Foodie

Sunday, July 27, 2008

No Knead Bread

Alexander The Baker measuring his first cup of unbleached all-purpose flour


Adding in the second cup of flour

The last and third cup of flour

Add in 1/4 tsp instant yeast

Add in 1 1/2 tsp of salt

Mix all the ingredients

All mixed

Add in 1 1/2 cups of water

Stir well

Thumb up, all well mixed

Cover with lid

Done

Leave to proof for at least 12 hours or 18 hours

Freshly baked

Cooling

Cool enough for slicing

Eat with lots of butter

Look at those holes



Schlemmerpotf used for baking the bread


After reading this The Secret of Great Bread: Let Time Do the Work By MARK BITTMAN http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/08mini.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1 and watching several videos,blogs, I decided to try making it cos i have now own a Schlemmerpotf . I would have tried to make this when it was first introduced by Jim Lahey, 2 years ago, if only i could afford a Le Creuset enameled cast iron pot.

After seeing this handsome guy making this bread here http://steamykitchen.com/blog/2007/09/10/no-knead-bread-revisited/. I fell in love with him at first sight and he inspired me more to tackle this bread. Thanks Steamykitchen,for all the tips posted in your blog and give my handsome guy a big big hug. I showed that post to Alexander and he said 'me help', 'me can do'. Alexander The Baker went into action.

The crust for the first try did not crackled as the second try, perhaps the clay-pot was not hot enough after 1/2 hr preheat, so i gave it another extra 1/2 hr. The second bread was crackling as soon as it was turned out onto the cooling rack.

I used bread flour for the first bread and let it rest for 18 hrs as suggested. The second bread, i changed to unbleached all purpose and the resting time to 12 hrs. I did not find any difference in the texture and taste. I added 1/4 tsp of salt as food tends to be more bland with altitude. The recipe calls for 1 5/8 cups water, i used 1 1/2 cups and wet my hands as often as possible when handling the dough, so that should take care of the 1/8 cup of water.

The third try, i replaced 1 cup of flour with whole meal flour and the taste was so good, even the color of the bread was more appealing.

Ingredients:

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour or 2 cups all-purpose + 1 cup whole wheat flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
11/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups - 1 5/8 water
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

Method:

In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt.

Add 1 1/2 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap or put the lid on if the bowl has one.

Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles.

Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice.

Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball.

Generously sprinkle cornmeal onto a 12 inch piece of parchment paper; put dough seam side down on parchment paper .

Lift the parchment paper with dough on it and place onto a basket and place basket and all back to the large bowl.

Put the lid on and let dough rise for about 2 hours.

When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

If using a cast-iron skillet, preheat the skillet at least a half-hour before dough is ready. I am using a claypot and i preheat for 1 hour.

Heat oven to 500 degrees(i use convection roast). Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats.

When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven.

Lift the parchment paper with the dough on it and place on to hot pot and cover with the lid.

Bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned.

Cool on a rack.

23 comments:

SteamyKitchen said...

Alexander! What a big boy you are to help your Mama in the kitchen. I love that hat you're wearing. Andrew has one too, but he doesn't like to wear it because he says his head tickles when he has the hat on.

xoxo, Jaden

Gina Choong said...

aunty lily, your grandson is so cute! I like his top hat too. Makes him so handsome. This reminds me of my youngest daughter making tang yuan balls. :)

Anonymous said...

wah..Lily..

Your grandson really grow up now..how old?

Anonymous said...

Hi Lily,

Would like your advice, I'm in S'pore..knowing the hot & humid weather here, just wondering.. can I leave the bread outside for 12 hours...or what adjustment do I need to do...thank you very much for your reply... :D

Take Care,
Rachael

Little Corner of Mine said...

He is sooo cute! You got yourself a handsome boy to demo. for you too huh? LOL!

Anonymous said...

that kid is sooooo cute... and you have lovely recipes all tested out for us! Thank you for sharing. Your family are so lucky to have you taking care of their tummies!

Take care and have a wonderful week


pixen

pigpigscorner said...

He's so cute! Love hat he's wearing =)

Anonymous said...

hi lily,
that's a cutie pie you have there.let us know when he open shop in future.finally got myself a scale. will make your crispy peanut puff this coming chinese new year.
diane

dumb-baker said...

Hi Lily,

Just wondering if i can use the regular pullman's tin instead of the pot mentioned here in this post? Please advise ya!

Wati's Kitchen said...

hi lily,
i like to browse your blog, i'm newbies,can i link your blog to mine? i like your zebra cake...thanks..:)


wati' kitchen

Unknown said...

dumb-baker

a pullman pan will not do, it must be a heavy one, like a Le Creuset enameled cast iron pot or a heavy ceramic pot

Unknown said...

wat's kitchen

sure, you are most welcome

CRIZ LAI said...

Wow... even a kid can bake a bun and I can't. Can loan him for few days? :P Thanks for sharing the recipe :)

http://crizfood.blogspot.com/

Wati's Kitchen said...

thank you lily...


rgds

Lydia said...

gosh, Alexander is too adorable! *swoons*

Anonymous said...

Well done I guess he soon will make Croque Monsieur with that bread. I had it in Paris and now reside in San Francisco which sold in many places too.

shelly said...

Well done. It good kids learn cooking develop taste earlier of many foods. Soon he will make Croque Monsieur. I had it in Paris and now I reside in San Francisco which sold in many places too.

Anonymous said...

What Croque Monsieur? Sound very good I look it up and try to make some with that bread recipe. I always wonder who came out first with the savory rice cakes? The Korean or Shanghainese? The one with meat and vegetable.

Unknown said...

anonymous

there are many more wonders on food and this is one of them. I hope readers of this comment can come and enlighten us with this wonder

Anonymous said...

Croque Monsieur and Croque Madame is grill ham and French swiss cheese sandwich top with cheese sauce. It very chic in San Francisco and found all over Paris.
Croque Madame have an egg on top of it some time call woman sandwich but everybody enjoy it.

Unknown said...

anonymous

thanks for this great explanation

Jen said...

Hi Lily,

The only claypot I have is an ordinary chinese claypot (glazed). Can I use it for this no knead bread recipe? Thanks and I hope to hear from you soon!

Unknown said...

jen

i don't know about this chinese claypot, it might not take the high heat. The clay pot that i used is meant for roasting a chicken and made for the oven. The best pot for this bread is the cast iron dutch oven.

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