You Need No-Knead Bread

Liz is no Lucy. And as a result? Neither was I.

The oven door (and everything else in the area) remained intact through the first-ever Other Such Kitchen bread-making.

The bread was amazingly easy. And amazingly delicious. And, not-so-amazingly, half gone by the end of the evening.

I’ve Googled for the author of the original recipe so I can credit it appropriately, but can’t seem to remember from whence my friend told me this one originates. There are several sources (like over at The New York Times) for “no-knead bread 4 hours” and “speedy no-knead bread.” (Liz, if you have a name/website/link, send it to me or post it in a comment and and I’ll revise with a credit!)

Anywho.

It’s this easy:

3 cups bread flour
1 packet instant yeast
1.5 tsp salt
1.5 cups water
Oil, as needed

Combine the flour, yeast, salt, and water in a bowl until the ingredients are a big, gummy mess of a dough ball.

You’ll reach a point in the ‘combining’ where you wonder Seriously? Is this gooey, kinda stringy mass what this should look like? You may even want to text Liz with a picture of the dough to make sure you’re on the verge of bread-awesomeness. Assuming you don’t have her number, just compare your dough-ball to mine:

Yes. It should look weird. Misshapen. Gooish. Stringy. A lump that only a baker could love.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and walk away from it for 4 hours. Let it grow in peace. Like a flour child. (That was weak of me. And yet, I am unable to exercise any backspace control over myself.)

At 3 hours, 45 minutes:

• preheat the oven to 450°

At 4 hours (or once the oven has reached 450°):

• uncover the bread, lightly brush the top with a little oil, fold the dough over on itself two times, and then loosely recover the bowl with the plastic wrap and leave it alone to rest for another 30 minutes
• place a 2-4 quart pot (I used a 2.something-quart Corningware dish but a Dutch Oven or similar would be great for this–nothing with plastic handles, though) in the oven for 30 minutes, empty, so that it gets nice and HOT

At 4.5 hours:

• remove pot from oven, brush oil on the interior surface of the pot (expect some sizzle), and then plop your big dough ball in the middle of the pot. Place a lid on the pot and return it to the oven for 30 minutes.

At 5 hours:

• remove lid and bake for 15 minutes more.

At 5.25 hours:

Let cool while you scamper about for a bread knife and butter and some self-control.

Seriously. Fantastically crunchy crust and warm, chewy middle.

Next time, I’m trying a wheat flour variation. And probably tossing in some jalapeño slices. And/or garlic.

I will be making this bread again. And again. And again. And again. And also? Again.

Printable shorthand version of recipe: No-Knead Bread

Thank you, Liz! (And whoever/wherever from which this one originates!)