Post by tux_sf on Dec 29, 2007 22:22:08 GMT -5
I've been making the no-knead bread that first appeared in the New York Times in November of last year off & on for quite a few months now. Often it comes out beautifully, but since you have to handle the dough & drop it in your dutch oven it just as regularly comes out kind of flat. Also, while it generally has a nice crunchy artisan style crust it can be a bit bland if you just follow the recipe. So, I've been experimenting with adding other things to it to improve the flavor.
Apparently I'm not the only one who has been trying to improve it. In the January/February 2008 issue of Cook's Illustrated Magazine there is a article entitled 'No-Knead Bread 2.0.' They use a 1/4 cup of mild lager & 1 tablespoon of white vinegar to get a sourdough kind of flavor. I haven't tried this, but I have been making it with the sourdough starter I have had going since last July (my brother, who lives in southern Oregon started it about 9 years ago, I think--he gave me some to see if we could improve it with some San Francisco wild yeast, which did work, by the way ). Anyway, the biggest thing I got from the article was the suggestion that the formed dough do the second rise in a parchment lined cast iron pan. This allows you to then pick up the dough by the paper & gently place it in the hot dutch oven when the time comes. Since I regularly do this with other bread dough when I'm using a baking stone or a cast iron griddle I have no idea why this hadn't occurred to me yet, but I'm glad the idea came to someone!
Here is my recipe:
2 c. white flour--all purpose or bread flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt (ok, you can use regular table salt too, but I'd probably go down to 1 1/4 t. then)
1/2 to 3/4 c. sourdough starter
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast (if using 'active dry' yeast dissolve it in the water & use 3/8 teaspoon)
1 c. lukewarm water, to start
Optional, though helpful, ingredients:
1 heaping teaspoon diastatic malt powder
1 heaping tablespoon wheat gluten
2 tablespoons honey
The malt powder extends shelf life & also feeds the yeast in the bread. I buy mine from King Arthur's Flour online. The wheat gluten helps the bread rise higher & is especially useful when you are using whole wheat, which has less gluten than white flour (it is also good with rye & other grains which are 'gluten impaired'). KA carries this too, of course, but I can find it in my local supermarket easily so I just buy it locally.
Mix the dry ingredients well. Add the water & mix until the dry ingredients are incorporated & form a soft dough. I usually end up adding around 1/4 c. more water to get everything mixed in. This will be a shaggy mass of dough in the bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. I usually set the bowl on the back burner of my Chambers B, to the left so it is partly on the griddle. This gets the bowl a bit of the heat from the pilot, but doesn't overheat it. My kitchen is generally chilly at night, so this is the ideal spot. After 12-18 hours your dough is ready to form for the final rise. Take a piece of parchment paper large enough to generously line an 8"-10" skillet & spray it with vegetable oil spray (like PAM). I like to sprinkle this generously with some polenta or other cornmeal. Now, lightly flour your work surface & dump the dough on it. Flatten the dough & fold it over itself several times, sprinkling with additional flour as needed, to form the dough in to a ball. It is helpful to have a bench knife or plastic scraper to help you with this. Pinch the bottom, pulling the top smooth. Place seam side down in the skillet. Spray lightly with vegetable oil spray & sprinkle on a little flour. Cover with plastic wrap, tenting it up so that it is touching the dough as little as possible--I use a hotel shower cap for this & to cover the bowl when it is rising & it is especially helpful for this step as I find it is easier to tent up. Let rise 2 hours. During the last 20 minutes or so of this rise, start the oven set at 500, with the dutch oven inside with one rack set on the bottom position. As I like a very brown crust I actually set my oven to 525. During the last 10 minutes or so of this period remove the plastic wrap from the dough & slash the loaf. If the surface of the dough seems pretty wet you might want to sprinkle on a bit more flour before slashing. I usually just do two slashes across in each direction, but you can get as creative as you like to make it pretty. Now, carefully remove the very hot dutch oven & set it on your stove. Remove the lid & lift the dough by the paper & gently place in the dutch oven. Get your oven mitts back on, replace the lid, & place it back in the oven. Lower the thermostat to 425 & set your timer at 30 minutes. After the 30 minutes remove the lid of the dutch oven. Set your timer at 15 minutes. Check & see if it looks brown enough for you . If you take the temperature of the loaf it should be around 200-210 with an instant read thermometer when it is done, but if it looks done to you at this point it probably is, so don't worry if you don't have the thermometer to check it.
When done carefully remove the loaf & cool completely on a wire rack before eating. Please don't eat it until it is cooled as it won't be nearly as good. I know it smells good but resist the temptation!!!
Here is what it should look like:
Apparently I'm not the only one who has been trying to improve it. In the January/February 2008 issue of Cook's Illustrated Magazine there is a article entitled 'No-Knead Bread 2.0.' They use a 1/4 cup of mild lager & 1 tablespoon of white vinegar to get a sourdough kind of flavor. I haven't tried this, but I have been making it with the sourdough starter I have had going since last July (my brother, who lives in southern Oregon started it about 9 years ago, I think--he gave me some to see if we could improve it with some San Francisco wild yeast, which did work, by the way ). Anyway, the biggest thing I got from the article was the suggestion that the formed dough do the second rise in a parchment lined cast iron pan. This allows you to then pick up the dough by the paper & gently place it in the hot dutch oven when the time comes. Since I regularly do this with other bread dough when I'm using a baking stone or a cast iron griddle I have no idea why this hadn't occurred to me yet, but I'm glad the idea came to someone!
Here is my recipe:
2 c. white flour--all purpose or bread flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher or sea salt (ok, you can use regular table salt too, but I'd probably go down to 1 1/4 t. then)
1/2 to 3/4 c. sourdough starter
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast (if using 'active dry' yeast dissolve it in the water & use 3/8 teaspoon)
1 c. lukewarm water, to start
Optional, though helpful, ingredients:
1 heaping teaspoon diastatic malt powder
1 heaping tablespoon wheat gluten
2 tablespoons honey
The malt powder extends shelf life & also feeds the yeast in the bread. I buy mine from King Arthur's Flour online. The wheat gluten helps the bread rise higher & is especially useful when you are using whole wheat, which has less gluten than white flour (it is also good with rye & other grains which are 'gluten impaired'). KA carries this too, of course, but I can find it in my local supermarket easily so I just buy it locally.
Mix the dry ingredients well. Add the water & mix until the dry ingredients are incorporated & form a soft dough. I usually end up adding around 1/4 c. more water to get everything mixed in. This will be a shaggy mass of dough in the bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. I usually set the bowl on the back burner of my Chambers B, to the left so it is partly on the griddle. This gets the bowl a bit of the heat from the pilot, but doesn't overheat it. My kitchen is generally chilly at night, so this is the ideal spot. After 12-18 hours your dough is ready to form for the final rise. Take a piece of parchment paper large enough to generously line an 8"-10" skillet & spray it with vegetable oil spray (like PAM). I like to sprinkle this generously with some polenta or other cornmeal. Now, lightly flour your work surface & dump the dough on it. Flatten the dough & fold it over itself several times, sprinkling with additional flour as needed, to form the dough in to a ball. It is helpful to have a bench knife or plastic scraper to help you with this. Pinch the bottom, pulling the top smooth. Place seam side down in the skillet. Spray lightly with vegetable oil spray & sprinkle on a little flour. Cover with plastic wrap, tenting it up so that it is touching the dough as little as possible--I use a hotel shower cap for this & to cover the bowl when it is rising & it is especially helpful for this step as I find it is easier to tent up. Let rise 2 hours. During the last 20 minutes or so of this rise, start the oven set at 500, with the dutch oven inside with one rack set on the bottom position. As I like a very brown crust I actually set my oven to 525. During the last 10 minutes or so of this period remove the plastic wrap from the dough & slash the loaf. If the surface of the dough seems pretty wet you might want to sprinkle on a bit more flour before slashing. I usually just do two slashes across in each direction, but you can get as creative as you like to make it pretty. Now, carefully remove the very hot dutch oven & set it on your stove. Remove the lid & lift the dough by the paper & gently place in the dutch oven. Get your oven mitts back on, replace the lid, & place it back in the oven. Lower the thermostat to 425 & set your timer at 30 minutes. After the 30 minutes remove the lid of the dutch oven. Set your timer at 15 minutes. Check & see if it looks brown enough for you . If you take the temperature of the loaf it should be around 200-210 with an instant read thermometer when it is done, but if it looks done to you at this point it probably is, so don't worry if you don't have the thermometer to check it.
When done carefully remove the loaf & cool completely on a wire rack before eating. Please don't eat it until it is cooled as it won't be nearly as good. I know it smells good but resist the temptation!!!
Here is what it should look like: