This is a great recipe for first time bakers. It is called a pre-fermenting method. The resulting bread has an “artisan” bread feel and texture and is, for the most part, a no-fail recipe. You will need a dutch oven. I use a cast iron one from some of my vintage cast iron, but you can use enameled cast iron or even a glass casserole dish with a cover. I use organic flours and still save lots of money. I estimate that my cost is just over one dollar a loaf compared to the $5 or $6 loaves of organic rustic bread that can be purchased from bakeries.
Ingredients
4 cups all purpose flour
½ teaspoon granulated yeast
1 ½ teaspoons salt
2 ½ cups water
corn meal
In a large bowl, combine flour, yeast and salt. Add water and mix. Dough will be on the sticky side. Cover bowl with plastic wrap or several towels to seal. Allow dough to sit over night preferably for 12 to 15 hours at room temperature (be sure the room is not too cold). Sprinkle the bottom of your dutch oven pan with corn meal. Add dough. Allow to rise for 2 hours. Preheat oven to 450 F. I keep my pan near the stove so it starts to take on the heat. Some people like to raise the dough a second time in the bowl and actually heat the dutch oven in a regular oven for 30 minutes at 450F. This is up to you. Either way works to create a great bread.
Bake with lid on for 35 minutes. Remove lid turn oven down to 350F and continue to bake for another 25 minutes. Remove from oven to cool. Remove from dutch oven after the bread is cooled. Do not cut until completely cooled. If you store your bread in a plastic bag you will lose that crispy crust. So it is best to store in a paper bag. But don’t worry; it will get eaten so fast you probably won’t have to store it at all.
I find that if I make this at night before I go to bed, it is ready to bake when I get home from work and my family just loves it.
You can create variations of this bread by adding caraway seed and substituting 2 cups of rye flour for 2 of the 4 cups of all purpose flour. I have heard that no knead overnight recipes never work well with whole wheat flour well I am here to tell you that it just is not true. If substituting heavy flours without gluten, be sure to add ½ to ¾ cup gluten flour to your flour mix. I used 2 ½ cups all purpose flour, 1 cup whole wheat flour and ½ cup vital gluten flour in the bread pictures accompanying this article. Good luck and happy baking.
Ingredients
4 cups all purpose flour
½ teaspoon granulated yeast
1 ½ teaspoons salt
2 ½ cups water
corn meal
In a large bowl, combine flour, yeast and salt. Add water and mix. Dough will be on the sticky side. Cover bowl with plastic wrap or several towels to seal. Allow dough to sit over night preferably for 12 to 15 hours at room temperature (be sure the room is not too cold). Sprinkle the bottom of your dutch oven pan with corn meal. Add dough. Allow to rise for 2 hours. Preheat oven to 450 F. I keep my pan near the stove so it starts to take on the heat. Some people like to raise the dough a second time in the bowl and actually heat the dutch oven in a regular oven for 30 minutes at 450F. This is up to you. Either way works to create a great bread.
Bake with lid on for 35 minutes. Remove lid turn oven down to 350F and continue to bake for another 25 minutes. Remove from oven to cool. Remove from dutch oven after the bread is cooled. Do not cut until completely cooled. If you store your bread in a plastic bag you will lose that crispy crust. So it is best to store in a paper bag. But don’t worry; it will get eaten so fast you probably won’t have to store it at all.
I find that if I make this at night before I go to bed, it is ready to bake when I get home from work and my family just loves it.
You can create variations of this bread by adding caraway seed and substituting 2 cups of rye flour for 2 of the 4 cups of all purpose flour. I have heard that no knead overnight recipes never work well with whole wheat flour well I am here to tell you that it just is not true. If substituting heavy flours without gluten, be sure to add ½ to ¾ cup gluten flour to your flour mix. I used 2 ½ cups all purpose flour, 1 cup whole wheat flour and ½ cup vital gluten flour in the bread pictures accompanying this article. Good luck and happy baking.
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