It’s been around for a while, but I first read about Jim Lahey’s ‘no knead bread‘ in a Saveur magazine when I was in New York last year. I’d already got the bread baking bug, and the idea of a loaf that required no kneading seemed a bit odd, even a bit sacrilegious. I did a bit of research on line, and found out that everyone raves about the loaf, and it basically put Lahey’s Sullivan Street Bakery on the map.
Anyway, it definitely got me interested. How could a loaf requiring so little work be so good? Life just isn’t like that. So I gave it a go. The loaf is cooked in a cast iron pot, a bit like an Australian damper, so you’ll need a Le Creuset or something similar for it to work.
Ingredients
3 cups (430g) flour
1½ cups (345g or 12oz) water
¼ teaspoon (1g) yeast
1¼ teaspoon (8g) salt
Olive oil
Rye flour (for dusting)
Method
Mix all of the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix together for a minute or so to form a ’shaggy’ dough. Transfer the dough to a larger bowl oiled with some olive oil. NB. the dough will expand to around 4 times the size, so make sure your bowl is big enough. Cover with clingfilm and let the dough develop for 12-18 hours at room temperature.
After this time the dough will be aerated. Remove it from the bowl and fold on itself once or twice. The dough is stickier than with regular bread, a bit like when making a sourdough, so be prepared to get a bit messy. Using dough scrapers is a good idea. Let the dough rest 15 minutes in the bowl or on the work surface, then try and shape into a ball. Generously coat a tea towel with rye flour, place the dough on the left hand side, scatter the dough with more flour, and then fold the towel over the top to cover it. Let rise for around 2 hours at room temperature, until more than doubled in size.
Preheat your oven to 230°C. Place a cast iron pot in it at least 30 minutes prior to baking to preheat. Once the dough has more than doubled in volume, remove the pot from the oven and put the dough in it. Shake from side to side so it fills the base. Cover with the lid and bake for 30 minutes, then remove the lid and bake for another 20 minutes or so uncovered, until the loaf is nicely browned. Take the loaf out and place on a wire rack to cool. I know this is going to sound a bit sad, but the loaf’s crust crackles as it cools, which is pretty exciting.
When you cut into the loaf, you won’t be disappointed. The crust is crisp, crunchy and satisfying, and the dough inside a cross between really good French bread and a Ciabatta. Honestly, its great. And for so little work. There is such a thing as a free lunch.
Two final notes. I cooked mine in an oval 27 cm pot, but think it would have worked better in the round 24 cm version. Secondly, I tried this recipe again at the weekend substituting the strong white flour with a ‘Farine Bise‘ that I bought in Paris, but it was much less successful. The crust was less impressive, and the dough much heavier. I guess it rises better with the plain white.
UPDATE: Tried the loaf again at the weekend in a smaller pot, with great results. Check out photos on my Flickr page here.
Tags: Baking, Bread, Cast Iron, Home, Jim Lahey, Le Creuset, No Knead, Strong White Flour
I had a crack at making this loaf at the weekend and am quite chuffed with my results, even if i say so myself.
It’s my first attempt at making a loaf and so was a bit apprehensive. I followed the recipe closely, only I had to leave it for 20hrs rather than the 18hrs stated. I also found that the warmer our kitchen was the better it rose. Mine was never quite as frothy as your second picture which made me nervous but all seemed good in the end. I might add a pinch more salt next time as mine was lacking slightly.
Keep up the blog it’s wicked.
Cheers,
Liam
ps. got any brown bread ideas, one of my sons will only eat brown bread.
Hi Liam,
Thanks for your note.
I think I’m going to leave my mixture a bit longer next time too – think it might develop a more sour-doughey style flavour.
In terms of brown bread, try following the recipe below but use 500g of either granary or wholemeal flour, and it should come up a treat. You have to knead though
http://www.handtomouthblog.com/1st-loaf-of-the-year/
Let me know how it goes.
Ferg
Hey, great site.
I’ve done this bread many times with success and failures. Here is what I’ve discovered.
Use bread flour. I’ve seen people use all purpose flour but here in Montreal it really doesn’t give to a good rise, maybe other brands do. While bread flour is assured success. The extra protein gives to a much better gluten mesh which helps trap CO2 better.
Here in Canada, house gets a little cold in the winter, just give it more time, but strangely it’s slightly better. So the house drops to about 18C in the day, I just make it go 20 − 24 hours. While in summer its had its workout in about 18h.
As for a more sour-dough, I once did this: After emptying the bowl from one batch, the same bowl, not cleaned (meaning some of the dough was still stuck to the bowl) I just started another batch right away, was a little better. I’m wondering if I should not leave about 100g of old dough, and no longer add yeast, this is what I’m trying tomorrow! However if I have to make a loaf every day… what am I going to do with all that bread? I need to study this cycle. LOL
On a last note, I’m a wicked fan of 6 grain or whole wheat breads, but I think you have to add a little sugar to boost the yeast due to the lack of protein in these flour mixtures. I’m going to be doing some testing on this in the coming month.
Andrew.
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