No Knead Bread

This is a very interesting and super easy bread to make.

The no knead bread technique was invented by Jim Lahey, an American baker, and incited almost an insurrection of bread makers every where.

The idea is very simple: put all the ingredients together in a bowl, quickly mix, and let to ferment for about 12-18 hours.

This is one of the breads I made more often. It takes no time to prepare, and it is nice to experiment with.

I prefer to cook it in a pot (ensure you use one that is suitable for the oven!!!) but sometime I just place the dough on a baking tray.

Try to use different flours to discover how they will change the taste and the final result, if you want a super soft read use plain flour and increase the Semolina.

Add some spices, try to put some peppers, cheese, or whatever you like.

Just be creative!!!

​Difficulty level:
Cooking Time:	​60 minutes
Oven Temperature:	​30 minutes at 230˚C - 30 minutes at 200˚C
​Cooking Method:	Static Oven, With a Pot

Ingredients for about 1 kg:

Using Sourdough Starter 350g White Flour (W260, P/L 0,5/0,6) 100g Re-milled Semolina 150g Kamut Flour 3g Diastatic Malt (optional) 420g Water 12g Salt 105g Sourdough Starter

​Using Dried Yeast 430g White Flour (W260, P/L 0,5/0,6) 100g Re-milled Semolina 150g Kamut Flour 3g Diastatic Malt 445g Water 12g Salt 10g Dried Yeast

Steps:

1. Sift and mix the flours together in a bowl and add the salt. You can use any flour you like (spelt, rye, etc...) or one single type; just ensure the final amount of flour is the same indicated in the recipe.

2. Dissolve in the water the malt and the yeast.

3. Add the water to the flour and mix with a spoon or your hand until you have a shaggy, sticky dough. This should take roughly 30 seconds. You want it to be a little sticky.

4. Cover the bowl with cling film and place in a warm dry place at room temperature (ideally 22°C degrees) for 12 to 18 hours. Do not rush, if room temperature is lower than 20°C the dough will tend to rise more slowly, hence as long as 24 hours may be necessary. You’ll know the dough is properly fermented and ready because its surface will be dotted with bubbles. This long, slow fermentation is what yields the bread’s rich flavour.

5. Generously flour your work surface. Use a bowl scraper or rubber spatula to turn the dough onto the surface in one blob. The dough will cling to the bowl in long, thread-like strands and it will be quite loose and sticky. This is exactly what you want. Do not add more flour. Instead use lightly floured hands or a dough scraper to gently and quickly lift the edges of the dough in toward the centre, effectively folding the dough over onto itself. You need to fold the dough 2 or 3 times, letting the dough to rest about 15 minutes before each folding. That’s it. Don’t knead the dough.

6. Put the dough in a proving basket or put a cotton towel in a bowl and generously coat it with flour (preferably re-milled semolina). Place the dough, seam side down, on the towel and dust the surface with a little more flour. Cover the dough with another cotton towel and let it rise until it double its volume, it should take about 2 hours. When it’s ready, the dough will be double in size and will hold the impression of your fingertip when you poke it lightly, making an indentation. If the dough readily springs back when you poke it, let it rise for another 15 minutes.

7. 20 or 30 minutes before the dough second rise is complete (you need to evaluate this by experience), preheat the oven to 230°C with an heavy oven proof pot (any material like cast iron, enamel, Pyrex, or ceramic will work).and its lid inside, during the heating up.

8. When the dough is ready, remove the pot from the oven and carefully lift up the dough and with a gentle but quick movement turn it into the pot. Be careful not to touch the pot while doing this as it is very hot. After turning the dough into, the pot the look of it could be very messy, do not worry, it is normal and it is due to the very high hydration of the dough itself. uncover it. Also, uncover the dough. Lift up the dough and quickly but gently turn it over into the pot, seam side up, being very careful not to touch the pot.

9. Cover the pot with its lid put it back in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 200°C remove the lid and bake for other 30 minutes.

10. Use a heatproof spatula or pot holders to carefully lift the bread out of the pot and place it on a wire rack to cool upside down.

Let the bread cooling before to slice it! Enjoy it with a warming tomato or pumpkin soup. Or simply nibble it... but be careful... it will finish in no time!!!