The Basic No-Knead Bread Recipe Jim Lahey’s basic no-knead, long-fermented rustic bread, a round loaf, or Boule. It’s an adaptation for the home kitchen of the much larger oval filone and the football-shaped pugliese sold at the Sullivan Street Bakery. Even if you’ve baked before, the process is probably nothing like what your experience would lead you to expect. For one thing, many people who bake this bread find the dough to be unusually wet. Just remember that most of the water is meant to be released as steam in the covered pot, and you’ll be handling the dough very little anyway. Equipment: a 4½-5½ quart heavy pot with a lid an oven that can reach a temperature of 475 degrees F/ 250 degrees C Ingredients: Bread flour, 3 cups or 400 grams Table salt, 1¼ teaspoon or 8 grams Instant or other active dry yeast, ¼ teaspoon or 1 gram Cold (55-70 degrees F or 13-21 degrees C) water, 1½ cup or 350 grams Additional flour for dusting Method: 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. Cover the bowl with a plate, tea towel, or plastic wrap and let sit at room about 72 degrees F or 30 degrees C, out of direct sunlight, until the surface is dotted with bubbles and the dough is doubled in size. This will take a minimum of 12 hours and (my preference) up to 18/20 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. 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 or a large cloth napkin on your work surface and generously dust the cloth with 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. 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 ¼ inch deep, it should hold the impression. If it doesnt, 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/ 250 degrees C with a rack in the lower third position, and place a covered 4½-5½ 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, lift up the dough, either on the towel or in your hand, and quickly but gently invert it into the pot, seam side up. 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 20 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.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 01:28:00 +0000
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