The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2011
«  
  »

No-Knead Artisan Bread & a GIVEAWAY!

No-Knead Artisan Bread

Alright, you self-professed yeast-challenged bakers out there, this post is for YOU. :) After this, there will be NO excuse left to bake great bread, and with basically no real effort on your end. Yes, you read right. What is it called? No-knead bread, and it was first made popular in “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day“. The book is written in a way that makes it very accessible even to people who haven’t tried their hand at bread baking before, and the recipes are equally straight-forward. All around a good book for somebody who would like to enjoy home-made bread without the challenge that many people perceive it to be.

OK, so granted this is not the cure-all and you can still try and produce bricks, but it will be much, much harder. :) I resort to no-knead bread when I have absolutely NO time to do it any other way, and the results are great. If you have a spoon, a bowl and a refrigerator, you can do it, too! (And you need an oven, of course!)

No-Knead Artisan Bread

No-Knead Artisan Bread

If I want things to go fast, I bake this bread in my lidded clay pots. They can be procured easily either at a kitchen store or online, for example at Amazon.com. My two have a lower half that is glazed, which will prevent for example chicken grease from leaching into the clay pores if you are using them for something other than bread baking.

My go-to recipe in “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day” is their “master” recipe, which I modified to include rye meal. Rye flour makes any white bread SO much tastier. Try it out for yourself!

Because I want to spread the joy and encourage y’all to overcome your apprehensions about yeasted breads (you know who you are), I have decided to give away a copy of “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day”. Whether you are a serious bread baker and want to get into this style of bread, or whether you just want to start baking bread, I’d encourage you to add this book to your library. Until 5/13/2012, enter to win by

  • commenting on this post and telling me WHY you would like to win it.
    liking my Facebook fan page at http://www.facebook.com/germanfoodie and telling me there why you would like to win it.
  • following me on Twitter at @thegermanfoodie and telling me why would like to win it.
  • repinning this post on Pinterest with an explanation why you would want the book.

I will randomly select a winner on 5/14/2012, so be sure I have what I need to contact you when you enter.

So, do you like baking bread? Do you find it challenging? Why would you want to win this book?

5.0 from 3 reviews

Print
No-Knead Artisan Bread/Sofie’s Modified No-Knead Master Recipe
Author: 
Recipe type: Bread, Side
 

My go-to recipe in “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day” is their “master” recipe, which I modified to include rye meal. Rye flour makes any white bread SO much tastier. Try it out for yourself!
Ingredients
  • 3 cups lukewarm water
  • 1½ tablespoons granulated yeast
  • 1½ tablespoons salt
  • 5 cups bread flour
  • 1½ cups rye meal (pumpernickel rye)

Instructions
Making the Dough
  1. Add the yeast and salt to the warm water in a 5-quart container. The water shouldn’t measure more than 100 F. (NOTE: You can always use cold water, then the rise will take longer.)
  2. Mix in the flours with a wooden spoon. Kneading is not necessary. If the flour becomes hard to incorporate, reach into the bowl with wet hands and press the mixture together.
  3. Cover the container with a lid or clear plastic wrap. The lid should not be airtight, like a screw-on lid. A lidded plastic bucket works great.
  4. Let the dough rise at room temperature until it begins to collapse, or for about 2 hours.
  5. Store in the fridge over night before using.
On Baking Day
  1. Measure out a 1-pound piece of dough. Shape it into a loose round by pulling the rims into one spot under the dough piece in order to achieve one smooth surface.
  2. Let the loaf rest on a pizza peel you have generously dusted with flour for about 40 minutes or until your finger leaves a visible indent in the dough when pressed slightly (the dough should not spring back immediately).
  3. About 20 minutes before your loaf has finished rising, preheat the oven to 450 F. Place a pizza stone on the middle rack and a flat metal container on the oven shelf below it.
  4. Dust the bread with flour and score with a serrated knife or razor blade and slide onto the pizza stone with a quick forward motion.
  5. Pour one cup of cold water into your steam pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until the internal temperature of the loaf reaches 200 F and the loaf is a deep golden brown.
  6. The remaining dough will store in your fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Notes
1. Instead of a pizza peel, baking stone and a steam pan you can use a lidded clay pot for baking, preferably one with a glazed lower half. Spray that half with cooking spray and let the bread proof in the container after shaping. 2. If using a lidded clay pot, place the pot in the oven before preheating to 450 F. Baking times will extend to up to 60 minutes. Steam water is not necessary as the bread will be “steamed” within the pot by the evaporating water trapped under the lid. 3. When removing the clay pot from the oven, take care not to place it onto a cold surface immediately – the glaze will develop hairline fractures. Place it briefly on top of your stove, then turn the bread onto a cooling rack. 4. Let the bread cool COMPLETELY before cutting it.

WordPress Recipe Plugin by EasyRecipe

No-Knead Artisan Bread

Share
May 7th, 2012 | Tags: , , , , , | Category: Baking, Book Review, Bread/Bread Baking, Food Photography, GIVEAWAY, Recipe, Technique

65 comments to No-Knead Artisan Bread & a GIVEAWAY!