JIM LAHEY’S NO KNEAD BREAD

by Debra Wysopal

Bread making can be daunting, in fact, I was really hesitant to try this one but I’ve done it a few times in a row now and it yields perfect loaves so it is a must for these days of social distancing. This is a stellar recipe to do with the kids, it just takes some patience but it’s true magic. It looks like a lot, but truly, it’s simple. The picture is my second loaf ever, and I hate traditional baking – you got this!

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Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat
Rating: 5.0/5
( 195 voted )

Ingredients

  • 3 cups (400 grams) all purpose flour
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons (8 grams) table salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon (1 gram) instant or other active dry yeast
  • 1 1/2 cups room temperature water
  • Wheat bran, cornmeal, or additional flour, for dusting
  • A 4 1/2- to 5 1/2-quart heavy pot (dutch oven, pyrex)

Instructions

 In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, salt, and yeast. Add the water and, using a wooden spoon or your hand, mix until you have a wet, sticky dough, about 30 seconds. Make sure it's really sticky to the touch; if it's not, mix in another tablespoon or two of water. Cover the bowl with a plate, tea towel, or plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature (about 72 degrees F), out of direct sunlight, until the surface is dotted with bubbles and the dough is more than doubled in size. This will take a minimum of 12 hours and  Jim Lahey's preference is up to 18 hours. This slow rise—fermentation—is the key to flavor.

When the first fermentation is complete, generously dust a work surface (a wooden or plastic cutting board is fine) with flour or wheat germ. Use a bowl scraper or rubber spatula to scrape the dough onto the board in one piece. When you begin to pull the dough away from the bowl, it will cling in long, thin strands (this is the developed gluten), and it will be quite loose and sticky—do not add more flour. Use lightly floured hands or a bowl scraper or spatula to lift the edges of the dough in toward the center.  To do this, simply fold each side (4 sides) into a loose ball.  Nudge and tuck in the edges of the dough to make it round.  Do not overwork this, this is a no-knead recipe, so a loose round ball is all you need here. 

Place a cotton or linen tea towel (not terry cloth, which tends to stick and may leave lint in the dough) or a large cloth napkin on your work surface and generously dust the cloth with wheat bran, cornmeal, or flour. Use your hands or a bowl scraper or wooden spatula to gently lift the dough onto the towel, so it is seam side down. If the dough is tacky, dust the top lightly with wheat bran, cornmeal, or flour. Fold the ends of the towel loosely over the dough to cover it and place it in a warm, draft-free spot to rise for 2 hours. The dough is ready when it is almost doubled. If you gently poke it with your finger, making an indentation about 1/4 inch deep, it should hold the impression. If it doesn't, let it rise for another 15 minutes.

Half an hour before the end of the second rise, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F, with a rack in the lower third position, and place a covered 4 1/2–5 1/2 quart heavy pot in the center of the rack.

Using pot holders, carefully remove the preheated pot from the oven and uncover it. Unfold the tea towel, lightly dust the dough with flour or bran, lift up the dough, either on the towel or in your hand, and quickly but gently invert it into the pot, seam side up. (Use caution—the pot will be very hot.) Cover the pot and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove the lid and continue baking until the bread is a deep chestnut color but not burnt, 15 to 30 minutes more. Use a heatproof spatula or pot holders to carefully lift the bread out of the pot and place it on a rack to cool thoroughly. Don't slice or tear into it until it has cooled, which usually takes at least an hour.  Ok, that last part is ridiculous. Bread gets ripped open from oven as soon as it comes out here, if this is wrong, I don't want to be right.

Notes

I learned the hard way that not all dutch oven lid tops are oven proof at 450degrees. Luckily, you can order them online and I have done so for this purpose. I've seen this recipe call for 1 5/8 cups of water - but in his original video with Mark Bittman, Lahey uses 1 1/2 cups and that works brilliantly for me - google the video, it makes this so much less daunting.

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1 comment

Kate Skelly March 25, 2020 - 4:16 pm

This recipes is AWESOME! as in, the best bread I think I’ve ever had, and not hard. Yes it takes forever from start to finish, but it is worth it. Thank you Deb!

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