No knead, slow rise bread. (with video)

[DragonTail]

I'm not getting anything near that much rise! Maybe 1/2 to 2/3 of that... The taste is great but not enough rise. I wonder what I'm missing?

-Tripod

I only us a 2.5 qt Corningware casserole "pot".
If you are using the 6qt pot that the recipe calls for, that might be why the loaf doesn't rise as much, it just spreads out more before rising.

 

[DUCCCC]

You'll definitely get a taller loaf by using a more restrictively sized cooking vessel. I think this also creates a denser, less "airy" loaf though. I did a couple loaves in the Copco Danish oven, pictured previously, that made a loaf more suitable to sandwiches, but I just threw together another batch of the Italian bread that I'm going to do in the Lodge #12 Dutch oven. By making a "looser" dough, that's a bit on the wet side I get a bread that has much more airspace from the bubbles, and it comes out wonderfully, with lots of nice voids and pockets that really seem to make the bread lighter and more rustic to me.

 

[frolickingmonkey]

After trying this recipe about half a dozen times and getting tasty but flat results (my loaves looked like cake rounds), I tried Alton Brown's similar Knead-Not Sourdough recipe and got an EXCELLENT loaf... Great rise in the oven, nice airy crumb... Looks like something I'd buy at the market! His dough is drier than the Bittman recipe, so it seems to hold it's shape better...

 

[Danek]

His dough is drier than the Bittman recipe, so it seems to hold it's shape better...

Yeah, I had problems with the dough being too wet to hold its shape. It improves a lot if you add more flour. I think baking's something better done by feel than by precise measurements anyway.

 

[DUCCCC]

Yeah, I had problems with the dough being too wet to hold its shape. It improves a lot if you add more flour. I think baking's something better done by feel than by precise measurements anyway.

Amen to that!

Here in the humid south I'm sure it's much different than in the colder/drier PNW this time of year. The flour to water ratio has to be different.

When I attempt to make a drier dough, to hold the shape better, it is just too stiff, and doesn't have the elasticity to rise properly.

 

[frolickingmonkey]

When I attempt to make a drier dough, to hold the shape better, it is just too stiff, and doesn't have the elasticity to rise properly.

In addition to the dryness of the Alton Brown recipe, the first rise is about twice as long as the Bittman version, which might be what counteracts the stiffness you speak of. I'd post a picture of how my loaf turned out, but... it's gone!

 

[Tripod]

You may want to try to get most of your rise in the oven with the light on. It's an ideal environment for bread to rise. Our house is particularly cold, so I usually turn it on the warm cycle, let it heat up a little, then cool down to yeast-safe temps, then put the dough in to proof.

That's a great idea! I'll try that for the 2nd rise... I think the environment is what I am missing because I always get a giant rise the first round, it's just after I handle it that it hardly rises again.

I'm baking in a 2-qt pyrex caserole dish so I have a restricted space and the dough rises while baking. I think it is the second rise where I'm messing it up. Thanks All for the tips! I'll be sure to try the changes and post pics..

-Tripod

 

[frolickingmonkey]

Call me crazy, but has anyone tried this recipe with beer instead of water? This is a homebrewing forum after all.

I baked loaf last night in which I replaced the water with wort from the Guinness clone I brewed that day, and added a cup of spent grains. It's so good, that it's almost all gone! The wort added a bit of sweetness, but some of the roasted malt comes through as well.

 

[jtvinny]

Too easy. This will be a regular at my house.

 

[Danek]

Great job - looks fantastic!

 

[DUCCCC]

jtvinny- Nice looking loaf! How's it taste?

 

[BuffaloSabresBrewer]

Prosted! Gonna have to try a small batch of this soon.

 

[Revvy]

Too easy. This will be a regular at my house.

OMG, OMG...That looks like a loaf of rustic bread right from the bakery...or one of those plastic display models...That's perfect.

 

[Poindexter]

My dad brought this recipe to me in Fairbanks from Sarasota. It rocks. If you can make good beer, this you can do. Try it.

 

[avaserfi]

For those without a dutch oven there is a cheaper way to achieve the same results. Place the dough on a pizza stone and put a bowl of ice water in the oven with the loaf for the first thirty minutes. Remove the water after the first thirty just like you would remove the dutch oven lid and you will get a similar crumb formation. I tested this theory out a few days ago and it worked perfectly. The cold water creates a similar steamy environment as the dutch oven which aids in crumb development.

The biggest downside is that there can be difficulty controlling the shape of the loaf, but that will come with practice.

 

[RayInUT]

I've made three loaves since last night. They all came out great and are super easy to make. It's really too easy.

 

[yermej]

I just got a new bread book - Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Similar concept - make a very slack dough with no kneading. However, they make a larger batch of dough and then you can keep it in the fridge and bake it whenever you feel like it over the next week or two. They also use one of several master doughs that can be doctored before baking to produce different products.

I just got it so I have no first hand experience, but I've read good things about it and I know the concept is solid from the recipe in this thread. It seems the no knead thing is getting popular - there's another book that's similar that was released earlier this year.

 

[Yeastie]

Just made some and this bread is fantastic! I made two loaves the first I added 50g spent grain from a stout to give it a nice brown color and the second one I removed the yeast and pitched 1/3 cup homemade sourdough starter. It is amazing.

 

[pen25]

I just got a new bread book - Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Similar concept - make a very slack dough with no kneading. However, they make a larger batch of dough and then you can keep it in the fridge and bake it whenever you feel like it over the next week or two. They also use one of several master doughs that can be doctored before baking to produce different products.

I just got it so I have no first hand experience, but I've read good things about it and I know the concept is solid from the recipe in this thread. It seems the no knead thing is getting popular - there's another book that's similar that was released earlier this year.

here is a great writeup withouth having to buy the book.

Five Minutes a Day for Fresh-Baked Bread

 

[Tsuyako]

I have this rising right now (it'll go in the oven in a bit) and I used regular active dry yeast. Works just the same, pleanty of rise involved.

For those who are AB fans he makes it here, though he does kneed the bread. Just ignore that part.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfvj2hyHQXA]YouTube - Good Eats S11E20 Going Dutch (1/2)[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ld20FX3q_Mk&feature=related]YouTube - Good Eats S11E20 Going Dutch (2/2)[/ame]

 

[Tsuyako]

Whoa, didn't realize this was 17 pages long! Should have continued reading. Hope no one has posted this already

 

[charesty]

Baking bread passes the time waiting for brews to finish. It also makes me feel like a master of yeast.

"you guys---make beer"

"you over there, make bread"

The Artisan bread in 5 min. a day book featured in this thread is so simple and for the same dough you get boules, pizza, pita, and loaves.

 

[Revvy]

I'm bumping this up because Jim Lahey, the creator of this technique is on NPR's "The Splendid Table" this week I'm listening to it online at Michigan Radirg

 

[charesty]

I've got some bread in the oven right now. One because bread is great and two it covers up the buffalo wing smell from today's football food. Ahh Sundays.

 

[Joe C]

I'm going to have to attempt this soon.

 

[Tripod]

I'm going to have to attempt this soon.

Definitely give it a shot. You won't regret it at all! It's a really easy recipe and you can tweak it any way you like to make different kinds of bread (not unlike brewing).

-Tripod

 

[friarjohn]

Revvy your recipe calls for 1 5/8 cups of water, video calls for a 1 1/2 cups. I used a cup and a half, dough looks good this morning. I will bake it off this evening.

 

[beerocd]

Revvy your recipe calls for 1 5/8 cups of water, video calls for a 1 1/2 cups.

That's a small difference and it could depend on where you live(humidity), and your flour as to whether you need that extra 1/8cup. I needed just a bit more to get it all mixed up.
Man that was some good bread! Mixed it Saturday morning, baked it Sunday night.

-OCD

 

[friarjohn]

I made it but i think the 1 1/4 teaspoons of salt makes it rather salty. I will cut it back next loaf by 1/2. simple and it has to be the best looking breads that i have made.

 

[beerocd]

I agree on the salt. I could stand to be cut back from the original recipe. But it was still good stuff. Just top it with cheese or tapenade to mellow the saltiness.

-OCD