The Infamous No-Knead Bread at Couteau Bonswan

The Infamous No-Knead Bread

Published November 18th, 2006 in Bread, Recipes

Many of you are probably sick to death of hearing about the No-Knead Bread featured recently in the New York Times. I only got around to trying it today (well, starting it yesterday), though, so now you can hear about it from me.

It’s great! I don’t know that I’ll bake bread differently in the future. I had a very easy time of it, so the only hard part was waiting for the dough to rise the first time. I actually ended up letting mine sit for over 24 hours as we had things to do today with my mom coming over. The only thing I’ll probably change about the basic recipe is increasing the salt just a bit as I felt the flavor is just a *tad* bland. Also, I probably could have used a bit less flour on the towels, but I wanted to be careful. I’ve been knocking the excess off the loaf. The texture is absolutely perfect though and exactly what I’ve been trying to achieve at home. I’m lucky enough to have a nice, heavy Le Creuset dutch oven thanks to my mom last Christmas, but this bread recipe warrants the purchase of any kind of heavy pot even if you only used it for bread.

Coming out of the oven:

Crispy, bubbly crust:

Super holey interior!

8 Responses to “The Infamous No-Knead Bread”

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1 shinypenny Nov 18th, 2006 at 11:52 pm

Awesome pics. How big is your Dutch oven?
2 Stefanie Noble Nov 19th, 2006 at 12:05 am

Thanks! My pot is 4 1/2 quarts.
3 shinypenny Nov 20th, 2006 at 8:30 am

Thanks so much for the info!
4 kathy barry Nov 20th, 2006 at 9:02 am

Hi stefanie-
thats beautiful. I’m an avid bread baker- I’ve been planning to try this recipe also. I’m amazed that all the foodie blogs I look at have similarly beautiful pictures!
I’m going to try it tomorrow, but with whole wheat….

by the way Michelle D and I have our holiday show coming up.stop by.( it was you that sent me a note a while agosaying you knew her,isn’t it?)
5 travis hance Nov 20th, 2006 at 6:13 pm

Wow, that’s weird, those pictures could all be from my house, except my le creuset dutch oven is green….

That bread is magical! I think that bread bakers everywhere are alchemists to one degree or the other, but the simplicity behind that recipe is just genius.

Whole wheat bread will be my next experiment, as well.

Could this recipe be made by wild yeast? I would think that the wet dough and overnight rise time would be ideal for a sourdough culture….

So much deliciousness, so little life.
6 ann Nov 21st, 2006 at 12:41 pm

I couldn’t agree with you more on the pot buying thing. I actually had to do that. I bought a 5qt Emile Henry clay pot. It was very expensive and is very heavy but after seeing what it did to that loaf of bread makes me just about the happiest woman in the world! Three cheers for no-knead bread!
7 Stefanie Noble Nov 21st, 2006 at 12:56 pm

kathy - I hope your whole wheat version comes out excellently! Please drop me a note about where and when your show is! Jim D. and my husband Joe (and Joe’s brother Jude) are good friends. I’d love to be able to peruse both of your goodies.

travis - I’m not exactly sure why I requested the white pot (I told my mom last year that I would like to slowly accrue a collection of Le Creuset), but I figure that when I’m 80, they will show all the stains and burns and dings of a lifetime of cooking. The wild yeast is an interesting idea. I’ve read a few accounts of sourdough experimentation. It does seem to lend itself to that well.

ann - I think having a big heavy pot is essential. And beyond the bread, it’s the perfect thing for a slow-simmered bean soup or chili or, etc. etc. I made my second loaf with just a minimum of flour rubbed into the towel and then cornmeal and much preferred the cornmeal to the flour. I had WAY too much flour adhered to the bottom of that first loaf pictured above!
8 Brilynn Nov 23rd, 2006 at 10:15 am

I’m not tired of it yet! I’ve been making a loaf everyday, it just keeps getting devoured. I wish I had a nice bit pot like yours… I tried to bake mine in a crock pot I have, without realizing that the top was slightly tapered, I had to crush one side of the bread to get it out.

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