No Knead bread

Jim Lahey of the Sullivan Street Bakery has made the recipe for No knead bread, which was published in New York Times in 2006. Ever since food-bloggers all over the world have posted the recipe and their results on the internet.
Read the original recipe here: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/081mrex.html

Now it is my turn. I have used the recipe for an article in Hjemmet and tried it out with various kinds of flour, different lengths of rest and in pots of cast iron, Pyrex and clay.

My conclusions are:
1. Use whatever flour you like. If you use strong wheat flour you will get very beautiful domed bread with a crispy crust and a great crumb. If you use whole wheat flour the bread may be more flat, but the taste will be very good – and as you know: looks are not everything!
2. I have let the dough rest in the bowl for 8, 10, 12 and 18 hours – and the only difference is that a longer rest makes the taste of “sourdough” stronger. The crust and the bread itself are wonderful even by 8 hours rest.
3. I did omit the 15 minute rest on the table and have also cut the second rest with 1 1/2 hours – with perfect results.
4. Use a cast iron pot – you can use Pyrex or ceramic – but the bread will not be as good as baked in the cast iron – sorry guys. I actually went out and bought a new 4 liter Le Creuset pot just for this project – and it was worth it!
5. I use a warmer oven then in the original recipe: 480 degrees F/250 degrees C.

My recipe in European measures:

500 g flour (after your choice)
5 g fresh yeast (we don’t use instant yeast in Denmark)
2 tsp salt (I like the taste of salt to be more prevalent – is that the correct word?)
4 dl water (+ 3-4 TBSP extra if using whole wheat flour)

I just crumble the yeast into the flour, add salt and water and stir the dough together – just until there is no more dry flour – this will take less than 1 minute.
Cover the bowl and let it rest on the kitchen table for as long as you can wait – 8-18 hours.
Let the dough “fall” out of the bowl on to a lightly floured table. Fold the dough over on itself 3 or 4 times, turn it seam side down and place it on a floured cloth. Dust a little more flour over the dough, fold the cloth loosely over and let it rest while the oven and pot reaches 480 degrees F/250 degrees C – about 20-30 minutes.
Flip the dough into the hot pot, put the lid on and put it in the oven 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake the bread 15-20 minutes more. Let in cool on a rack at least 30 minutes.




The dough has rested in the cloth


The dough in the very hot pot


The bread is finished

Fingers off - it is cooling on the rack

The basics: the bread.

We always have two kinds of bread in the house:
rye bread and wheat bread.

Rye bread
(2 loaves)
500 g (2 cups) sour dough (from last time)
550 g (4 cups) rye flour
350 g (2 cups) rye grains
125 g (1 3/4 cups) rolled oats
125 g (3/4 cup) linseed
80 g (1/2 cup) sunflower kernels
75 g ((1/2 cup) golden syrup or molasses
3 1/2 TBS sea salt
1 l (4 cups) tepid water
1/2 tsp (dry) yeast

Put all the ingredients in a mixer with a hook and let it run for 5 minutes. Put about 1/5 of the dough in a plastic or glass container and reserve it in the fridge as sour dough for next time you are baking rye bread.
Divide the rest of the dough between two bread tins brushed with oil. Cover with plastic and let them rise for 8-12 hours - depending on the temperature.
When the dough has risen so the tins are full, carefully remove the cover and put them in the oven at 160 degrees C (320 degrees F) for 1 1/2 hour.
Turn the bread loaves out of the tins and bake them 1/2 hour more (the inner temperature should be 96-98 degrees C (205 degrees F). Let them cool on a wire rack and keep them fresh in freezer bags. Try to wait min. 12 hours before tasting!
If you don't eat that much bread, you can put some of it in the freezer.

Wheat bread
(2 loaves or 1 loaf and some rolls)
sour dough (from last time)
3/4 l (3 cups) tepid water
1 tsp (dry) yeast
18 dl (7 1/2 cups) flour (whole wheat flour, durum flour, wheat flour)
1 TBS sea salt
1 TBS honey or golden syrup

Put the sour dough in a mixer with a hook and add the water. Let it run for 1 minute.
Stir in the yeast, the flours (I use about 1/3 of whole wheat and/or durum and 2/3 ordinary (organic) wheat flour), the salt and the honey or syrup.
Turn the mixer on and let it run for about 5 minutes. Remove the hook and cover the bowl with plastic. Let the dough rise 2-3 hours on the kitchen table or in the fridge for 18-24 hours.
Let the dough fall out of the bowl onto a floured table. Put about 1/5 of the dough in a plastic or glass container and reserve it in the fridge as sour dough for next time you are baking.
Divide the rest of the dough in two pieces and carefully form loaves on a baking sheet or into 2 loaf pans brushed with oil. Cover them with plastic or cloth and let them rise 45 minutes.
Preheat oven to 225 degrees C (450 degrees F). Carefully remove the cover, slit the tops and bake for 25 to 30 minutes until crust is golden brown and the inner temperature is 96-98 degrees C (205 degrees F). Let the loaves cool at least 30 minutes on a wire rack.
If you are making rolls, they should be baked about 15 minutes.

When you start these recipes you might not have any sour dough.
For the rye bread, you can mix 1/2 tsp (dry) yeast with 2 1/2 dl (1 cup) tepid water and 150 g (1 cup) rye flour. Cover the bowl and let it sit on the kitchen table for 1-2 days. It is ready to use, when there are small bubbles on the surface and it smells a little sour.
For the wheat bread, you can mix 1/2 tsp (dry) yeast with 2 1/2 dl (1 cup) tepid water, 150 g (1 cup) whole wheat flour and 1/2 tsp salt. Cover the bowl and let it sit on the kitchen table for 1-2 days. It is ready to use, when there are small bubbles on the surface and it smells a little sour.