No-knead bread is a type of bread made without kneading the dough, popularized by Mark Bittman. The dough is left to rest for 8-14 hours before being baked, resulting in a springy texture. Basic ingredients include flour, salt, yeast, and water. The bread is baked at 450°F for 30-45 minutes.
No-knead bread is bread that is made without kneading, as the name suggests. Various cultures have a tradition of making no-knead bread that dates back centuries, although the French probably have the finest tradition of no-knead bread. New York Times columnist Mark Bittman popularized the concept of no-knead bread in the United States, attracting a lot of attention and a furore of commentary on the recipe.
Bread is kneaded for a reason: to encourage the gluten in the flour to stretch, developing long chains instead of loafing, softening, inside the dough. As the dough is kneaded, it works the gluten, pulling in the desired chains and generating a dough with a springy texture that will develop into a springy loaf. However, the same goal can be achieved by whisking the ingredients together in the bread and letting it sit undisturbed for 8-14 hours.
Many bakers are familiar with the trick of reducing the kneading time and lengthening the rising time if they don’t feel like kneading for the recommended 20 minutes, but with no-knead bread, there’s no need to knead at all. The ingredients are blended to form a sloppy dough which is covered and allowed to rest until it develops a bubbly surface, before being made into a loaf, dumped into a pan, allowed to rise for another 3 to 4 hours, and then baked.
The ingredients of basic no-knead bread are: three cups (400 grams) of flour, one and a half teaspoons (7 grams) of salt, one-quarter teaspoon (one gram) of instant yeast, and one and a half cups ( 375 milliliters) of water. If instant yeast isn’t available, regular active dry yeast can be used, although many people recommend trying it in a small amount of water with a dash of sugar. The ingredients should be mixed together to create a loose dough which can be transferred to an oiled bowl and covered with a damp towel or plastic sheet for the resting process.
The no-knead bread is baked in a 450-degree Fahrenheit (232-degree Celsius) oven until the loaf sounds hollow when tapped, which can take anywhere from 30 to 45 minutes. Many people recommend using a preheated, oiled heavy loaf pan for no-knead bread and covering the pan for the first half of baking to encourage the development of a dense, chewy crust, creating a more rustic loaf of bread.
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