My No-Knead Dutch-Oven Bread Pastiche Recipe

My recipe is a pastiche of about 5 other ones out there, but I started here: http://food.ipstenu.org/2016/need-knead-bread/ – that’s my friend’s recipe. Hers is a 4-hour rise only!

The one I use now is 12 to 18 hours’ rise. I put the dough together at night, and bake it about 16 to 18 hours later. I find it’s a little less dense.

I use a 5 qt Lodge Dutch Oven to bake. You could use any oven-safe larger container with a cover, but I bet a cast iron dutch oven helps with heat uniformity. (A good thing, because my oven itself isn’t that uniform). If you use a cast iron Dutch oven, you’re going to need parchment paper. Get the kind on rolls, not individual sheets – they’re not big enough.

Ingredients:

(all measurements are U.S. standard)

• 3 cups bread flour
• 2.5 teaspoons salt
• 1.5 to 2 teaspoons active dry yeast. (most recipes call for a little less but I didn’t get a great rise with less.
• 1.5 cups of warm tap water (110 – 115° Fahrenheit)
• To use after dough has risen: some cornmeal or semolina – about 1/8th cup.
• 1 egg for egg wash

Directions:

• In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients. I like to sift them together – you can use an actual sifter, or a sieve.
  In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients. I like to sift them together – you can use an actual sifter, or a sieve.
  (If you’re adding in herbs, spices or other flavors, this is where you’d do it)
• Slowly add water and mix until you have a “shaggy” dough. It should look like this:

• Cover your bowl with plastic wrap & put it in a warm-ish spot for 12-18 hours. It will about double in size, and get some bubbles in it.
• When you’re ready to bake, put your Dutch oven/casserole dish in your oven, and preheat it to 450° Fahrenheit.
• While your oven is heating, beat your egg in a bowl or cup. Put a sheet of parchment paper on your work surface and spread the cornmeal or semolina on it. Gently dump your dough onto the surface, and pull up on the 4 sides of it and join in the middle, like you’re folding a package: right side, left side, bottom, then top. Then brush the egg wash over the top surface – it’ll help with getting nice browning.
• When your oven is up to temperature, take your dutch oven out of the oven – it will be very hot! Lift up your parchment paper by the 4 corners and basically drop it into the dutch oven. Cover, and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the cover, and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes.
• Take it out, cool it until you can touch it to cut it, and eat!

Additions I’ve tried so far: garlic powder (about 1.5 teaspoons. 2 is too much), dried basil, dried parsley. My next add in will be cheese. I’m going to try olives at some point but that will be for me, only so it’ll be a selfish loaf!