Recipe: No-Knead Bread

Adapted from The New York Times
(Published November 8, 2006)

Time

About 1½ hours plus 20 hours’ rising

Yield

One 1½-pound loaf.

Hardware

• Mixing bowl
• Large spoon
• Measuring spoons
• Plastic wrap
• Silicone mat
• Non-terry cloth towel
• Cast iron or ceramic pot with lid (> 3 quarts)

Software

• 3 cups of bread flour; more for dusting
• ¼ teaspoon of instant or active dry yeast
• 1¼ teaspoons of salt
• Lukewarm water

Procedure

1. In the mixing bowl, combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1⅝ cups water and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest for 18 hours at about 70 ℉.
2. Sprinkle a bit of flour on the silicone mat and place dough on it; sprinkle the dough with a little more flour and fold it over on itself a few times. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes on the mat.
3. Wet your hands and gently yet quickly shape dough into a ball. Put dough seam side down on the mat and dust with more flour. Cover with the towel and let rise for 2 hours.
4. Heat oven to 450 ℉. Put pot in oven as it heats. After 30 minutes, carefully remove pot from oven. Turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack for a half-hour.

To re-crisp the crust after the bread has cooled, bake in 350 ℉ oven for 10 minutes.