Bread-No Knead vs Kneaded

No-Knead bread

Here is where I saw the recipe originally-No Knead Bread recipe

I pinned it to Pinterest and I revisit this recipe over and over. It is not a difficult bread to make but here are three important points-

1. You need a covered dish like a dutch oven or a covered casserole dish that can go into the over at 450 degrees for an hour

2. Prepare the dough overnight. It has to sit for 6 to 8 hours so the easiest thing to do is start it at bedtime and baking it in the morning

3. Use BREAD flour. Regular flour doesn't work very well. In fact it's stringy, sticky, hard to work with and doesn't rise enough. Make sure you have Bread Flour.

(The following recipe is copied from Steamy Kitchen)

http://www.steamykitchen.com

ingredients:

3 cups bread flour (I like Harvest King bread flour)1/4 teaspoon instant yeast1 teaspoon fine table salt (or 3/4 tablespoon of kosher salt)1 1/2 cups warm waterCovered pot (five-quart or larger cast iron, Pyrex, ceramic, enamel...something that can go into a 450F oven.)

directions:

1. Mix dough: The night before, combine all ingredients in a big bowl with a wooden spoon until the dough just comes together. It will be a shaggy, doughy mess. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit 12-20 hours on countertop.

2. Shape & preheat: The dough will now be wet, sticky and bubbly. With a wet spatula, dump the dough on a floured surface. Fold ends of dough over a few times with the spatula and nudge it into a ball shape. You can use your hands if you like, just keep your hands wet so that the dough does not stick. Place a large sheet of parchment paper on counter. Plop your dough onto parchment paper. Lift parchment paper up with dough and place into a large bowl. Cover bowl with a towel. Let it nap for 2 hours. When you've got about a half hour left, slip your covered pot into the oven and preheat to 450F.

3. Bake: Your dough should have doubled in size. Remove pot from oven. Grab the ends of the parchment paper and lift entire wobbly dough blob out of bowl into pot. Doesn't matter which way it lands. Shake to even dough out. Cover. Bake 30 minutes. Uncover, bake another 15-20 minutes or until the crust is beautifully golden and middle of loaf is 210F. Remove and let cool on wired rack. If not eating right away, you can re-crisp crust in 350F oven for 10 minutes. Best way to eat it? Smear a warm slice with some good butter (Kerrygold and Lurpac are both found in your grocery stores, usually on top shelf)

Pizza porn! After the bread was all baked and cooled, I cut two thick slices. I covered in pizza sauce, and mozzarella. I added cut up Kalamata Olives (obsessed with those-btw) and fresh chopped Cilantro.

Sprinkle with a little Oregano and now that I think of it-I should have added some Parmesan Cheese!

Bake in toaster oven till warm and cheese is a little brown and bubbly!

My lunch!! 

White Loaf Bread

Here is the recipe:  Classic White Bread

My two loaves both baked today. Which is better? The White Loaf Bread is sweeter and more dense whereas the No Knead Bread has a lighter bread but lovely golden crispy, crunchy outer crust. Both are excellent for eating!