This is a simpler and safer method for making No-Knead Slow Rise Bread (p. 72 in the Mama How… cookbook). No more juggling a very hot (425°) Dutch oven or precariously transferring the shaped loaf to the hot pot. Instead, the second rise of 2 hours is done directly in a cold (not pre-heated) Dutch oven. This still produces a moist, crusty, very flavorful bread with very little work. The dough is very soft, but not quite as soft as the original recipe – but don’t worry, you do not have to handle it. Time does the work for you. Plan ahead, this bread has to raise overnight (8 to 18 hours). I think this is one of the best tasting breads you can make! The long, slow rise and the addition of vinegar enhances the flavor. My mouth is watering just thinking about eating a warm, thick slice of this bread, slathered in butter! Incredibly delicious!
The original and revolutionary recipe for No-Knead Bread was made famous by Jim Lahey. The bread is also known as Dutch Oven Bread because…. it is typically baked in a Dutch Oven. If you don’t have a Dutch Oven, you can use any oven-safe to 450° pot that has an oven safe lid. If you don’t have a lid, you can cover the pot tightly with heavy duty tin foil. A 4–5-quart soup pot will also work.
Simplified No-Knead Slow Rise Bread
Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose or bread flour
- ¼ teaspoon instant (fast acting)
- 1½ teaspoons salt
- 1 ¼ cups warm water
- 1 tablespoon apple cider or white vinegar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine flour, yeast and salt.
- Combine water, vinegar, and oil. Add to dry ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until well mixed. Be sure there are no dry pockets of flour. It is ok to add a little water, one tablespoon at a time, to pick up any flour left in the bottom of the bowl. The dough should be shaggy and sticky.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap and rest at least 8 hours or up to 18 hours, at warm room temperature (around 70°).
- Grease a 4-to-5-quart Dutch oven with butter or shortening and line the bottom with a circle of parchment paper.
- Once the dough has risen, using a plastic dough scraper or spatula, release dough from sides of bowl and turn over in the bowl onto itself several times. I find it helpful to spray the spatula with non-stick cooking spray first to keep it from sticking to the dough. Continue to do this for about 15 seconds, rotating the bowl quarter turns.
- “Plop” it into the prepared pan, using the spatula to shape it into a rough ball.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let raise two hours.
- Remove the plastic wrap, cover the pot and place in a cold oven.
- Heat oven to 400° convection. Bake for 30 minutes, starting timing as soon as you turn on the oven.
- After 30 minutes, remove lid and continue to cook 15-20 minutes until loaf is nicely browned and registers 200°.
- Transfer bread to wire rack to cool completely.