No-Knead Bread

17 Dec 2024 — #food

No-Knead Bread

I grew up eating good bread fresh from an artisan bakery every day. Over the years I've experimented with making and baking my own bread with recipes from the internet but most of it felt flat and it was only this year that I figured out What Worked to make delicious bread that matched that from the bakery. This recipe, itself an adaptation of a NYTimes recipe, is what I've been using as a reference. Refrigerating the dough for a day is really key to develop that great flavour, no need to maintain a sourdough starter. The dough itself comes together without much fuss, and doesn't really require any kneading. I typically replace some of the flour with whole-wheat or spelt flour, for more depth of flavor, nutrition and color.

Ingredients

• 450g flour
  • use bread flour if you have it. mix with whole grain wheat/spelt flour if you want, for example 300g bread flour + 150g spelt flour
• 2tsp instant dry yeast, about 5~6g. a bit less than a 7g packet. or just use the whole packet this is not too fussy
• 1.5tsp table salt, or between 1.5% - 2% relative to flour in grams. the exact volume measurement depends on the grain size of your salt and how salty you like your bread (personal preference). linked recipe suggests 2tsp for coarser, kosher salt
• 375ml warm water, around 80% hydration in bakers' percentage. add a little more if using whole grain flour as it absorbs more water, I go by feel. you want a wet and sloppy dough

Recipe

1. mix flour, yeast, and salt in a large mixing bowl
2. add water and mix until wet dough forms
3. cover and let rise at room temperature for about 2 to 3 hours, it should double in size
4. refrigerate, at least overnight, a whole day is better, possibly longer. optionally, every couple hours take dough out to do a couple folds over itself and put it back. this helps develop gluten
5. take dough out of the fridge, flip it onto parchment paper dusted with flour, let it come to room temperature and proof, about 45min. preheat oven to 200C in the meantime
6. transfer parchment paper with dough onto oven tray, spray with water to create a steamy environment in the oven and bake until golden brown (~45m)
7. remove and let cool