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No-Knead bread
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cyli
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PostPosted: Fri Nov 10, 2006 7:54 am    Post subject: No-Knead bread Reply with quote

This article was in the NY times lately - thought it might interest people here. It mentions that if you do not knead bread, and if you in fact let the yeast do most of the work, you end up with just as good bread as if you kneaded it. He also has a method for making a really crispy, professional crust.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/08mini.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5087%0A&em&en=a25918d1aead20f6&ex=1163134800&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1163125222-iZGyYyKQ4DLcZzsV3i+B8A
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PostPosted: Sat Nov 11, 2006 10:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I tried this, and it turned out great. The crust is amazing!

If you plan on making it, be sure to watch the video a couple times. Also, note that the recipe calls for 3 cups flour. Well, that's if you have a very heavy hand in measuring. The article states the bread is 42% water, so for 1+5/8 cup water, that works out to about 18 oz. of flour, which is more like 4 cups, the way most people measure (spooning into cup, and leveling off).

I made a half-recipe in a 2.5 liter Corningware dish topped with a heavy metal lid. I preheated it in a 500-degree oven & baked at 450 -- but the bottom got a little too brown (I think you'd call that black). Next time I'd preheat and bake at 450 degrees.

It was really easy. Actually, the hardest part was not peeking under the lid while the bread was baking.
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Thor



Joined: 24 Jul 2006
Posts: 112
Location: Camp Hill, PA

PostPosted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 8:52 pm    Post subject: Je Ne Comprende Pas Reply with quote

I don't get it. Why would I not want to knead bread?
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Michael Chu



Joined: 10 May 2005
Posts: 1654
Location: Austin, TX (USA)

PostPosted: Fri Mar 16, 2007 7:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The originally posted link no longer seems to work. Here's another link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/08mini.html?ex=1174190400&en=4fc5c26df3212fdd&ei=5070
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Thor



Joined: 24 Jul 2006
Posts: 112
Location: Camp Hill, PA

PostPosted: Mon Mar 26, 2007 10:00 pm    Post subject: Kneady Reply with quote

The link is flaky, so I borrowed the recipe from another forum. The results discussed there are varied. A few folks really loved the moist open crumb and bakery quality crunchy crust. Several found the resulting dough contained wet spots or that the finished loaf contained gooey spots. A bunch thought the 20 hours invested in dough rising was insufficient in their kitchen environments. As for me I'm not ready to wait an extra 18 hours to save myself 10 or less minutes of enjoyable labor.

Here's the actual recipe.

Recipe: No-Knead Bread

Published: November 8, 2006
Adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery
Time: About 1½ hours plus 14 to 20 hours’ rising

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1¼ teaspoons salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

Yield: One 1½-pound loaf.
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kab012345



Joined: 06 Apr 2007
Posts: 2

PostPosted: Fri Apr 06, 2007 7:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Great Recipe! Cool
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Thor



Joined: 24 Jul 2006
Posts: 112
Location: Camp Hill, PA

PostPosted: Tue May 15, 2007 10:55 pm    Post subject: Recipe Error Reply with quote

I had previously provided a flawed recipe. I had inaccurately stated water at 1+5/8 cups of water. After reviewing the video, I realized the water quantity should be 1+1/2 cups. Bread also baked at 500 degrees F. Correct formula:

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp instant yeast
1+1/4 tsp salt
1+1/2 cups water

Tried this method with mixed results. Interior was fantastic, big open crumb with excellent flavor. Crust was rock hard and difficult to eat. Ended up eating the insides and using chunks of crust as croutons.

I used bread flour instead of all-purpose. I also had trouble during the final proof with the dough adhering to a four lined towel. I had to use a butter knife to separate cloth from dough.

I missed kneading the dough, as I enjoy the process. But the flavor was good enough to prompt me to try this recipe again with less water and all-purpose flour.

BTW, I can no longer reach any of the video links previously provided. I readily found the video on youtube titled "making no-knead bread"
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Michael Chu



Joined: 10 May 2005
Posts: 1654
Location: Austin, TX (USA)

PostPosted: Tue May 15, 2007 11:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Uh oh, looks like we lost the original recipe in the database migration. Thor, your original recipe matcehd the one publsihed on the New York Times and is differnt than the one that was presented in the video (also on The NY Times website). That's one of the frustrating points about this recipe.

In all my attempts (both video recipe and printed and every variation in between) I get a gummy interior. It's too wet. Anyone else have this problem?
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Michael Chu



Joined: 10 May 2005
Posts: 1654
Location: Austin, TX (USA)

PostPosted: Tue May 15, 2007 11:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here's the NY Times printed recipe (in case they take it down or make it inaccessible) for reference:
Adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery
Time: About 1½ hours plus 14 to 20 hours’ rising

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1¼ teaspoons salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

Yield: One 1½-pound loaf.
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SirSpice



Joined: 04 Dec 2006
Posts: 95

PostPosted: Wed May 16, 2007 12:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Heres a video from one of the guys at knifeforums (I think another guy from the forums is filming it).

http://www.recipesonrails.com/recipes/show/436-baguette-no-knead-larger-loaf

Pretty interesting, I'm more than curious about how it tastes when compared to regular baguettes.
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Thor



Joined: 24 Jul 2006
Posts: 112
Location: Camp Hill, PA

PostPosted: Wed May 16, 2007 11:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
In all my attempts (both video recipe and printed and every variation in between) I get a gummy interior. It's too wet. Anyone else have this problem?


How large of a vessel did you bake yours in?? I used an 8 qt dutch oven that produced a loaf that looked wider and flatter than those in the video. Perhaps the thinner loaf would allow the interior to finish cooking??
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Michael Chu



Joined: 10 May 2005
Posts: 1654
Location: Austin, TX (USA)

PostPosted: Thu May 17, 2007 7:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thor wrote:
How large of a vessel did you bake yours in?? I used an 8 qt dutch oven that produced a loaf that looked wider and flatter than those in the video. Perhaps the thinner loaf would allow the interior to finish cooking??

I used a 5.5 qt. enameled cast iron dutch oven, a 6 qt. All-Clad stock pot, and an 8-qt. All-Clad stock pot in my in-the-pot tests.
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Thor



Joined: 24 Jul 2006
Posts: 112
Location: Camp Hill, PA

PostPosted: Thu May 17, 2007 10:57 pm    Post subject: No Knead Postulation Reply with quote

Quote:
I used a 5.5 qt. enameled cast iron dutch oven, a 6 qt. All-Clad stock pot, and an 8-qt. All-Clad stock pot in my in-the-pot tests.


My thoughts, as misguided as they may be, are that: a) removal of the hot vessel and addition of cold dough reduces the temperature within the vessel to the extent that baking segment with the lid on is not sufficient to adequately heat the entire package to the level necessary to cook the bread; b) the amount of moisture trapped within the vessel prevents adequate heating of the dough; c) the early hardening of the crust traps the moisture within the dough; or d) some screwed up combination of the above.

I’m guessing since you were thorough enough to try a variety of cooking containers that you also varied the time cooked with the lid on?? Also guessing you tried placing said containers on baking stone?? The video suggested in excess of 500 degrees oven temp. Have you managed to get that hot?? I think theory “c” is crap, but have you tried scoring the top of the loaf before closing the lid??
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Thor



Joined: 24 Jul 2006
Posts: 112
Location: Camp Hill, PA

PostPosted: Fri May 18, 2007 9:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Rose Levy Beranbaum, author of The Bread Bible, has a rather extensive discussion in progress relative to the no-knead project.

http://www.realbakingwithrose.com/2006/11/holy_bread.html
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Thor



Joined: 24 Jul 2006
Posts: 112
Location: Camp Hill, PA

PostPosted: Mon May 21, 2007 11:02 pm    Post subject: May Need 2 Knead Reply with quote

I retried the recipe over the weekend more closely following the instructions discussed in the NY Times video. The only variations: I used white whole wheat flour for dusting during the 2 hour proof; loaves proofed on dusted parchment instead of cotton towel; 1970’s vintage mystery metal dutch oven instead of nice cast iron; no professional oven.

I also explored the claim that it’s so easy to make, a 5 year old could do it. Except that I don’t have a 5 year old. I had to average out a 7 year old and a 3 year old. The 7 only needed a little muscle to help mix her dough. The 3 made flour measuring a full contact sport, and required a large measure of adult supervision. The results suggest that 5 is too young, 6 may be pretty close, but 7 seems the right age. They should be more like teenagers before they could handle shaping the very wet, sticky dough. They should be legal adults before wielding a 500 degree preheated dutch oven.

3’s loaf baked at 500 with lid on for 30 min and lid off for 15. The loaf was beginning to burn on top and definitely burned on the bottom. The resulting smoke prompted my family to accuse me of setting the kitchen on fire.The interior was still moist and wonderful.

I backed the temp down to 450 for 7’s loaf. Its final proof ended up being 3 ½ hrs. It gave the best results so far. The crust was golden and very crunchy. The interior was very moist and flavorful, with none of the gooiness that others have experienced.

What I didn’t like is the flavor of the crust. The crust seemed to take on a slight burnt flour taste that matched the odor of the browned excess flour left in the bottom of the dutch oven. I also miss the kneading, but that seems to be my hang up.

I hope to give it one more try, one loaf dusted with corn meal, the other with wheat bran to see if I can find a crust flavor I favor.
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