No Knead Bread

It's all the rage after the NYT article in Nov 2006, and while I was on vacation, a friend borrowed one of my massive Descoware pots to try it. She returned it with a loaf, and I was immediately driven to find the article, recipe and do some experimenting.

Of course, I never go the simple route. I started with 2 c. AP flour, 3 T gluten and 1 c. rye instead of the standard 3 c. AP flour. And my yeast was dead. After getting down to the last 4 tablespoons in the 1lb bag, and sitting in the fridge for 4 years it gave up the ghost. So I had to spend a whopping 2.69 and get another pound. Which will take even longer to use up if I only stick to this recipe, since it uses 1/4t of yeast per loaf instead of the regular 2-3 t.

Because the yeast was dead, or at least badly maimed, I gave it 2 days instead of the standard 18 hours. It still came out perfectly, though even with 2 t of salt, a bit bland.

Now I'm baking an all AP flour with olive oil and herbs de provence, and the whole house is warm with the smell of real bread.

I tend to be lazy when I bake, and don't knead enough (unless it's a really soft dough), so most of my bread is too dense. This really does make a stunning artisianal loaf, and the pot is still clean at the end of it! Less mess, no flour on the counter, and letting time do the work is a brilliant change in the standard bread making process. I've read that if it sits around for a full day or longer, it just gets more sour, which I don't mine. And if you decide not to bake it right away, I'll bet you could just seal it and refridgerate it, bringing it to room temp for a couple hours before baking.

Only major thing I changed is to do the second rise on parchement paper, as it doesn't stick like it tends to do to the towel.