Variations on New York Times No Knead. (NYTNK)
Presenting Opportunity: Teach a group of kids in a Cooking School
class something about Breads of the World. The limiting factor was
class time: 2 hours one morning and 1.5 hours work time plus 30
minutes tasting the following morning. Pan-fried wheat and corn
based flat breads were easy choices. Much hands on with mixing,
rolling etc. Instant tasting gratification. However, wanted to
include a leavened bread and if possible contrast the flavors of
sourdough and baker's yeast breads.
It was also an opportunity to look at ways of fitting baking into
today's "busy schedule."
The "original NYTNK method" prescribed 12-18 hour fermentation,
then dump on counter, fold once or twice, rest 15 minutes, shape,
cover, 2 hour proof, preheat pan, carefully dump dough in hot pan and
bake. The handling during the "middle stages" conflicted with the
kids class schedule. In addition, one does not let kids near hazards
like hot pots, which also detracted from the kid's hands on
experience. Hence the experiments to find another way.
**********
Experiment 1: Purpose: Will a 24-hour, no handling, benign neglect
dough, yield good bread?
Mixed the NYTNK dough and placed directly into oiled Dutch oven. No
folding, no kneading. One dough started with 100 gms sourdough
culture in a 645 gm of flour dough (fills a 3.5 qt Dutch oven), the
other with 1/8 tsp instant baker's yeast in a 370 gm of flour dough
(fills a 2 qt. covered casserole dish.) Target hydration was 80% for
both. Fermented untouched for 24 hours at 75-77 F. Baked at 420 F
for 55 minute starting with cold oven. Baked with lid on for 35
minutes and lid off for 20.
Results: Good rise, good volume, medium sized holes, edible bread,
poor browning on top crust, good side and bottom crust. Both loaves
had pulled away from side wall with no sticking. Crumb very moist
and soft. Crumb was short on body and texture. Almost like that of
a "store bought" bread or bread made with shortening. The sourness
was well developed in loaf started with starter. The loaf started
with 1/8 tsp instant yeast had similar crumb and crust
characteristics. Both loaves made with 100% KA white bread flour.
**********
Experiment 2: Purpose: determine baking conditions to develop brown top crust.
Recipe that when proofed fills a 3.5 qt Dutch oven: 517 gm water
with 50 gm or less of sourdough starter, dispersed by mixing; add 645
gm white bread flour; 14 gm salt. Started with refrigerated
sourdough culture that had been fed 3 days earlier. Mix and let sit
for 20-30 minute autolyse. Then using Jim's technique from
http://home.att.net/~carlsfriends/jimpics/index.html and his short
video, lifted and folded the dough 8 times as in the video. I
counted folds rather than clock time. The autolyse and a few folds
helped developed the dough. Put in oiled Dutch oven, covered with
plastic film and lid, and fermented for 6 hours at 75-77 F and 3.5
hours at 88-92 F. Pushed the fermentation in order to bake same
day. Removed plastic film. Baked in 405 F preheated oven for 15
minutes with lid on and remaining time with lid off. Internal
temperature reached 204 F in 53 minutes. Dumped on cooling rack (no sticking.)
Result: Top, side and bottom crust well developed, brown,
crunchy. Crumb had texture and body. Sour taste moderately
developed. This resolved the top brown crust issue. The crumb
texture was better than experiment 1 loaf. The little bit of folding
improved the loaf. This is also a potential method for busy
folks. Key would be fermenting at a temperature that allowed one to
mix and then bake approximately 12 hours later (morning-evening or
evening-morning) with a fully proofed loaf.
**********
Experiment 3: Purpose: Will a 24-hour ferment with one post-mix 8X
fold produce a good loaf?
Same sourdough recipe as in experiment 2 except cut back on starter
to 30 gm in 645 gm flour. Mixed, 30-minute autolyse, 8 folds,
fermented 24 hours in oiled Dutch oven at 74-77 F. It overflowed the
pot by about a cup of airy dough. The proofed dough stuck to the
plastic wrap, removing it disturbed the surface structure, and some
gas was lost. Baked in a 400 F preheated oven for 15 minutes with
lid on. Reached 206 F at 55 minutes.
Results: good brown crust all surfaces, crumb texture had some body
and was chewy, flavor and sourness well developed. No oven spring as
dough was fully mature to over mature. Good medium size hole
development. Conclusion: this method will work with a 24 hour
between classes schedule. Need to adjust dough volume downward by
15% (include a little margin for error.) If not fitting a class
schedule other alternatives include: refrigerate to retard, move up
baking schedule, start with ice water and frozen flour. Remember to
treat top of fermenting dough with spray oil to keep plastic film
from sticking.
**********
CONCLUSION: With adjustments for dough volume, starting dough
temperature and fermentation temperature the NYTNK method is flexible
and yields good loaves with minimum of effort.
[Also posted at: http://www.bakersforums.com/index.php and
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Dr. G.
gvangelder@earthlink.net