No-Knead Bread

So we got this bread machine as a wedding gift. "Great!", we thought, "Fresh bread all the time, right?"

Wrong. The thing sat in a closet for 3 years. We eventually gave it away. That was the end any chance of fresh bread on our table. That is until I saw my personal hero, Michael Smith, bake a No-Knead bread on Chef at Home. No kneading? Sounds great.

A quick search of the interwebs turns up about a million variations on a recipe created by a guy named Jim Lahey from Sullivan Street Bakery in NY. Apparently it's revolutionary.

Here it is:

3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp quick rise yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1 5/8 c. water

That's it. Direction go something like this. Mix. Cover. Wait around 18hrs. Punch it down. Wait 2hrs. Bake at 450 for 45min.

The result is a golden, chewy loaf of Artisan bread. Definitely not your typical sandwich bread. It's perfect for sopping up gravy or as toast.

Mix all ingredients just until combined (around 10 seconds)

It will look pretty shaggy. Cover with plastic wrap and let the yeast do it's work for 18 to 24hrs. It will have roughly doubled in size. Now you need to transfer the dough to the vessel you'll be cooking it in. The dough will be very sticky. While doing this, you also want to "punch it down" a bit. This will help it rise a second time.

Cover again and let rest for 2 to 3hrs. Bake covered (if your vessel has a cover) at 450 for 25 minutes then uncovered for 20 minutes more. Cool on a rack.


For a Whole Wheat version, simply replace 1 cup of all purpose flour with 1 cup of whole wheat flour.

As you can see in this pic, the whole wheat version is a bit denser, but I think it has a better taste.

I'll have the Cinnamon Raisin version in an upcoming post...