Jim Lahey’s no-knead bread recipe turned conventional bread making the other way up for all of us. Made with simply flour, yeast, salt, and water, the bread is the quickest, best, and greatest it’s possible you’ll ever make.
That is it, people. Jim Lahey’s no-knead bread recipe. The approach that incited an rebel amongst bread bakers all over the place.
The recipe is ridiculously simple, even for first-time bread bakers, and can make you surprise why you ever spent all that effort and time kneading dough up to now.
The loaf is an adaptation of Lahey’s phenomenally and outrageously standard pugliese bought at Sullivan Road Bakery in Manhattan. And when you attempt it, you’re going to surprise the place it’s been your total life.
How to make sure magnificence out of your loaf of no-knead bread
Baker Jim Lahey took nice care, in his unique recipe for this bread, to elucidate as many methods as he presumably might to assist guarantee you might have spectacularly satisfying outcomes at residence. I’ve included them within the directions beneath.
Don’t rush by this recipe and skim the main points. Every phrase, every visible cue, every clarification has that means.
Depend on the outline of how the dough ought to seem or really feel greater than the timing.
And know that situations change from kitchen to kitchen and from each day, relying on the precise flour you’re utilizing and the temperature of your home and the humidity and, I believe, the barometric strain, the part of the moon, and perhaps even your temper.
So some days, your bread baking could appear blessed, and on others, it could really feel as should you misplaced your baking mojo. It occurs to me on a regular basis. However keep in mind what Lahey all the time says, “Even the loaves that aren’t what you’d regard as good are means higher than high quality.”
Plan your bread-making schedule
As simple as this recipe is, Lahey cautions that it’s not precisely an impromptu kind of factor. “This bread is extremely easy and entails little labor, however it is advisable plan forward.
Though mixing takes nearly no time, the primary rise requires from 12 to 18 hours. You then’ll must form the dough and let it rise for one more 1 to 2 hours. The longer rise tends to lead to a greater loaf, however you want the endurance and the schedule to do it.
After preheating the oven and the pot for half an hour, you’ve acquired half-hour of coated baking, one other 15 to 30 of uncovered baking, and about an hour of cooling.
And please, don’t gulp down that first slice. Consider the primary chunk as you’d the primary style of a glass of wine: scent it (there needs to be that contact of maltiness), chew it slowly to understand its nearly meaty texture, and sense the place it got here from in its trace of wheat. Get pleasure from it. You baked it, and you probably did a superb job.”
Why Our Testers Beloved This
The testers have been making this bread on repeat for years for a number of causes. The feel and taste of the completed bread are the very best they’ve tried, and so they cherished the straightforward, hands-off methodology used right here. Larry Noak calls it “the PERFECT bread recipe.”
Cath Ramsden joined in together with her remark, “Gnarled, crunchy, bronzed crust, gentle and delicate pillowy bread beneath—that is THE BEST BREAD I’ve ever made.”
Notes on Substances
- Flour–You should use all-purpose flour or bread flour, or a mix of each.
- Instantaneous yeast–You solely want 1/4 teaspoon of prompt yeast for this recipe. It looks as if a really small quantity, however the lengthy fermentation time implies that little or no yeast is required. To verify the freshness of your yeast, combine a teaspoon of yeast with 1/3 cup of heat water and an enormous pinch of sugar. Alive yeast will develop bubbles or foam on prime of the combination. If there aren’t any bubbles, your yeast must be changed.
- Cornmeal–The addition of slightly cornmeal helps to stop the dough from sticking and provides slightly texture to the completed loaf. You’ll be able to substitute wheat bran or extra flour for the cornmeal.
Methods to Make this Recipe
- Mix the flour, yeast, and salt in a big bowl.
- Pour within the water.
- Combine till you might have a tough, shaggy dough. Cowl the dough and let it relaxation till the floor is dotted with bubbles, 12 to 18 hours.
- Dump the dough onto a floured work floor.
- Gently carry the highest of the dough and fold it over itself.
- Pull the underside of the dough up and over the folded part.
- Seize the left facet of the dough and fold it up and over.
- Fold the correct facet of the dough up and over.
- Gently nudge the dough right into a spherical form. Don’t knead.
- Coat a cotton towel with cornmeal and place the dough, seam-side down, onto the towel in a bowl or proofing basket. Cowl with a second towel and let it rise till doubled in measurement.
- Warmth the oven to 450°F and place a heavy pot and lid within the oven to preheat. Switch the dough to the pot, seam facet up. Cowl and bake for half-hour.
- Uncover the pot and proceed to bake till the loaf is darkish brown in coloration. Cool fully earlier than slicing.
Recipe FAQs
Why didn’t my bread rise?
As a result of the recipe calls for therefore little yeast, it’s necessary to ensure the yeast is recent. Additionally, if the room is simply too cool (the best temperature is 72°F/22°C), the dough will want longer to rise.
I don’t have a Dutch oven. Can I nonetheless make the bread?
You actually can. What’s most necessary is to have a tight-fitting cowl. Some bakers have had success with:
— a combo oven (seen above in steps 11 and 12)
— a stainless-steel pot with a lid
— an oven-safe glass (Pyrex) dish with a canopy
— a clay pot with a lid
— a pizza stone with an inverted stainless-steel bowl as a canopy
Why are my bread loaves flat? They’re not massive and spherical.
First, verify your yeast. It may very well be outdated and expired. Maintaining yeast within the freezer helps prolong its life significantly. One other offender will not be letting the dough relaxation sufficient after shaping and earlier than baking. Creating a good pores and skin on the floor of the dough permits it to rise to lofty heights within the oven–one thing referred to as oven spring.
Useful Suggestions
- The bread is greatest loved the day that it’s made. Further bread may be saved in a plastic bag at room temperature for as much as 3 days.
Extra nice no-knead bread recipes
☞ If you happen to make this recipe, or any dish on LC, think about leaving a assessment, a star score, and your greatest picture within the feedback beneath. I like listening to from you.–David
Jim Lahey’s No-Knead Bread
Jim Lahey’s no-knead bread recipe turned conventional bread making the other way up for all of us. Made with simply flour, yeast, salt, and water, the bread is the quickest, best, and greatest it’s possible you’ll ever make.
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In a big bowl, stir collectively the flour, yeast, and salt. Add the water and blend with a spoon or your hand till you might have a shaggy, sticky dough. This could take roughly 30 seconds. You need it to be slightly sticky. (Many individuals who bake this bread discover the dough to be sticker than different bread doughs they’ve labored with. Though it is not what you are accustomed to dealing with, it is completely high quality.)
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Cowl the bowl with a plate, towel, or plastic wrap and set it apart to relaxation at heat room temperature (however not in direct daylight) for no less than 12 hours and ideally about 18 hours. (Ideally, you need the room to be about 72°F. Within the lifeless of winter, when the dough will are likely to rise extra slowly, so long as 24 hours could also be obligatory.) You may know the dough is correctly fermented and prepared as a result of its floor will probably be dotted with bubbles. This lengthy, sluggish fermentation is what yields the bread’s wealthy taste.
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Generously flour your work floor. Use a bowl scraper or rubber spatula to show the dough onto the floor in a single blob. The dough will cling to the bowl in lengthy, thread-like strands and it is going to be fairly unfastened and sticky. That is precisely what you need. Don’t add extra flour. As an alternative use evenly floured fingers to softly and shortly carry the sides of the dough in towards the middle, successfully folding the dough over onto itself. Nudge and tuck within the edges of the dough to make it spherical. That is it. Do not knead the dough.
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Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry fabric) with flour, wheat bran, or cornmeal. Place the dough, seam facet down, on the towel and mud the floor with slightly extra flour, bran, or cornmeal. Cowl the dough with one other cotton towel and let it rise for about 2 hours. When it is prepared, the dough will probably be double in measurement and can maintain the impression of your fingertip whenever you poke it evenly, making an indentation. If the dough readily springs again whenever you poke it, let it rise for one more quarter-hour.
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A half hour earlier than the dough is finished with its second rise, preheat the oven to 450°F (232°C). Regulate the oven rack to the decrease third place and place a 6- to 8-quart heavy pot and its lid (whether or not forged iron or enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) within the oven because it heats.
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When the dough is finished with its second rise, rigorously take away the pot from the oven and uncover it. Additionally, uncover the dough. Elevate up the dough and shortly however gently flip it over into the pot, seam facet up, being very cautious to not contact the pot. The blob of dough might appear like a large number, however belief us, all the pieces is O.Ok. Cowl the pot with its lid and bake for half-hour.
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Take away the lid and bake till the loaf is superbly browned to a deep chestnut coloration, 15 to half-hour extra. Use a heatproof spatula or pot holders to rigorously carry the bread out of the pot and place it on a wire rack. Don’t slice or tear into it till it has cooled, which often takes no less than an hour.
- Room temperature–In case your room is cooler than 72°F (22°C), the bread will want longer to rise.
- Storage–The bread is greatest loved the day that it’s made. Further bread may be saved in a plastic bag at room temperature for as much as 3 days.
Serving: 1sliceEnergy: 85kcal (4%)Carbohydrates: 17g (6%)Protein: 3g (6%)Fats: 1g (2%)Saturated Fats: 1g (6%)Polyunsaturated Fats: 1gMonounsaturated Fats: 1gSodium: 32mg (1%)Potassium: 25mg (1%)Fiber: 1g (4%)Sugar: 1g (1%)Vitamin A: 1IUVitamin C: 1mg (1%)Calcium: 4mgIron: 1mg (6%)
If you happen to make this recipe, snap a photograph and hashtag it #LeitesCulinaria. We’d like to see your creations on Instagram, Fb, and Twitter.
Recipe Testers’ Evaluations
Recipe © 2009 Jim Lahey. Pictures © 2009 David Leite. All rights reserved. All supplies used with permission.
If you happen to make this recipe, snap a photograph and hashtag it #LeitesCulinaria. We might like to see your creations on Instagram, Fb, and Twitter.
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