We already gave you one tutorial for making bread this month. Here's one more: A step-by-step illustration of making the famous No-Knead Bread! This bread is dead simple. It's ridiculously easy, and very forgiving. If you're intimidated by baking ratios, volume vs. weight, baking scales, and kneading, this is a great recipe to start with. It will give you such a delicious loaf, with about five minutes of hands-on time and literally no way to mess it up.
This is just about the simplest kind of bread you can make. You basically throw everything into a bowl and mix it up, then sit around, let the yeast do its work, and bake it.
But it's not just a bread for beginners; those of us who bake frequently also really love this bread. The slow rise gives this bread a great flavor and the baking method gives it an awesome crispy crust. It's artisan quality with very little effort — that's why this recipe is so popular!
The recipe I use in this tutorial, by the way, is a slight adaptation of the No-Knead Bread recipe that appears in The New York Times. This one only takes 8 hours to rise, as opposed to the overnight method in the original recipe.
You will need an oven-safe pot or Dutch oven to bake this bread. Any oven-safe pot will do! If the lid isn't oven-safe you can cover the pot with aluminum foil. Take a look at this post for more alternatives to Dutch ovens for the No-Knead Bread recipe. I actually made this batch of bread while away from home and thus without my usual favorite Dutch oven! I didn't have any of my usual tools and a rather bad excuse for a measuring cup, but this was no problem — the bread turned out just fine.
What You Need
Ingredients
3 cups white flour OR bread flour
3/4 teaspoon yeast
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups slightly warm water
Equipment
Large bowl
Plastic wrap
Spray oil OR olive oil
Oven-safe pot with lid OR Dutch oven (should be at least 4 quarts in size)
Instructions
1. Gather your ingredients!
2. A note on the yeast: The original No-Knead Bread recipe specifies instant yeast. You can use pretty much any yeast you have on hand; I have used both Quick-Rise yeast and instant active yeast. Technically these shouldn't be exchanged for each other (see this post for more info on yeast). But don't let confusion about yeast stand in the way of making this bread; just use whatever you have got. It will turn out fine.
3. Add your flour to the bowl.
4. Add the yeast and salt and stir thoroughly.
5. Measure out 1 1/2 cups of barely warm (tepid) water.
6. Pour into the bowl and stir thoroughly.
7. The dough will look rough and shaggy.
8. Spray the top of the dough with cooking spray, or, if you do not have cooking spray, lightly oil the top of the dough with olive oil. Spread a thin layer over top with a paper towel, then turn the dough in the bowl so the whole ball of dough is coated with the oil.
9. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
10. Throw a towel over top of the bowl and set it in a warm corner. Leave it alone for 6 to 8 hours.
11. After at least 6 hours have passed the dough will have risen and will look rather bubbly and stretched out.
12. Lightly oil the countertop and turn the dough out onto it, folding it over on itself at least once.
13. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it sit for another hour.
14. About 20 minutes before the hour is up, turn on the oven to 450°F. Place an oven-safe Dutch oven or pot in the oven.
15. The dough will have risen and nearly doubled in size.
16. Quickly shape the dough into a round ball (see this video for basic instructions) and drop it into the pot. Even if you can't get it into a good ball, that's OK. Just try to roughly shape it.
17. Optional: Slash or cut the top of the dough with kitchen shears or a sharp knife.
18. Place the lid on the pot and put it in the oven.
19. Bake for 30 minutes.
20. Remove the lid from the pot.
21. Bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes.
22. You can be extra-sure that the bread is done when an instant-read thermometer inserted in the top or side reads 210°F.
23. Remove the bread from the oven. If you wish to keep it warm for serving, you can wrap it in a clean kitchen towel.
24. Slice and serve!
Additional Notes:
• This follows the recipe laid out in No-Knead Bread in a Hurry.
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(Images: Faith Durand)
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Is there a reason this is baked in a pot?
@quitecurious, the pot mimics the high-heat, high-moisture environment of professional ovens. Keeping the bread dough's moisture inside the pot for the first half hour creates that crisp, crackling, shattering crust of artisan-style loaves.
Baking in a pot or dutch oven mimics the steam injection of commercial baking ovens, which helps develop good crust.
Has anyone had success using this for rolls, and if so, what type of pot did you use? I'd love an excuse to start collecting cute 8oz casserole dishes for no knead rolls, but I'd like to know whether they work before I do.
Anybody have any suggestions for how to keep the bottom crust from burning? I've tried similar recipes and used parchment on the bottom, altered cooking times.... The bread is great but the crust is always burned.
@libbymae - maybe try a pizza stone or a thick baking sheet?
would there be a benefit to creating steam with ice when you put it in the oven, rather than just leaving the lid on? the bread in the picture doesn't look very dark, and I enjoy a caramelized crust.
@starwitness - that pic must've been snapped before the rest of the 15-20 minute baking period without the lid (bakes for 30 mins with the lid then without). The crust does get much more golden after that.
Yep, the very top photo was taken right after I lifted the lid. You can see the final color of the crust in the thermometer and bread slice pics. Forgot to take one of the final loaf itself! :-)
I've been making a lot of this no-knead bread with the help of two books: Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day and Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. It's been incredibly successful. I bought a baking stone and an oven thermometer, and these two tools have helped me turn out incredible bread. My first foray into it was posted here: http://wp.me/pI6Ms-8V.
No-knead bread is the way to go!
Do you need to oil or grease the baking pot in any way? How hard is it to get the bread out? I don't want to wreck my Le Creuset pans experimenting with this.
Nope! Don't grease the pan. The bread shouldn't stick in the least. If it's fully baked it will lift right out, leaving almost no trace behind. In fact, I usually barely have to wash the pan after making bread this way.
I've been so addicted to the chewy/crunchy contrast of this bread that I've been making no-knead bread weekly since receiving a 6.5 qt LeCreuset Dutch Oven for Xmas. And I also use 3/4 teaspoon active dry yeast--I don't have the instant stuff on hand.
Thanks so much for this! I just got my first dutch oven yesterday and planned to make bread this weekend, so a summary is very helpful. One question: I bought active dry yeast because I couldn't find instant, and I've read the temperature has to be very specific, but I don't own a thermometer. How high is the risk of killing the yeast with too-hot water?
I use a 2.5 qt covered dish, and it works fine, every time.
I have not used white flour, does it really taste as good as bread flour in the finished product?
I find the bottom crust to be a bit on the firm side, but after a day (IF it lasts that long) it does soften up a bit. I leave my dough for up to 12 hours, I don't touch it at all - just dump the dough in the dish once it's heated up, and there you go. This is really an amazing dough. I can't say enough about it. It gets raves, no matter what.
@faith Thanks! I'll have to try that next time.
@arielsy: I test water with my fingers - baby's bathwater temp - and it's fine...
...anyone know how to convert flour cups into 'real money'?
I've had great results with this bread by placing the pot in the oven 45 minutes before the bread goes in (you want it to be REALLY hot).
Then, instead of plopping the bread directly into the pot, I put the bread on a lightly floured sheet of parchment, then hold the corners of the parchment and put all in the pot - much easier to put in, and clean up is a snap.
Place the oven rack slightly high in the oven if your bottoms are burning.
some interesting variations:
substituting beer for water gives a more complex flavor.
sprinkling Asiago cheese on top after removing the cover of the dutch oven also makes an amazingly tasty loaf!
@rytorres subbing in beer for ALL the water? same amount?
Any suggestions for wheat flour? I'm trying to stay away from the white stuff.
When I make my no knead bread, the ball spreads out to fill the bottom of the pot, making a short, wide loaf. What gives?!
I like to toss a couple pinches of herbes de provence in with the initial flour mixture.
@faith - thanks! I'm dying to try this bread. Perfect weekend project!
wow! it worked! i put it in a bread loaf tin and used the trick you mentioned last week about filling a cupcake tin with water to create steam... and it worked! amazing - cuz i even screwed up the recipe a little by using a little too much water. and i used the wrong yeast. and i didn't proof it correctly - i just left it in the frig all last night and all day today and pulled it out when i got home at 4. crazy that it worked and we're so doing it again - yum!
I decided to try this bread tonight. I posted on it at my blog: http://wp.me/pI6Ms-du. The long and short of it, though, was: DELISH. It was amazing.
@moreshooz, try Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day-- they have great whole wheat recipes with a similar technique. Essentially, with whole wheat flour you need to add vital wheat gluten to get the rise.
I'm trying come up with a good wheat beer bread version of this. You can see my first experiment on my blog. http://zombiebeergeeks.blogspot.com/2010/02/no-knead-beer-bread.html
This is such an amazing recipe, with amazing results through an amazing tutorial. I've never backed bread before, and i'm definitely a novice baker. This could not have been simpler. And the results were absolutely delicious. With a little planning, i'll never have to spend $3 on a loaf of 'artisan' bread again. And this way i know it's fresh. And it made an AWESOME sandwich, and was even better as a snack with just some butter slapped on. I can't believe how pleased i am with the results. Thanks very much for an informative post!!!
I used 1.5 cups of water (reading the instruction as 1 and 1/2 cups) and it looks more like a batter than a dough... is it .5 or 1.5 cups of water?
it's definitely 1.5 cups jbatman. And it will be quite wet, and almost runny.
jbatman: mine was also not like the description or the pictures.. It wasn't like batter though... are there high altitude directions? I am above 4000 ft. I tried adding a little more flour before rising. I will find out how it turned out in a few hours.
It's funny that you should post this today, since Fresh From the Oven had their monthly challenge to be no-knead bread this month. I found it easy to make and easy to fit in with my schedule as well. Try it!
if you have a small over cover it for less time (say 15-20mins), also I used a roasting pan- works great :)
Question: perhaps I am being a bit too obsessive about getting the recipe *just* right, but can I use unbleached flour? I know it says "white" flour, does that imply bleached? I assume unbleached is okay, but I've never baked bread before.
Does one have to oil the counter? I've just put in honed marble counters and am hesitant to put oil on those beautiful slabs!
Sweet Jesus, I cannot believe I have waited this long. It is crazy good. I even screwed up the whole "rounding it into a ball shape" part (can ANYONE do this?), but the result is delish. I used an oven-safe casserole dish instead of a Dutch oven.
Have made no-knead bread several times. It looks great, smells great, has a crunchy crust--and no flavor. It's a good way to get butter melted and then into your mouth, but the bread is bland. Kneading bread isn't so hard.
I have to agree with the bland comment. The bread LOOKS amazing, and has a wonderful crust, but the flavor is a bit bland. I will try the beer, and also adding a pinch of herbs as suggested, but I am interested in knowing if anyone has experimented with more salt? Longer rise times? I have been baking from the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes book for a while, but have never had the crust as perfect as this loaf, and also tend to have an undercooked crumb with those recipes.
Also, what about baking a regular, kneaded loaf of bread in the covered pot? I don't want to give up this crust!
I still love this, and my third batch in three days is on the counter right now!
Do I have to cover the bread with plastic? I hate using plastic wrap unless absolutely necessary. Would just a towel be sufficient?
i can't try it just yet as the bread i just pulled out of my oven is for my valentine! but it looks and smells heavenly. my dough was way too wet for me to form it into anything resembling a ball, so i could only just plop it into my pot. i tried scoring the top, but the knife didn't really do anything -- and i wanted to make a heart too! this seriously was just about the easiest thing to do, though!
finally got to snag a piece! i understand where the bland comments are coming from - the only flavor came from the asiago cheese i melted on top, but the satisfaction from making my own bread for the first time made up for that. question though - i had the pot in the oven while it was pre-heating, and then put the dough straight in. when it came out of the oven, though, bottom had this weird, hard layer on it. was the pot too hot or something? i'd like to avoid it the next time i make it!
A little late to the party.
America's Test Kitchen's Almost No-Knead Bread recipe is also super easy, and very forgiving for flour and beer substitutions. I've left it for nearly 48 hours before, and just used aluminum foil when I didn't have a pot lid.