Tips For Baking No Knead Bread in a Dutch Oven

Simple white bread is made up of flour, salt, yeast and water.  Most of the No-knead recipes I found called for three cups of flour.  I was led to believe that I needed a large, 5 or 6 quart Dutch oven to bake it, but it turns out a 3 or 4 quart pan works just fine.  There is no need to splurge on a big pot.

In fact, a smaller pot will require the bread to bake upwards for a taller loaf.  A bigger pan means a shorter, round loaf.

Most No-Knead recipes give amounts for one loaf of bread.  The book "The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day", written by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois, gives a basic bread dough recipe which can be saved in the refrigerator.  It seems similar to the old "sourdough" bread with starter that I used to have, except the dough is ready to go.  

The video below shows how to mix the bread and store it, but they say to bake the loaves on a pizza peel or baking stone with water added to a pan below.  I think you could just as easily put a loaf into your Dutch oven to bake.  A Dutch oven creates its own moisture within the sealed pot and gives the bread the nice crust.  

The video does not give measurements because they want you to buy their book!  The link is below, and you can "look inside" to see if it's something you really want to have.

Everyone wants cooking to be quick these days.  People are busy, and feeding families over and over, day in and day out, gets tiring.  I know this first hand.  The "Five Minute" bread book draws us in because five minutes is quick!  Of course, bread cannot be made in five minutes.  The process of making the dough, and having it ready to bake, is the five minute promise.  

I do like the idea of having dough in the fridge which can be pulled out, let sit, and bake.  This is what the authors offer.  Once your bread dough is made, it's that simple.

Besides storage containers for flour, and basic measuring cups, you will need a large bowl, or 6 quart container for larger amounts of dough, to mix the dough and let it rise.  A Danish dough whisk will combine the ingredients easiest by hand.  If you have a standing mixer, use the dough hook.

Whether you save the dough for later in the fridge, or use the single loaf method, after it rises (usually 8-24 hours), it will be shaped and allowed to rise again.

When it's time to shape the loaf, put the dough on a pastry sheet or a cutting board covered with flour. I prefer to use a big cutting board because it's nice and sturdy.  You could also use a flat, stone baking pan if you have one.  This is when the bench knife is used to lift the dough to help with shaping.  Fold the dough over itself to form a ball.

Like everything on the internet, be wise in discerning the real from the fake.  Many bread baking recipes call for using parchment paper.  I was baking my first loaf of bread on parchment paper in my LeCrueset oven when I looked at the writing on the roll of parchment paper.  It said to use in oven up to 400 degrees!  This bread bakes at 450.  If parchment paper is not to be used as such a high heat, why are they saying to use it?

The truth is that the bread plops right out of the Dutch oven easily without the use of paper.

Kneading bread is time-consuming and takes muscles!  I've done it.  No wonder the "no-knead" method is so enticing.  This bread is very basic though.  That means it does not have a ton of flavor.  But, variations of the bread can include herbs and spices, with nuts and seeds and more to create a more flavorful food.  

Once the bread dough is removed from the bowl and ready to bake, let the dough remnants left in the bowl dry up so they can be scraped off into the trash.  Sticky dough is difficult to rinse down the drain and could clog up the pipes.

I am a big proponent of utilizing the freezer.  I am a single person, cooking for me only.  The fact that I can make a meal, or a loaf of bread, meant for four or more people, means I can freeze leftovers for later use.

Actually, I eat very little bread.  But I do enjoy toast with my breakfast and rolls with my soup.  Occasionally I crave some bread.  The fact that I can whip up a simple loaf, slice it and freeze most of it, is very appealing. 

Homemade bread does not stay good for long.  By the second day you should slice the bread and freeze whatever you won't eat in freezer bags so you are able to remove one or two slices at a later  time.

There are many bread-baking videos on YouTube and I like the idea of watching someone actually make bread.  A blogger can say they have tried the recipe, but who actually knows?  I've read blogs written by people who are looking to make money and not really sharing helpful and good recipes. For them it's all about the money.  True foodies will share real recipes and helpful tips so the reader will create good food.  If they make money on top of that, good for them.

Steve Gamelin is one person who goes step by step through the process of making this simple bread dough.  He offers helpful tips and has cookbooks available as well.  The video is a bit long-winded but he does have good tips to share.

The whole point of no-knead bread is to have an easy-to-make loaf.  It's not necessarily healthy, but serves the purpose if you make a meal that requires an accompanying slice of crusty bread.  

For those who want to branch out from the basic recipe there are cookbooks with loads of ideas for rolls, flavored bread, and desserts.