Posted to rec.food.cooking
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No Knead Bread Recipe
Didn't Martha Stewart just do a show on this recipe last week? I thought
just need the damn thing and get it over with. There was so much fussing
over this "no knead" bread I thought it was ridicules to call it that.
Lynne
"Michael "Dog3" Lonergan" > wrote in message
.121...
> Got this from a very close friend in email. With her permission, I am
> posting it here. Be sure to read the notes after the recipe.
>
> ____________________
>
> Hi Michael,
>
>
> This is the recipe for "no knead" bread from the NY TIMES. I tried it
> today. It's WONDERFUL. Tastes like fresh Italian bread straight from a
> top-notch bakery.
>
> See photos of my loaf he
> http://www.photogiga.com/show.php/35...ead003copy.jpg
> http://www.photogiga.com/show.php/35...ead004copy.jpg
>
> I did just about everything wrong (including over-flouring the outside of
> the loaf) but it still came out good. It's amazing.
>
> Recipe:
> Best-selling cookbook author Mark BIttman is the creator and author of the
> popular New York Times weekly column, "The Minimalist," and one of the
> country's best-known and widely admired food writers. His flagship book,
> How to Cook Everything, is currently in its fourteenth printing and has,
> in
> its various formats, sold over a million copies.
>
> Mark is also a regular guest on the "Today" show and NPR's "All Things
> Considered" and has also appeared on countless national and local radio
> and
> television shows. He has been profiled in this country's leading
> newspapers, including the Boston Globe, Washington Post, and Los Angeles
> Times.
>
> No Knead Bread - Original Recipe
> Yield: One 1 1/2-pound loaf
>
> Time: About 1 1/2 hours plus 14 to 20 hours' rising
>
> 3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
> 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
> 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
> Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> No Knead Bread - Optional Recipes
>
> WEIGHT VS. VOLUME - The original recipe contained volume measures, but for
> those who prefer to use weight, here are the measurements: 430 grams of
> flour, 345 grams of water, 1 gram of yeast and 8 grams of salt. With
> experience, many people will stop measuring altogether and add just enough
> water to make the dough almost too wet to handle.
>
> SALT - Many people, me included, felt Mr. Lahey's bread was not salty
> enough. Yes, you can use more salt and it won't significantly affect the
> rising time. I've settled at just under a tablespoon.
>
>
> YEAST - Instant yeast, called for in the recipe, is also called rapid-rise
> yeast. But you can use whatever yeast you like. Active dry yeast can be
> used without proofing (soaking it to make sure it's active).
>
>
> TIMING - About 18 hours is the preferred initial rising time. Some readers
> have cut this to as little as eight hours and reported little difference.
> I
> have not had much luck with shorter times, but I have gone nearly 24 hours
> without a problem. Room temperature will affect the rising time, and so
> will the temperature of the water you add (I start with tepid). Like many
> other people, I'm eager to see what effect warmer weather will have. But
> to
> those who have moved the rising dough around the room trying to find the
> 70-degree sweet spot: please stop. Any normal room temperature is fine.
> Just wait until you see bubbles and well-developed gluten - the long
> strands that cling to the sides of the bowl when you tilt it - before
> proceeding.
>
> THE SECOND RISE - Mr. Lahey originally suggested one to two hours, but two
> to three is more like it, in my experience. (Ambient temperatures in the
> summer will probably knock this time down some.) Some readers almost
> entirely skipped this rise, shaping the dough after the first rise and
> letting it rest while the pot and oven preheat; this is worth trying, of
> course.
>
> OTHER FLOURS - Up to 30 percent whole-grain flour works consistently and
> well, and 50 percent whole-wheat is also excellent. At least one reader
> used 100 percent whole-wheat and reported "great crust but somewhat
> inferior crumb," which sounds promising. I've kept rye, which is delicious
> but notoriously impossible to get to rise, to about 20 percent. There is
> room to experiment.
>
> FLAVORINGS -The best time to add caraway seeds, chopped olives, onions,
> cheese, walnuts, raisins or whatever other traditional bread flavorings
> you
> like is after you've mixed the dough. But it's not the only time; you can
> fold in ingredients before the second rising.
>
> OTHER SHAPES - Baguettes in fish steamers, rolls in muffin tins or classic
> loaves in loaf pans: if you can imagine it, and stay roughly within the
> pattern, it will work.
>
> COVERING BETWEEN RISES - A Silpat mat under the dough is a clever idea
> (not
> mine). Plastic wrap can be used as a top layer in place of a second towel.
>
> THE POT - The size matters, but not much. I have settled on a smaller pot
> than Mr. Lahey has, about three or four quarts. This produces a higher
> loaf, which many people prefer - again, me included. I'm using cast iron.
> Readers have reported success with just about every available material.
> Note that the lid handles on Le Creuset pots can only withstand
> temperatures up to 400 degrees. So avoid using them, or remove the handle
> first.
>
> BAKING - You can increase the initial temperature to 500 degrees for more
> rapid browning, but be careful; I scorched a loaf containing whole-wheat
> flour by doing this. Yes, you can reduce the length of time the pot is
> covered to 20 minutes from 30, and then increase the time the loaf bakes
> uncovered. Most people have had a good experience baking for an additional
> 30 minutes once the pot is uncovered.
> As these answers demonstrate, almost everything about Mr. Lahey's bread is
> flexible, within limits. As we experiment, we will have failures. (Like
> the
> time I stopped adding flour because the phone rang, and didn't realize it
> until 18 hours later. Even this, however, was reparable). This method is
> going to have people experimenting, and largely succeeding, until
> something
> better comes along. It may be quite a while.
>
> Michael
> --
> "Some say the glass is half empty, some say the glass is half full,
> I say, are you going to drink that"?
> ~Lisa Claymen
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