Smell that Bread! No-Knead Bread

SweetArt Supplies

 

No-Knead Bread

 

 

 It is almost like you can smell it just from seeing the picture!

 

So right to the recipe -- super easy but you need to plan the day before because it needs 12 to 18 hours to be done.  My dutch oven was my Grandma's and then my Mom's and now mine - many roasts, baked spaghetti, and loaves have been baked in this.

 

In a big bowl add:

 

 6 cups of All Purpose Flour

2 1/2 teaspoons of salt

Mix these two together first then add

1/2 teaspoon of yeast

and

2 and 2/3 cups of cool (not cold and not warm) water.
**Note feel free to add seasoning at this point too - rosemary, Italian, herb***

 

Mix with a wooden spoon until it comes together - it will be very sticky.  If you find it a little dry just add a little more water a bit at a time.

 

Cover your bowl with plastic wrap and a light tea towel.  I place my bowl in a warm part of the kitchen (not near any drafts) and wrap the bowl with a couple of heavier towels.

 

Let it sit overnight for at least 12 hours - 18 is good too!

 

When your time is up - add some flour on your counter and pull out the bread - don't do too much to it - just enough to make it into a ball.

 

Place it on a cookie sheet covered with a  well floured cotton towel seam side down.

Cover again with another cotton sheet (make sure there is flour on the top of the bread ball)

Let rise for about 2 hours.

 

After an hour and half - turn your oven on to 424 degrees F.  Place your dutch oven in the oven while it is warming up.

 

When your oven is ready - take your dutch oven out and carefully pick up your loaf in the tea towel and drop it into the dutch oven - shake it a bit to centre it in the dutch oven.  REMEMBER the dutch oven is hot so don't forget your mitts! :)

 

Put a lid on the dutch oven and put back in the oven for 40 minutes

Then uncover and continue to bake for 10 to 15 minutes.

 

Place on cookie rack to cool for about 1 hour--- ok try and let it cool before you slice into it- it really is important not to slice a hot loaf of bread.

You need it place it on the rack so the bottom doesn't get soggy. And if you cut it while it is hot the steam will escape and result in drier bread. I will confess I don't always follow the rule because it's so hard to resist bread out of the oven ... it is almost torture having this wonderful aroma of freshly baked bread wafting from the kitchen and being told to wait an hour to eat it.

 

 

Enjoy!!

Gwen

PS
I had people ask if they could just bake it in a loaf pan - I guess you could but it would not be the same at all!

Why?  Well a dutch oven holds a little secret when baking bread and that is to make a loaf that is soft and moist on the inside and crusty on the outside lies in the balance of heat and humidity. The long, (no) knead-free fermentation process allows the dough to develop good flavor, and then the Dutch oven creates the humid conditions needed for a crisp crust.  For those of you that are afraid to try bread - this is a great recipe to start with -- at true artisan bread! Why pay $6.00 or more at a bread shop when for pennies you can make this and you feel so good about doing it and of course eating it too. :) 
This is great as toast too!