Daily Bread: No Knead Bread

Cooking is the one household chore I always enjoy. And now that my husband recognizes the dignity of doing dishes every evening while I get the baby into bed, I have no reason not to cook. So at the suggestion of a fellow QD writer, I'll endeavor to share a taste of our daily bread.

First up, No Knead Bread. So simple and good. If you begin the recipe in the evening, you'll have bread hot out of the oven in time for dinner the following day. It's the perfect thing with a comforting bowl of soup as the fall weather sets in.

No Knead Bread

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Ingredients
1 1/2 cups Harvest King bread flour
1 cup white wheat flour
1/2 cup stone ground whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp. instant yeast
1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 1/2 cups warm water (plus 2 tablespoons for high altitude)
about 1/3 to 1/2 cup wheat or oat bran (for dusting)
small amount of cornmeal for sprinkling on the bottom of the pan

Equipment
A covered 5-6 quart Dutch oven or other covered pot or casserole that can go into a 500 degree oven. I use a 5 quart cast iron Dutch oven. (note to le creuset users: the plastic nob on the lid is usually only rated up to 400 or 450, so check your model before using.)
A banneton or large mesh sieve and cotton towel (not terry cloth).

Method

1. Mix dough: combine all ingredients except bran and cornmeal in a big bowl. Stir with a wooden spoon until the dough comes together. It will be shaggy and very sticky. Use a wet spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl so that all of the dough is mounded together in the bottom of the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit 12-20 hours on the countertop. If you let your house get really cold at night like I do, put the dough in the oven or microwave over night to keep it from getting too cold. It should stay between 70 and 75 degrees for the first rise.

2. Shape: The dough should have doubled in size and have little bubbles all over the top. Using a wet or oiled spatula scrape the dough out onto a floured board. Make sure the board is not tilting toward the edge of the countertop. The first time I did this, the dough slipped right off the counter and onto the flour when I dumped it out! Using the spatula or wet hands, fold the edges of the dough into the middle 3 or 4 times. Nudge the dough into a ball and put it into your banneton, or put the strainer into a bowl, line it with a cotton towel and sprinkle bran all over it. Then drop the dough onto the towel and into the strainer. Dust the top of the dough with more bran and fold the towel over it or cover it with a second towel. Let the dough rest for about 2 hours in a warm (about 78 degrees) draft-free place.

3. Preheat: Turn your oven to 450 degrees, 475 for high altitude, after the dough has been rising for a little over an hour. When the dough has about 30 minutes left to rise, set your dutch oven into the hot oven.

4. Bake: The dough should have doubled in size. Remove the pot from the oven and take off the lid. Sprinkle cornmeal all over the bottom--the cornmeal may smoke a little. Remove the towel covering the dough and flip it upside down into the hot dutch oven. If it all falls to one side, shake the pot gently to even out the dough. Spritz the top with water and put on the lid. Bake covered for 30 minutes. Uncover, check coloring, and bake 10 to 20 minutes more until the internal temperature of the loaf is 205 F, or 200 at high altitude. If the bread is browning too quickly, reduce temp to 400.

5. Cool on a wire rack before slicing. If making ahead, you can rewarm and crisp the crust in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes before serving.


Sources:
My first encounter with this bread was in the NY Times. When Mark Bittman posted a recipe from Sullivan Street Bakery bakers everywhere started playing around with the recipe. Notably Rose Levy Beranbaum, author of The Bread Bible, made about 12 loaves and blogged about it here. I've tried out a few different recipes and the one above is my favorite for the amount of whole grain flour and taste, texture, etc.