In my 20s, I made bread quite often, but my recipes were developed purely by trial and error -- I didn't know about hydration and baker's ratios and all that. Nevertheless, I finally developed a couple of recipes that always turned out well for me, but they required long minutes of traditional kneading.
After a long hiatus from bread making, I read the New Yorker recipe for no-knead bread, and I made several batches. I learned I am not a fan of "artisan" bread like this. IMO, the crust is much too hard, the interior has large holes and the texture (to my mouth) is overly rubbery. On top of that, the free-form loaf is not as ideal for making toast and sandwiches as bread baked in a loaf pan.
I wondered if the no-knead method could be used to make bread with a softer crust, firm yet tender interior, and smaller holes that don't let butter leak through. In other words, I wanted a no-knead bread that is similar to the kneaded "sandwich" bread I used to make.
This seemed like a tall order, because nearly all of the recipes I found using a no-knead method are based on a "lean" dough -- no milk, no egg, little or no fat. Several internet articles stated the no-knead method is best suited for lean recipes, but they annoyingly didn't explain why. I started to wonder if these authors were merely parroting "facts" and "common wisdom" to get articles written for their blogs without any real science to back it up.
So I got busy. I made several batches of a no-knead recipe without any ingredient changes, but I used a baking method more typical of a sandwich bread.
Many no-knead recipes instruct you to bake the loaf in a preheated Dutch oven at 400F or so until the loaf has an internal temperature of 200-210F.
I baked my bread in a loaf pan in a preheated 375 F oven until the internal temp of the loaf was 190-195F. The loaf was cooled in the pan for about 10 minutes and then further cooled on a wire rack with an optional "tea towel" draped over the top to retain more moisture. The change in the baking method produced bread in the shape I wanted. The bread also had a nicely tender crust, but the interior was still coarse with large holes and too chewy.
I then altered this recipe by replacing the water with full fat milk and adding a few tablespoons of mild flavored oil. I got better keeping qualities and an even more tender crust. The interior of the loaf had a slightly finer crumb, but it was still more coarse and chewy than I wanted.
I then stumbled across an almost no-knead method that uses high-hydration recipes like most no-knead breads, but the authors briefly folded the dough during the long rise. This folding is simple and quick to do, unlike kneading, and the authors reported it did a lot to develop the gluten, make a finer crumb, and produce a taller rise in the oven. That was the final key I needed. After several batches, I am here to say a nice sandwich bread can indeed be made with an almost no-knead method.
The things that distinguish this almost no-knead sandwich loaf from its artisan brother --
Almost no-knead soft sandwich bread
Makes One 9x5 inch / 23x13 cm loaf
Ingredients
525 grams (18.5 oz) all purpose flour. Can substitute up to ~200 g of other flours if desired
3.5 grams (1/2 package or about 1 teaspoon) active dried yeast
8 grams salt (scant 2 teaspoons Morton kosher salt or about 1.5 teaspoons regular table salt)
425 grams (15 oz) lukewarm milk OR
370 grams (13 oz) lukewarm water OR
370 grams (13 oz) lukewarm water plus 55 grams buttermilk powder
1-2 Tablespoon sugar or honey
2 Tablespoons mild flavored oil
Method
Measure flour, sugar, yeast, salt, sugar (if using), and buttermilk powder (if using) into a large bowl. Mix well.
Add milk or water, oil, and honey (if using) to the flour mixture. Stir with a sturdy spatula until all ingredients are mixed into a shaggy, lumpy dough. Do not knead or fuss with the dough -- just get the ingredients mixed and then stop.
Cover dough with plastic film and let rise at room temperature for 12-16 hours. Either bake the loaf at that time, or put the dough in the refrigerator to rise for another day or two. A long rise in the refrigerator will develop desirable tangy flavors in the bread. A long rise at room temperature may result in off flavors.
About three times during the rise, use a spatula or your hands to fold the dough about 12 times. To fold, lift one edge of the dough and push it into the middle, turning the bowl after each fold so all parts of the dough get handled. When folding, leave the dough in the bowl, and do not add any flour. The folding requires very little effort and very little time -- just quickly get the dough folded about 12 times and stop. After each folding session, cover the dough and let it go back to rising again.
To finish the bread, sprinkle the counter with a small handful of flour and turn the dough out onto the flour. Fold the dough as described before with the aim of forming a tidy oblong loaf shape as best you can.
Place the shaped loaf into a greased 9 x 5 bread pan. Let the dough rise at room temperature until it is a scant 1 inch / 2.5 centimeters above the rim of the pan. At that point, preheat the oven to 375 F / 190 C (standard oven) or 350 F / 175 C (convection oven).
Slash the top of the loaf 3 or 4 times with a serrated knife right before putting the bread in the oven.
Bake the loaf for 35-45 minutes, turning it once about halfway through so the loaf browns evenly. Bread is done when the temperature in the center of the loaf is 190-195 F / 88-90 C.
If desired, cover the top of the loaf with butter. Let the bread cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, and then turn out onto a cooling rack. Cover lightly with a thin tea towel to soften the crust if you prefer. Let the bread cool to room temperature, and store in a closed container.
Proportions
100 parts flour
70 parts water
1.5 parts salt
0.7 part yeast
References
Bincy Chris, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIxAWabmkbc
Emma Christensen, thekitchn.com/noknead-bread-hack-how-to-make-105248
J. Kenji López-Alt, https://www.seriouseats.com/2011/06/...ead-dough.html
Brod and Taylor, https://brodandtaylor.com/blogs/reci...no-knead-bread
After a long hiatus from bread making, I read the New Yorker recipe for no-knead bread, and I made several batches. I learned I am not a fan of "artisan" bread like this. IMO, the crust is much too hard, the interior has large holes and the texture (to my mouth) is overly rubbery. On top of that, the free-form loaf is not as ideal for making toast and sandwiches as bread baked in a loaf pan.
I wondered if the no-knead method could be used to make bread with a softer crust, firm yet tender interior, and smaller holes that don't let butter leak through. In other words, I wanted a no-knead bread that is similar to the kneaded "sandwich" bread I used to make.
This seemed like a tall order, because nearly all of the recipes I found using a no-knead method are based on a "lean" dough -- no milk, no egg, little or no fat. Several internet articles stated the no-knead method is best suited for lean recipes, but they annoyingly didn't explain why. I started to wonder if these authors were merely parroting "facts" and "common wisdom" to get articles written for their blogs without any real science to back it up.
So I got busy. I made several batches of a no-knead recipe without any ingredient changes, but I used a baking method more typical of a sandwich bread.
Many no-knead recipes instruct you to bake the loaf in a preheated Dutch oven at 400F or so until the loaf has an internal temperature of 200-210F.
I baked my bread in a loaf pan in a preheated 375 F oven until the internal temp of the loaf was 190-195F. The loaf was cooled in the pan for about 10 minutes and then further cooled on a wire rack with an optional "tea towel" draped over the top to retain more moisture. The change in the baking method produced bread in the shape I wanted. The bread also had a nicely tender crust, but the interior was still coarse with large holes and too chewy.
I then altered this recipe by replacing the water with full fat milk and adding a few tablespoons of mild flavored oil. I got better keeping qualities and an even more tender crust. The interior of the loaf had a slightly finer crumb, but it was still more coarse and chewy than I wanted.
I then stumbled across an almost no-knead method that uses high-hydration recipes like most no-knead breads, but the authors briefly folded the dough during the long rise. This folding is simple and quick to do, unlike kneading, and the authors reported it did a lot to develop the gluten, make a finer crumb, and produce a taller rise in the oven. That was the final key I needed. After several batches, I am here to say a nice sandwich bread can indeed be made with an almost no-knead method.
The things that distinguish this almost no-knead sandwich loaf from its artisan brother --
Use fat and/or milk rather than plain water to add keeping qualities and more tenderness
Fold the dough several times during the long rise to make a finer crumb and a higher rise during baking
Use a loaf pan to create a sandwich- and toast-friendly loaf and to retain more moisture in the loaf during baking
Bake the bread at slightly cooler temperatures and to a slightly lower internal temperature
Cool the loaf after baking with a light covering to further soften the crust (optional)
Fold the dough several times during the long rise to make a finer crumb and a higher rise during baking
Use a loaf pan to create a sandwich- and toast-friendly loaf and to retain more moisture in the loaf during baking
Bake the bread at slightly cooler temperatures and to a slightly lower internal temperature
Cool the loaf after baking with a light covering to further soften the crust (optional)
Almost no-knead soft sandwich bread
Makes One 9x5 inch / 23x13 cm loaf
Ingredients
525 grams (18.5 oz) all purpose flour. Can substitute up to ~200 g of other flours if desired
3.5 grams (1/2 package or about 1 teaspoon) active dried yeast
8 grams salt (scant 2 teaspoons Morton kosher salt or about 1.5 teaspoons regular table salt)
425 grams (15 oz) lukewarm milk OR
370 grams (13 oz) lukewarm water OR
370 grams (13 oz) lukewarm water plus 55 grams buttermilk powder
1-2 Tablespoon sugar or honey
2 Tablespoons mild flavored oil
Method
Measure flour, sugar, yeast, salt, sugar (if using), and buttermilk powder (if using) into a large bowl. Mix well.
Add milk or water, oil, and honey (if using) to the flour mixture. Stir with a sturdy spatula until all ingredients are mixed into a shaggy, lumpy dough. Do not knead or fuss with the dough -- just get the ingredients mixed and then stop.
Cover dough with plastic film and let rise at room temperature for 12-16 hours. Either bake the loaf at that time, or put the dough in the refrigerator to rise for another day or two. A long rise in the refrigerator will develop desirable tangy flavors in the bread. A long rise at room temperature may result in off flavors.
About three times during the rise, use a spatula or your hands to fold the dough about 12 times. To fold, lift one edge of the dough and push it into the middle, turning the bowl after each fold so all parts of the dough get handled. When folding, leave the dough in the bowl, and do not add any flour. The folding requires very little effort and very little time -- just quickly get the dough folded about 12 times and stop. After each folding session, cover the dough and let it go back to rising again.
To finish the bread, sprinkle the counter with a small handful of flour and turn the dough out onto the flour. Fold the dough as described before with the aim of forming a tidy oblong loaf shape as best you can.
Place the shaped loaf into a greased 9 x 5 bread pan. Let the dough rise at room temperature until it is a scant 1 inch / 2.5 centimeters above the rim of the pan. At that point, preheat the oven to 375 F / 190 C (standard oven) or 350 F / 175 C (convection oven).
Slash the top of the loaf 3 or 4 times with a serrated knife right before putting the bread in the oven.
Bake the loaf for 35-45 minutes, turning it once about halfway through so the loaf browns evenly. Bread is done when the temperature in the center of the loaf is 190-195 F / 88-90 C.
If desired, cover the top of the loaf with butter. Let the bread cool in the pan for about 10 minutes, and then turn out onto a cooling rack. Cover lightly with a thin tea towel to soften the crust if you prefer. Let the bread cool to room temperature, and store in a closed container.
Proportions
100 parts flour
70 parts water
1.5 parts salt
0.7 part yeast
References
Bincy Chris, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIxAWabmkbc
Emma Christensen, thekitchn.com/noknead-bread-hack-how-to-make-105248
J. Kenji López-Alt, https://www.seriouseats.com/2011/06/...ead-dough.html
Brod and Taylor, https://brodandtaylor.com/blogs/reci...no-knead-bread
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