Go Back Email Link

No-Knead Bread

Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Resting time18 hours
Total Time18 hours 35 minutes
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Mark Bittman, No-knead Bread, NYT Cooking

Equipment

  • Dutch Oven or oven proof pot

Ingredients

  • 3 cups all-purpose or bread flour more for dusting
  • ¼ teaspoon instant yeast
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
  • Cornmeal or flour as needed
  • 1-5/8 cup water approximately 70 degrees
  • cornmeal for dusting

Instructions

  • In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1-5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
  • The dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.
  • Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel* and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
  • At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.
  • * I place the dough on floured parchment paper and used the paper to rransfer the dough into the pot. So easy. Score the top of dough lightly if desired for that cool fissure on top.

Notes

Mr. Bittman came up with a Speedy Version of No-Knead Bread, here is the video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LaODcYSRXU
Recipe
3 cups of flour
1/4 tsp yeast
1.5 t salt
 1/4 tsp red wine vinegar
1 cup hot water approximately 130 degrees, not boiling, that would kill the yeast
Rise time 3-4 hours.  Follow original recipe as directed.