EB Wilson asked:
>Meanwhile, has anyone tried the no-knead method for other than the
>"boule" configuration? Baguettes, batards, rolls, etc.? Let us know.
I have made all kinds of no-knead bread with many different
additions, nuts, dried fruit, potato, onion, cheese, garlic and
soaked grains. I tried baguettes and they tasted good, but didn't
rise well. I have also tried sourdough, but didn't like the
flavour. I will try them again.
To make rolls, I used the recipe for Crunchy Wheat Rolls from Van
Over's Best Bread Ever. I first made them according to his
directions using the food processor. They were disappointing, denser
and smaller than I expected. That could be because of my technique
and not because of the recipe.
I tried the recipe again using the no-knead method. These rose
better, had a softer crumb and a crisper crust.
To figure out how much water to use, I calculated the hydration at
80% for the white and graham flours, and 90% for the home milled
whole wheat flour. I soaked the cracked wheat in water for 30 minutes
or so, then drained it. Everything was mixed together and left to
ferment for 19 hours. I gave 3 stretch and folds at the beginning of
the ferment, one every half hour. I stretch and fold by lightly
moistening the counter, dumping the dough onto it, stretching it out,
and letter folding west, east, then north, south. After the 19 hours,
I dumped the dough onto a counter, divided it into 12 equal pieces,
about 100 grams each. I shaped these into balls by folding the edges
into the center, then I rolled them to tighten the outside
surface. I put them on a half sheet pan sprinkled with semolina to
proof for 1.5 to 2 hours. I put the pan into a 475 F oven, put
boiling water into a pan on the bottom shelf of the oven, turned the
heat down to 450 F and baked them for 10 minutes. I removed them
from the pan and finished baking on bricks for another 10 minutes.
Next time I may leave them in the pan for the entire bake and just
rotate the pan at half time.
I changed only the amounts of water and yeast used in the original
recipe. The salt is only 1.5%, not the usual 2%.
500 grams all purpose flour
125 grams whole wheat flour
30 grams graham flour
1 tablespoon wheat germ
85 grams cracked wheat
539 grams water
scant 1/4 tsp instant yeast
10 grams salt
Dave Glaze