Almost No Knead Bread By Cooks Illustrated Recipes

NO-KNEAD BREAD

Steps:

• 1. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, salt, and yeast. Add the water and, using a wooden spoon or your hand, mix until you have a wet, sticky dough, about 30 seconds. Make sure it's really sticky to the touch; if it's not, mix in another tablespoon or two of water. Cover the bowl with a plate, tea towel, or plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature (about 72 degrees F), out of direct sunlight, until the surface is dotted with bubbles and the dough is more than doubled in size. This will take a minimum of 12 hours and (my preference) up to 18 hours. This slow rise-fermentation-is the key to flavor.
• 2. When the first fermentation is complete, generously dust a work surface (a wooden or plastic cutting board is fine) with flour. Use a bowl scraper or rubber spatula to scrape the dough onto the board in one piece. When you begin to pull the dough away from the bowl, it will cling in long, thin strands (this is the developed gluten), and it will be quite loose and sticky-do not add more flour. Use lightly floured hands or a bowl scraper or spatula to lift the edges of the dough in toward the center. Nudge and tuck in the edges of the dough to make it round.
• 3. Place a cotton or linen tea towel (not terry cloth, which tends to stick and may leave lint in the dough) or a large cloth napkin on your work surface and generously dust the cloth with wheat bran, cornmeal, or flour. Use your hands or a bowl scraper or wooden spatula to gently lift the dough onto the towel, so it is seam side down. If the dough is tacky, dust the top lightly with wheat bran, cornmeal, or flour. Fold the ends of the towel loosely over the dough to cover it and place it in a warm, draft-free spot to rise for 1 to 2 hours. The dough is ready when it is almost doubled. If you gently poke it with your finger, making an indentation about 1/4 inch deep, it should hold the impression. If it doesn't, let it rise for another 15 minutes.
• 4. Half an hour before the end of the second rise, preheat the oven to 475 degrees F, with a rack in the lower third position, and place a covered 4 1/2-5 1/2 quart heavy pot in the center of the rack.
• 5. Using pot holders, carefully remove the preheated pot from the oven and uncover it. Unfold the tea towel, lightly dust the dough with flour or bran, lift up the dough, either on the towel or in your hand, and quickly but gently invert it into the pot, seam side up. (Use caution-the pot will be very hot.) Cover the pot and bake for 30 minutes.
• 6. Remove the lid and continue baking until the bread is a deep chestnut color but not burnt, 15 to 30 minutes more. Use a heatproof spatula or pot holders to carefully lift the bread out of the pot and place it on a rack to cool thoroughly. Don't slice or tear into it until it has cooled, which usually takes at least an hour.

ALMOST NO-KNEAD BREAD 2.0

Steps:

• Whisk flour, yeast, and salt in large bowl. Add water, beer, and vinegar. Using rubber spatula, fold mixture, scraping up dry flour from bottom of bowl until shaggy ball forms.
• Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 8 to 18 hours.
• Lay 12- by 18-inch sheet of parchment paper inside 10-inch skillet and spray with nonstick cooking spray.
• Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface and knead 10 to 15 times.
• Shape dough into ball by pulling edges into middle.
• Transfer dough, seam-side down, to parchment-lined skillet and spray surface of dough with nonstick cooking spray.
• Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until dough has doubled in size and does not readily spring back when poked with finger, about 2 hours.
• About 30 minutes before baking, adjust oven rack to lowest position, place 6- to 8-quart heavy-bottomed Dutch oven (with lid) on rack, and heat oven to 500 degrees. Lightly flour top of dough and, using razor blade or sharp knife, make one 6-inch-long, 1/2-inch-deep slit along top of dough.
• Carefully remove pot from oven and remove lid.
• Pick up dough by lifting parchment overhang and lower into pot (let any excess parchment hang over pot edge).
• Cover pot and place in oven.
• Reduce oven temperature to 425 degrees and bake covered for 30 minutes.
• Remove lid and continue to bake until loaf is deep brown and instant-read thermometer inserted into center registers 200 degrees, 20 to 30 minutes longer.
• Carefully remove bread from pot; transfer to wire rack and cool to room temperature, about 2 hours.

ALMOST NO-KNEAD BREAD

Steps:

• In a large bowl, whisk together flour, yeast and salt. Now add the water, beer and vinegar. Fold batter using a rubber spatula. Scrape the dry ingredients from the bowl bottom and continue folding until a ragged ball of dough forms. Cover bowl with some plastic wrap. Allow to sit at room temperature for 8 to 18 hours.
• In a 10-inch skillet, place a 12 x 18 inch piece of parchment paper. Spray parchment paper with nonstick cooking spray. Take the bowl of dough and turn out onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead dough 10 to 15 times. Pull edges of dough from edges into the center to form a ball of dough. Place the dough with the seam side down, into the parchment lined skillet. Spray dough with nonstick cooking spray. Cover the dough loosely with a piece of plastic wrap. Allow to rise at room temperature until the dough is doubled in size, about 2-hours. The dough should not easily spring back when poked.
• Place a 6 to 8 quart, heavy bottom, Dutch oven with lid, on lowest oven rack. Preheat the oven at 500°F for 1/2 hour. Lightly dust top of dough with flour and then make single 6-inch long, 1/2 inch deep cut on the top of the dough with a sharp knife or razor blade. Take preheated Dutch oven from from the 500°F oven and remove lid. Using edges of parchment paper, pick up dough from frying pan and place into Dutch oven. Allow extra parchment paper to hang out of Dutch oven and cover dough with lid. Return covered Dutch oven to oven and turn temperature down to 425°F Bake bread covered for 30-minutes. Remove lid and continue baking until bread is deep brown and an instant read thermometer, inserted in loaf center, reads 210°F This may take 20 to 30 minutes after removing cover. When done, remove bread from Dutch oven and cool on wire rack for 2 hours, until bread reaches room temperature.

ALMOST NO-KNEAD BREAD WITH OLIVES, ROSEMARY, AND PARMESAN

Steps:

• Whisk together flour, yeast, salt, Parmesan, and rosemary in large bowl. Add water, olives, beer, and vinegar.
• Using rubber spatula, fold mixture, scraping up dry flour from bottom of bowl until shaggy ball forms. (The dough will be very wet.).
• Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 8 to 18 hours.
• Line inside of 10 inch skillet with a 12- by 18-inch sheet of parchment paper.
• Spray paper with nonstick cooking spray.
• Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface and knead 10 to 15 times. Shape dough into ball by pulling edges into middle.
• Transfer dough, seam-side down, to parchment-lined skillet and spray surface of dough with nonstick cooking spray.
• Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until dough has doubled in size and does not readily spring back when poked with finger, about 2 hours. (I've also retarded the rising by placing dough in the refrigerator for up to 12 hours.).
• About 30 minutes before baking, adjust oven rack to lowest position, place a large heavy-bottomed Dutch oven (with lid) on rack, and heat oven to 500 degrees.
• Lightly flour top of dough and, using razor blade or sharp knife, make one 6-inch-long, 1/2-inch-deep slit along top of dough.
• Carefully remove pot from oven and remove lid.
• Pick up dough by lifting parchment overhang and lower into pot (let any excess parchment hang over pot edge).
• Cover pot and place in oven.
• Reduce oven temperature to 425 degrees and bake covered for approximately 30 minutes.
• Remove lid and continue to bake until loaf is deep brown and instant-read thermometer inserted into center registers 210 degrees, 20 to 30 minutes longer.
• Carefully remove bread from pot; transfer to wire rack and cool to room temperature, about 2 hours.

ALMOST NO-KNEAD BREAD

Steps:

• Whisk flour, yeast, and salt in large bowl. Add water, beer, and vinegar. Using rubber spatula, fold mixture, scraping up dry flour from bottom of bowl until shaggy ball forms. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 8 to 18 hours.
• Lay 12- by 18-inch sheet of parchment paper inside 10-inch skillet and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface and knead 10 to 15 times. Shape dough into ball by pulling edges into middle. Transfer dough, seam-side down, to parchment-lined skillet and spray surface of dough with nonstick cooking spray. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until dough has doubled in size and does not readily spring back when poked with finger, about 2 hours.
• About 30 minutes before baking, adjust oven rack to lowest position, place 6- to 8-quart heavy-bottomed Dutch oven (with lid) on rack and heat oven to 500 degrees. Lightly flour top of dough and, using razor blade or sharp knife, make one 6-inch-long, 1/2-inch-deep slit along top of dough. Carefully remove pot from oven and remove lid. Pick up dough by lifting parchment overhang and lower into pot (let any excess parchment hang over pot edge). Cover pot and place in oven. Reduce oven temperature to 425 degrees and bake covered for 30 minutes. Remove lid and continue to bake until loaf is deep brown and instant-read thermometer inserted into center registers 210 degrees, 20 to 30 minutes longer. Carefully remove bread from pot; transfer to wire rack and cool to room temperature, about 2 hours.
• Note: See the related information in "High-Heat Baking in a Dutch Oven" for information on converting Dutch oven handles to work safely in a hot oven. How can I keep my Dutch oven safe when baking in a really hot oven? Our recipe for Almost No-Knead Bread calls for preheating a Dutch oven to 500 degrees. After publishing our recipe, it was called to our attention that the manufacturers of both our favorite Dutch oven (the 7 1/4-Quart Round French by Le Creuset) and our best buy Dutch oven (the 6.5 Quart Cast Iron Dutch Oven by Tramontina) recommend against heating the pots to this temperature, due to the phenolic knobs used on the lids. And we subsequently learned that in certain instances, the pot itself might crack.
• SOLVING THE KNOB PROBLEM: Fortunately, there are two easy solutions. The knobs on both lids are secured with a single screw that is very easily removed. Once the knob is removed you can replace it with an inexpensive all-metal drawer handle purchased from a hardware store. Alternatively, Le Creuset has introduced a stainless steel replacement knob for its Dutch ovens (which also fits perfectly on the Lodge enameled Dutch oven and the Chefmate Dutch oven), available for around $10, which is completely oven-safe. To fit this knob on the Tramontina Dutch oven, you'll need to use a single 3/8-inch-diameter, 3/4-inch-long machine screw-the 1/2-inch screw that comes with the knob is not long enough to fit through the thicker lid of the Tramontina.
• DEALING WITH THE CRACKING ISSUE: The enamel coating on cast-iron pots is made of vitrified glass. Although this material is built to withstand years of cooking, it can crack if the pot is dropped, the enamel has been improperly applied, or thermal shock occurs. Thermal shock may occur if a cold, empty pot is placed in a hot oven; if an empty pot is heated and then filled with cold food; or if a hot pot is placed on a cold surface. According to Le Creuset and Lodge (two of the leading manufacturers of enameled cast iron), the risk for thermal shock with our Almost No-Knead Bread recipe is low. The recipe calls for placing a cold pot in a cold oven, heating the oven to 500 degrees, and then placing room-temperature dough into the pot. Both manufacturers agree that there would be a much greater risk of thermal shock if cold food, liquid, or oil were placed in the hot pot. To prevent thermal shock when the pot is removed from the oven, place it on a wire rack or trivet or on the cooking grate of the stove.
• Use a mild-flavored lager, such as Budweiser (mild non-alcoholic lager also works). The bread is best eaten the day it is baked but can be wrapped in aluminum foil and stored in a cool, dry place for up to 2 days.