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Almost No-knead Bread

Reggie Dwork <reggie@jeff-and-reggie.com>
Wed, 07 Aug 2019 17:34:20 -0700
v119.n032.6
* Exported from MasterCook *

                           Bread, Almost No-knead

Recipe By     :Cook's Country
Serving Size  : 12    Preparation Time :0:00
Categories    : Bread                           Bread-Bakers Mailing List
                 Fatfree                         Posted
                 Slow Cooker

   Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
   3               cups  all-purpose flour -- (15 ozs)
   1 1/2      teaspoons  salt
      1/4      teaspoon  instant yeast -- or rapid-rise yeast
      3/4           cup  water -- room temperature, plus
   2        tablespoons  water
   6        tablespoons  lager -- mild-flavored
   1         tablespoon  distilled white vinegar
                         Vegetable oil spray

To avoid lengthy and tiresome kneading, we let our bread dough sit 
for 8 to 18 hours, during which a process called autolysis develops 
gluten - the protein that gives baked breads their bubbly, chewy 
crumb structure. After that, just 15 seconds of kneading does the 
trick. To give our bread more flavor than standard no-knead recipes, 
we add vinegar for acidic tang and lager beer for extra yeastiness. 
We bake the bread in a covered pot to create steam, producing a 
springy interior, and then finish baking it uncovered for a 
beautifully browned crust.

Makes: 1 large round loaf

Note: Use a mild-flavored lager, such as Budweiser (mild nonalcoholic 
lager also works). In step 3, start the 30-minute timer as soon as 
you put the bread in the cold oven. Do not wait until the oven has 
preheated to start your timer or the bread will burn. The bread is 
best eaten the day it is baked, but it can be wrapped in aluminum 
foil and stored in a cool, dry place for up to two days.

Whisk flour, salt, and yeast together in large bowl. Add water, 
lager, and vinegar. Using rubber spatula, fold mixture, scraping up 
dry flour from bottom of bowl until shaggy ball forms. Cover bowl 
with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for at least 8 
hours or up to 18 hours.

Lay 18 by 12" sheet of parchment paper on counter and spray with oil 
spray. Transfer dough to lightly floured counter and knead 10 to 15 
times. Shape dough into ball by pulling edges into middle. Transfer 
dough, seam side down, to center of parchment and spray surface of 
dough with oil spray. Pick up dough by lifting parchment overhang and 
lower into heavy-bottomed Dutch oven (let any excess parchment hang 
over pot edge). Cover loosely with plastic and let rise at room 
temperature until dough has doubled in size and does not readily 
spring back when poked with finger, about 2 hours.

Adjust oven rack to middle position. Remove plastic from pot. Lightly 
flour top of dough and, using razor blade or sharp knife, make one 6" 
long, 1/2" deep slit along top of dough. Cover pot and place in oven. 
Heat oven to 425F. Bake bread for 30 minutes (starting timing as soon 
as you turn on oven).

Remove lid and continue to bake until loaf is deep brown and 
registers 210F, 20 to 30 minutes longer. Carefully remove bread from 
pot; transfer to wire rack and let cool completely, about 2 hours.

Review: I made this recipe for the first time over the last two days. 
I did one white and one whole wheat loaf. The bread is perfect. I 
didn't line the pan with parchment. I sprayed it with oil instead. 
I've made no-knead before with the hot pan method, I usually had a 
big fail trying to get the dough into a hot pan. On the left is white 
bread and the right is whole wheat. The loaves are about the same 
size, even though the WW one was much smaller when it went into the 
oven. I have a large oven, so I was able to bake both loaves at the same time.

Review: I didn't have white distilled vinegar substituted apple cider 
vinegar. Found the white distilled vinegar the next morning while I 
was baking the bread. It came out great.

Review: turned out great my first time! i used sunflower oil on the 
parchment and wiped off excess. I burned the bottom a little because 
I wasn't sure which rack to use in the oven (I used the lowest or 
maybe it's the oil i used) so i'll try one higher. also, I used 
regular "active dry yeast" and soaked it in warmishwater 5 to 10 min 
per package instructions instead of rapid rise. I counted to 15 while 
kneading with a floured counter and the dough got less sticky and 
more manageable. i let the 2nd rise take place in the (cold) oven 
since it's cold here.

Review: I find using a bit more flour helps...using 15 and 3/4 ounces 
for now...could go to 16 ounces I think. The dough is still fairly 
sticky in the knead before the final rise and the extra flour tames 
(but does not eliminate) that. I have made this about a dozen times 
using KA AP flour Also--my gas over is pretty slow, so my lid-on 
first bake stage is for 37 minutes, then I take it off. In the 
picture below, I left it in slightly too long--forgot to set a timer 
and so my nose directed me to pull it out.

Question: My bread came out of the oven with a crisp crusty but got 
soggy as it cooled. How do I avoid this?
Response: I've made this bread dozens of times and the crust has 
never gotten soggy; I'm assuming you removed the bread from the pot 
and cooled it on a rack as shown in step 10 above? I'm stumped, 
sorry, and sorry that your bread was less than perfect.

Question: I know I'm late to the game with this but I had a similar 
problem. My bread came out of the oven and was very crisp, but after 
it cooled it had lost a lot of that crispness. I wouldn't call it 
soggy but the difference in texture was noticeable. I did remove the 
parchment and cooled it on a rack. Here's my question. My bread was 
getting very dark and I removed it from the oven when it was 207 
degrees, I thought "close enough". Would removing it before it 
reached 210 degrees leave too much moisture in the loaf causing it to 
soften as it cooled?
Response: All bread crusts will soften when they're wrapped for 
storage, but I'm assuming you are saying yours softened as it cooled, 
uncovered, on the counter? This is a mystery to us--sorry! I make 
this bread frequently and often pull it (because the top is getting 
dark) in the 205-210 range, and have never had your problem. 
Hopefully it still tastes good! Thanks.

Review: I used IPA instead of lager, was great! I did not use oil 
spray on the parchment because it added an unpleasant taste to the 
bottom crust. Instead I just covered the paper with corn meal...no 
sticking and no off taste.

Question: I am pathetically grateful to Cooks Country for this 
recipe. All of my 66 years, I have taken flour, water, salt & 
yeast...& turned it into paving stones. NO MORE! This bread is 
foolproof! But I have a question. My beloved likes whole grain 
breads, so how would I go about substituting whole wheat flour for 
regular flour? SO many thanks!!!

Response: We have a recipe that uses 2 cups (10 oz.) all-purpose 
flour and 1 cup (5.5 oz.) whole wheat flour, but we've never 
officially tested using more whole wheat flour than that. Personally, 
I make this bread with a 50-50 ratio of the two flours and it comes 
out well but a little more squat. Hope that's helpful. Thanks for 
your question.

Review: I make this recipe frequently, too - my kids love it. We 
didn't test doubling to make a big boule, but our bread expert thinks 
it would take some tinkering with the rising and baking times, and 
maybe the amount of yeast, to get good results. If you try it, please 
let us know how it goes. Happy bread-making, and thanks.

Review: I was anxious about doubling a yeast recipe, so I cheated- I 
just made two recipes separately, and combined the dough in the 
kneading. This time the rise was HUGE. So much fun. I used my 8 quart 
round pot, cooked covered, for 45 minutes. Then 20 minutes uncovered. 
That got me deep brown and 210. Very happy how it looks. Last time I 
thought the taste was a little plain, so this time I used Killians 
Red Ale and table salt (instead of kosher). It's still cooling, so 
we'll see. I see a liverwurst sandwich in my future .

Review: Oh yeah. This is great. I used my steam oven at 400 degrees 
for 25 minutes. It eliminated the Dutch oven. So good.

Question: What size of Dutch oven?
Response: I've used a Lodge 5-quart and 10-quart cast iron Dutch 
oven. The 5-quart gives a taller loaf.

Question: Is there a substitute for the beer or can it be left out? 
Oncologist says absolutely no alcohol, even "no alcohol" has some in it.
Response:  I promise you that there's no alcohol left in this after 
nearly an hour in a hot oven. The yeast in the beer, which is similar 
to bread yeast, simply makes the bread taste breadier. If you leave 
it out, it will be considerably more bland. You may want to 
investigate the original Least recipe which inspired this adaptation. 
In fact, you should read the article that accompanies this recipe 
because it has many of these details. But if you insist on leaving 
out the beer, simply replace the moisture with an equal amount of 
water. By the way, why are you not running this recipe by your 
oncologist if you're really concerned about it? That seems like a 
much better bet.

Question: I' ve done this recipe about 50 times and saw the change in 
the instructions a year or so ago but haven't followed them because 
I've gotten great results with the original instructions. One 
clarification that I need to try this set of instructions. Step 8 
says start with a cold oven. I get that. But it says to bake for 30 
minutes. Is their 30 minutes from putting the bread in the oven or 30 
minutes from the oven registering 425 degrees?
Response: 30 minutes from when you put the bread in the oven.

Review: I made this bread today. I put the bread in a cold oven set 
the oven to 425 and baked it for 30 minutes. Then I I took off the 
lid and bake it for another 30 minutes. Came out great.

S(Internet address):
   https://www.cookscountry.com/recipes/8101-almost-no-knead-bread
                                     - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 117 Calories; trace Fat (2.5% 
calories from fat); 3g Protein; 24g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 
0mg Cholesterol; 268mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 1 1/2 Grain(Starch); 0 
Lean Meat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

NOTES : 2019 - 0807