Americas Test Kitchens Take On No Knead Bread Recipes

COOK'S ILLUSTRATED ALMOST NO KNEAD BREAD

Steps:

• Follow directions in videos.
• Baking Instructions: For both these recipes, preheat your oven with Dutch oven or Cloche inside to 500 degrees. Reduce temperature to 425 when the bread dough goes in and bake covered for 30 minutes. Then remove cover and bake an additional 15 minutes or until the internal bread temperature reaches about 200 degrees.

ARTISAN NO-KNEAD BREAD

Steps:

• Mix together the dry ingredients.
• Mix in water until the water is incorporated.
• Cover with plastic and let sit 9-12 hours (see "No Knead Revisited" section below).
• Follow video instruction for folding.
• Cover loosely with plastic and rest for 15 minutes.
• Transfer to well floured towel or proofing basket. Cover with towel and let rise about about 75 minutes (see "No Knead Revisited" section below).
• Bake in covered La Cloche or Dutch oven preheated to 500 degrees for 30 minutes.
• Remove cover; reduce heat to 450 degrees and bake an additional 15 minutes.
• Let cool completely on rack.
• Consume bread, be happy.

AMERICA'S TEST KITCHEN CHEESY GARLIC BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Move rack to the 2nd from bottom space.
• Saute garlic, 1 tablespoon butter, and water over low heat, 7 to 10 minutes. It forms a paste.
• Combine hot garlic, 7 tablespoons butter, salt, and pepper in a bowl and spread on both halves of the bread. Put the halves back together and wrap in foil. Place on baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.
• Unwrap bread and place halves, buttered sides up, on baking sheet. Bake until it begins to color, about 10 minutes. Take out of oven and turn on the broiler.
• Sprinkle bread with cheese. Place under the broiler until cheese has melted and bread is crispy, about 1 or 2 minutes. Put on cutting board, cheesy side down. Cut into pieces. Serve.

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.

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.

ONE-DISH NO-KNEAD BREAD

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in remaining ingredients to form a wet dough; transfer to a greased 2-1/2-qt. baking dish. Cover; let stand in a warm place 1 hour., Stir down dough. Cover; let stand 1 hour. Preheat oven to 425°., Bake 20 minutes. Reduce oven setting to 350°. Bake until top is golden brown and a thermometer reads 210°, about 20 minutes longer., Remove bread from baking dish to a wire rack to cool. Serve warm.