So for this I have tried my second ever attempt at bread (the first was a horrible failure - the bread could only be used as a weapon considering how hard it was). This recipe is ridiculusly simple, and with a resting time of 20 hours I could easily do with my schedule (not like 2 hour resting time, and then I have to stay up until 2am to cook bread).
The result - yum! Not the best bread ever, but as Ryan put it 'I would be happy if they served me this in a restaurant'. That seems to bode well? I think my bread did not rise far enough - I am blaming this on my yeast which is bread machine yeast (thats what I usually use!). I will try this recipe again with different yeast later.
Another thing I discovered is that my oven is too hot! I got an oven thermometer for Christmas and stuffed it into my oven. 20 degrees too high! Makes sense why I keep burning things.
Photo lessons of the day? Manual focus is hard. I couldn't get auto focus to work so I tried focusing manually. Looked fine on the camera but it was completely off on the computer. The posted photo is the only auto focus one that I took. Whoops.
No Knead Bread
Adapted from Cooking for Geeks
Ingredients
3-3.5 cups All-purpose white flour (390g)
1.25 cups water (300g)
1 tsp salt (7g)
1 teaspoon instant yeast (5g)
The night before you want to make bread, mix up all the ingredients until the flour is moist. This shouldn't take very long since there is a lot of water used in the recipe. Cover with plastic wrap in a non-metal bowl and let rest at room temperature for about 20 hours (I did 23 hours).
Put a cast iron pot into your oven and preheat it to 450 degrees (I left the lid out, was that okay?). Put the dough on a floured surface and fold a couple of times. Let sit for 15 minutes (mine sat for 20....). Shape into a round loaf shape and place on a floured cloth towel. Let rise to double in size (mine only 1.5ed in a reasonable length of time). Plop the bread into the cast iron pot and bake with the lid on for 30 minutes. Take the lid off and bake for an additional 15 minutes (I did 10 because I realized that my oven is too hot). Viola! Bread!
I use SAF instant yeast and I *love* it. I order it through King Arthur Flour, keep most in the freezer, and store a small amount in the fridge for easier access.
ReplyDeleteEnough of the internet seems to think bread machine yeast = instant yeast that I'm willing to believe them. If you normally add the yeast in with the dry ingredients, then you shouldn't have to treat it differently outside of the bread machine. Just don't believe anyone who tells you active dry or rapid rise is the same as instant; it is not.
Yep, SAF instant. I found mine at the natural foods co-op in town, and I also keep mine in the freezer. I've also had good luck with Red Star instant/bread machine yeast in the glass jar. Just look for citric acid in the ingredients - that is what instant/bread machine yeast requires.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the recommendation.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/Saf-Yeast-Instant-Yeast-16-oz/dp/B0001CXUHW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1294341423&sr=8-1 <-- is this the right one? I'll make more bread so I want to get some. That amount is a little bit intense-I would look for something smaller.
That's the one. I order it by the pound; not sure I've seen smaller. Just store it in the freezer, and it'll last you a long time.
ReplyDeleteYou might find this article interesting: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipe/yeast.html
ReplyDelete