NY Times No-Knead Bread

Recipe: NY Times no knead bread.

People have opinions on this recipe. I think it’s because it’s a great introductory recipe so it doesn’t give up any of the bread baking secrets. But it doesn’t position itself as that - it’s meant to be simple. It’s a no-knead recipe.

A few thoughts from searching for tips

The measurements are in volume, not weight, so you’ll get something tasty every time, but consistency from loaf to loaf isn’t possible this way.

This is a fairly wet and sticky dough. Try not to touch it very much - use a dough scraper or a silicone spatula. When you do need to touch it flour your hands well or use parchment paper.

For the baking times, I went rogue. I found the dutch oven steam method and never looked back.

• Heat the dutch oven at 500° for 30 minutes

• Bake at 450 for 25 minutes with the lid on.

• Bake an additional 15 - 20 minutes with the lid off.

• Remove from oven and let cool before you slice as the bread is still baking on the inside.

As for no-knead. I don’t necessarily knead it, but I do mix it in my stand mixer for 5 minutes during the initial step.

A tip from a pizza chef.

Cold (slow) rise is the truth. It gives your bread a deeper flavor. For this type of bread, I do the initial rise on the counter and then put the dough (punched down) in the refrigerator overnight. This recipe makes enough for two loaves, so the second loaf has fermented for two nights.

I use this dough rising bucket from King Arthur Flour as it holds the double batch perfectly.

And finally

If you’re going to make this recipe, try not to over think it. It’s just bread. Buy a 25lb bag of flour and go wild.