NO KNEAD BREAD
This recipe is super easy and tasty. It has been tweaked to suit my family but came from one of my lovely WI friends. This is the overnight method.
Ingredients
rounded ¼ tsp dried yeast or 4g fresh yeast
1½ tsp salt
500g strong bread flour
375ml water
Mix the dry yeast and salt with the flour.
Add the water and mix until you get a ‘scraggy’ dough. Cover and leave overnight.
(If using fresh yeast: blend 4g fresh yeast with the water before mixing with the flour and salt.)
In the morning check the dough. It should have doubled in size, look aerated and have a wobble.
Put your oven on to the highest setting (220 fan) placing your Dutch oven/cast iron casserole in the oven so that it thoroughly heats up.
Line a proving basket/bowl/board with baking parchment.
Generously flour your work surface and tip your dough out (you will need to scrape the bowl) and gently fold the outer edges into the middle, using a scraper if you have one. Turn and repeat until you are back to where you started. You create the shape you want at this stage. (Or to fit the dutch oven.) Make sure there is a bit of tension on the top.
Place the dough on the baking parchment in your proving basket/bowl/board with the ‘good’ side on top.
After approximately 30 minutes, when the oven has reached temperature, use the parchment to lift up the dough and place straight into the very hot dutch oven/cast iron casserole. (Be careful not to touch the casserole!)
Score the loaf taking care as the pan is very hot. (It helps to wet the blade of a sharp knife.)
Put the lid on the pot. Turn the oven down to 200 fan and cook for 55 minutes. Take the lid off and bake for another 5 minutes.
Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack.
Allow to cool for at least 30 mins. Enjoy.
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Be brave and have a go.
This can also be made during the day…..
Prepare as before but use blood warm water.
Leave to rise somewhere warm for up to 3 hours.
Complete as before.
Notes
This is cooked to how we like our bread. The crust is not too dark. However, if you prefer a darker crust, cook with the lid on for 30 minutes and remove the lid for the rest of the cooking time.
Also, some people prefer cooking the bread at a much higher temperature (220 fan) for less time. I found that in my oven the loaf was not cooked enough & was still doughy, so I prefer cooking for longer at a lower temperature.
for rye bread I use 250g white bread flour/ 250g light rye flour.
You can use the basic dough recipe to make an Italian style bread by adding olives and herbs.
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