Wow! Making great bread without having to knead it or really do much to tend to it at all? Yes, it actually is that simple: if you can make “Bisquick” biscuits, you have the skills to make phenomenal artisan-type bread.
What’s artisan bread? It’s those really crusty, generally round loaves you get in places like Panera Bread . . .and shown in the photo.
My husband, Dave, absolutely loves this type of bread. And I’ve made several loaves in the past few days to get the photos for this article. This evening, he turned to me and asked, “What kind of bread is this?” It sort of surprised me, as he’s most definitely not a bread maker. I said “No-Knead” and then asked why. He replied that he wanted to know what to ask me to make whenever I say “What would you like for dinner?” You may not know Dave, but that’s the highest accolade I know of for this recipe!
What’s No-Knead Bread?
The recipe for No-Knead Bread was published in The New York Times in 2006, and since then many variations have been developed. A couple of good cookbooks devoted to No-Knead Bread are listed at the end of this article if you’re interested.
Basically, No-Knead bread is a very wet dough that has little yeast and rises for a very long time. The combination of more water, less yeast and more time develops gluten in the dough just as kneading does (gluten is what makes dough stretchy). Baking the wet dough at a high temperature produces the wonderful crust.
One more note: the salt is essential so that the bread doesn’t fall. You can use lite salt, but don’t use 100% salt substitute (potassium chloride) as it doesn’t have the right chemistry.
The original recipe for No-Knead Bread takes about 20 hours — starting one day and finishing the next. Most of that time, you’re not doing anything, but it still requires planning ahead. I’ve discovered ways to cut that down to 6 hours with almost as good results — see below the main recipe.
No-Knead Bread
Ingredients
- 3 cups flour
- 1/4 teaspoon yeast
- 1-1/4 teaspoons salt
- 1-1/2 cups water
Instructions
- In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky Don't be alarmed that it doesn't look like "typical" bread dough. Cover bowl with a plastic bag. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70° F.
- 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. Many recipes say to "Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes" but I just let it sit, uncovered, while I rinse out the bowl.
- Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to you work surface (I use a nonstick jelly roll pan) or to your fingers, use your fingertips and sort of roll the dough around until it becomes a ball (maybe 30 seconds?).
- Coat the loaf with flour, corn meal, oatmeal or wheat bran, then put it back into the bowl, cover it with the plastic bag again, and let it rise until doubled--typically, about 2 hours. (Many recipes have you line the bowl with a towel or plastic bag and then put the dough in it and wrap the towel or bag over the top. I've done it both ways with no difference in the final product, so I opt for just putting it in the bowl and putting the whole bowl in a bag as it's simpler.)
- Half an hour before the end of the rising period, begin preheating the oven to 450° F. AND put the pan you intend to bake the bread in into the oven so that it preheats also (no need to have the lid on it).
- When the oven is up to temperature, carefully remove the pan from the oven. Unless it's a very well-seasoned Dutch oven, pour a little oil into it so that the bread won't stick. Dump the dough in-- it won't look like a pretty loaf, and that's just fine. Shake the pan a bit if it's really lopsided, but quickly put the lid on the pan and put it back in the oven.
- Bake at 450° F. for 30 minutes, then take the cover off and bake for 20 to 30 minutes more, until the top is very crusty and a dark golden brown. If you have an instant-read thermometer, stick it into the center of the loaf--when done, it will read at least 210°F.
- Remove bread from pan to cool. While it's tempting to cut into it immediately, wait at least 15 minutes and it will be much easier.
Notes
- A heavy pan with lid that can withstand a 450° F. oven. A cast iron Dutch oven is what most recipes call for, but there are other possibilities -- Magma and Galleyware nesting pans work really well and are designed to be put in the oven as well as used on the stove top. And if your pan doesn't have a lid (or if the lid can't withstand that much heat), a piece of aluminum foil works fine. Use a casserole, a Pyrex bowl, a stainless pan or regular bread pan. The one thing to avoid is any "Teflon" (Silverstone or similar) nonstick pans, as they can give off potentially carcinogenic fumes at such high temperatures.
- And an oven that will get up to 450° F. without a hot spot right over the burner. A baking stone really helps with this as it can easily add 25° F. to the temperature your oven can otherwise achieve, and it will eliminate any hot spots.
- Start dough at 9:00 PM the night before.
- At 4:00 PM form the dough into a ball and place in a lined bowl.
- At 5:45 PM start preheating the oven.
- Bake at 6:15 PM (total of 45 minutes to 1 hour), then allow to cool slightly before serving.
- Timing may have to be adjusted if you are in a particularly warm or cool climate.
- 1/2 teaspoon yeast will cut the time for the first rise to 8 to 10 hours, and the final rise to about 1-1/2 hours
- 1 teaspoon yeast will drop the first rise time to about 4 hours and the second rise to 1 hour -- meaning that you can have a wonderful loaf of bread with almost no work in just 6 hours. Start it at lunch and have it for dinner!
No-Knead Bread Cookbooks
Both of these cookbooks have been recommended to me time and time again by trusted friends and family, but I have to admit that I don’t own either one — and since I’m now diabetic I don’t make bread except for an occasional potluck. Links are to Amazon and both are available on Kindle as well.
Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day
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on Facebook says
I should have mentioned that this makes an excellent base for bruschetta, too!
on Facebook says
No-knead is the kind I wanna make … thanks!
Nancy Baggett says
Hope you will decide to get a copy of my book, Kneadlessly Simple. The recipes are more in the style of the recipe in the NYTimes, than the other book, except that many of my recipes not only skip the kneading, but skip the hand-shaping, too. You’ll find several sample recipes on my website to try that are fairly different from the NYTimes version, as well. Do check them out!
Carolyn Shearlock says
Thanks for stopping by and adding your comments . . . and I will be sure to check out the sample recipes as I wait for my copy of your book to come in the mail.
Thanks!
Carolyn
Ana on Facebook says
Question: When making the No Knead Bread, is it the same recipe and timing if I choose to make smaller size loaves like rolls maybe???
on Facebook says
Same recipe will work perfectly. Baking time will be about 30 to 40 minutes total — instead of plopping all the dough into the pan at once, drop spoonfuls to make about a dozen rolls. It’s okay if they all touch each other. Bake with the cover on for 15 minutes, then take the cover off. Check after another 15 — it will really depend on exactly how big you make them. Enjoy!! -Carolyn
Waterwoman says
How I remember those types artisan bread, lovingly turned out while cruising. Alas, I now need gluten free, sugar free breads and although I have become pretty adept at making them, I yearn for something just a little more “crusty” and keep searching. There are many of us that can’t have gluten or sugar and rely on almond, flax and coconut flour to make our breads, cakes, muffins, etc. Carolyn, I imagine with your large following, there must be a lot of great cooks. Possibly, one of them has the answer?
Carolyn Shearlock says
Waterwoman (I love that name!) —
I’m going to post your question on the Facebook page — we seem to generally get lots of answers there whenever I post a question or request.
I don’t have experience with gluten free, and it’s been years since I did sugar-free for my dad. But in general the “crusty” breads tend to have wetter doughs and bake at a higher temperature.
Let’s see if we can get some answers, as I’m sure there are others who’d like it too!
-Carolyn
Emily says
That book by Nancy Baggett looks really good, but it only seems fair to mention Jim Lahey’s book “My Bread” as well–he’s the guy who originated this recipe/method, which was promoted in the NYTimes by Mark Bittman. The Lahey book is basically variations on this theme, including one recipe that uses sea water (haven’t tested that one out yet. . .), plus a very good/easy pizza recipe.
Carolyn Shearlock says
Emily — thanks for adding that! I haven’t used that book myself, but No-Knead dough used for pizza crust sounds like a real winner!
See it on Amazon: My Bread
-Carolyn
Ida S/V Cheers says
I use a variation to this recipe. I replace 1 cup of the all purpose flour with 3/4 cup whole wheat flour plus 1/4 cup steel cut, or old fashioned oats. I also add 1/4 cup of roasted sunflower seeds and 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds (use same amount of water as original recipe). Once the first rise is complete, punch down the dough with a spatula, then just roll it into a generously oiled pan the bread will be baked in. I use extra virgin olive oil. When the second rise is complete, preheat oven to about 450 F and bake for about 40 minutes. This bread is nutty and delicious. I didn’t realize until I tried this how much flavor the oats add to the bread. And the only equipment that I need to clean are a deep plastic bowl, a silicone spatula, and the baking pan.
Jennifer Good Spires on Facebook says
This sounds so easy. I’ll try it tomorrow.
Cindy Balfour says
gluten free, this wont work for me.
individual bread for GF 1/3 cup GF biscuit flour
3 T milk mixed with 1T vinegar
1 egg
1tsp sweetner of choice
cook in a well oiled mug 3 minutes in the microwave on hi.
dump out of the container and let it
I sometimes skip sweetner and add italian seasoning, garlic and cheese for my own pizza.
it also works nicely with a second egg some chopped fresh spinach and extra cheese with seasonings of choice cook for 4 min.
Rebecca Hammond Vaughan on Facebook says
My favorite on land!!!
Steven K. Roberts on Facebook says
My favorite too… so easy (with yeast or sourdough)
Louise MacDonald on Facebook says
i’m gonna try this with Rick Norby !
Nicola says
I love no-knead bread, but did some experimentation to see if I could make it more “boat-friendly”. I used my silicone (love that stuff!!!) bread pan and aimed for a ~1/2 # loaf (2 cups flour). I gathered that shaggy dough and placed it into the pan for the 2nd rise. Then I threw pan into the oven (no lid needed!) and baked and it came out as a fantastic loaf. I was hugely encouraged and will attempt to reproduce these fantastic results on the boat! Bonus is that I get a “formed” loaf that will be easy to slice for sandwiches etc!
Christine Bailey says
We make this bread a lot. It is fabulous, and a hot crunchy loaf fresh from the oven is a great breakfast. I heartily endorse it, and it’s so very easy to make. Well worth the small effort.!
Rebecca Hammond Vaughan says
Loved making this on land, but yet to try on the boat!
Simonne says
Have you ever made this bread using your Omnia oven?
I would love to give that a try.
Would the amount of ingredients be the same?
Carolyn Shearlock says
I haven’t tried it yet, but it is on my list! The biggest thing that I’m not sure about is being able to get the pan hot enough for the real crunch crust that you get with the heavy pan in the hot oven, yet not burning the bread. I’m thinking that I might make the dough as for No-Knead, but make it at a more traditional temperature.
Hmm, gonna go start a batch and see how it does. Thanks for the inspiration!
Carolyn Shearlock says
Just posted how to make it in the Omnia today (it turned out great, not quite as crunch a crust, and yes, the batch size is the same): https://theboatgalley.com/no-knead-bread-in-an-omnia-stove-top-oven/
Simonne says
Thank you!
It’s nice to have been an inspiration. 🙂
Btw: your Boatgalley Cookbook arrived yesterday and I am reading it like a novel. It is a real pagetuner! Thanks for that!
Liz Andrews says
Anyway to make this (or any kind of bread) using the Omnia?
Carolyn Shearlock says
Of course! You can make any bread in the Omnia . . . here are a couple of recipes:
No-Knead Bread in the Omnia
Beer Bread in the Omnia
English Muffin Bread
See more — including Corn Bread, Breakfast Rolls, Biscuits and a Coffee Cake
Ron Breaux says
I make this all the time. Put some pepper jack cheese in. mmmm good
Susan Kam says
Discovered this bread a few months ago and love it! Will be trying it in the RV oven soon.