on time. So I gave it a shot. The recipe came from Jim Lahey and took off when featured by Mark Bittman.
A few pics of the process (and one of the bread maker [Yes, hat and scarf, inside the house. I'm a heat miser. But aren't they pretty? Mom made them. Anyhoo...]). The ingredients...
Mixed briefly...
Don't lick the spoon...
Covered w/ plastic...
20 hours and 45 hands-off minutes later, I prepared an old pillow case to act as a floured cotton towel...
Loaf went on, more flour on top...
Covered for another 2 hours...
At 1.5 hours, I preheated this enameled cast-iron pot (w/ lid) in a 450F oven. At 2 hours, I tipped the risen loaf in and put the lid on...
After 30 minutes, I took off the lid...
After a final 15 minutes (no lid), the loaf came out. It immediately began to crackle, causing flour to sift down onto the table. Impatient wait began...
The wait didn't last long...
Thoughts:
The salt level is fine. I'd read that folks thought this recipe didn't have enough, but I think the bread's fine by itself and with condiments / other courses / etc.
The crust is dreamy -- chewy and crispy, not too thick -- exactly what I love about European-style artisan loaves.
The crumb is lush -- chewy and moist -- very similar to the glossy crumb of ciabatta.
I want to try flavor variations -- dried fruit + nut, sun-dried tomato, roasted pepper, garlic + rosemary, olive + thyme, whole grain w/ seeds, etc -- but I'm happy with the rising and baking times.
I need to start running again, because I see a lot of this bread in my future.
6 ate pie:
Thanks for the post. I'd seen this recipe before along with a sandwich loaf adaptation from thekitchn. The pics of the crust and crumb really help sell this idea to nay-sayers!
I image-Googled "no-knead bread" and those pics convinced me to try it. Funny enough, the photo on Jim Lahey's book kept me from trying this bread -- looks badly bloomed and burnt.
Actually, no-knead is the original way bread was made--dough just sat and naturally kneaded itself as gas bubbles moved it around. (The slow rise also developed superior flavor) Kneading was a shortcut bakers came up with to artificially speed up the process. I've got several no-knead recipes posted, plus pics & info, so come check them out.
Thanks, Nancy, it's true. When I worked for a French baker here, the best loaves we made rose for 20 hours. That slow, cool rise and the levain we used combined to give those loaves a flavor and texture as close to traditional as the baker could achieve in that facility, and with American ingredients. The dough still got a good 10-minute knead in the mixer, though, so I had that prejudice.
I cannot stop making this bread. I have a loaf in the oven as we speak.
And a hunk of it will be going in my mouth soon after that.
I've also made a version with chives before. Twas tres yummy.
Krissy - I'm pretty sure a photo on your blog piqued my interest in the recipe. Chives would be yum.
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