A Bread Time Story

Artisan Bread from the King Arthur Flour No-Knead Crusty White Bread Recipe

The minute you show up somewhere with a little flour on your shoulder, the questions begin: "Can you tell me how to make bread? I'll kill the yeast. . . My spouse punches the dough so hard it won't rise. . . overall I'm just afraid of dough."

I get these comments because I'm often out in public, heedless of the patches of crusted dough on my forearms and flour trails down my jeans, sporting a baseball cap that says "Bake."

If you want to make good bread, fear not. Mastering artisan bread is like learning to dance - you may never be a great dancer, but you can improve, you can always improve.

There is a recipe you can make without killing the yeast, punishing the dough or messing it up in other unimaginable and unkind ways. It's my house favorite and soon may be yours.

The King Arthur Flour No-Knead Crusty White Bread is the recipe we've all been looking for. It excels on so many levels home bakers care about - ease of method, visual appeal and crackling good flavor. To get the best flavor, allow a few days on it, don't rush it. Good bakers mix a little and ferment a lot.

The flour to liquid ratio in this recipe is important. If you measure flour by sprinkling it into a measuring cup and sweeping off the excess, use 7 1/2 cups of flour. If you measure flour by weight (and I wish you would), use 32 ounces. If you understand baker's percent math, I've added the ingredient ratio percentages, along with additional wording here and there.

King Arthur Flour No-Knead Crusty White Bread

 

Yield: 3 loaves

24 ounces lukewarm water                 (75%)

32 ounces unbleached all-purpose flour         (100%)

2 tablespoons kosher salt                    (1.8%)

1 ½ tablespoons instant yeast              (1.6%)

¼ cup milk for washing

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl or large (6-quart) food-safe plastic bucket. With a wooden spoon, stir together to get a sticky, rough dough. If using a stand mixer, use a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed 30-60 seconds. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, allow dough to rise at room temperature for 2 hours.

Now refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 7 days (by day 4 it has a good tang, so this may be the best stopping point for continued retardation; you decide). The longer you keep it in the fridge, the tangier it'll get. (If pressed for time, you can mix dough, then place directly in the refrigerator.)

When ready to use, pre-shape this dough straight from the refrigerator. Round it into a ball (boule) shape.

Allow dough to rise in either a flour-dusted wicker banneton, a cloth-lined basket (seam side up) or on a piece of lightly greased parchment on a sheet tray (seam side down). Cover with oil-sprayed plastic wrap to prevent skin from forming. Allow dough to rise at least 60 minutes (or longer, as needed) at room temperature.

Preheat oven to 450 while dough rises. (I've found that 3-4 hours of rise time is about right, but that's in my kitchen. Yours may be different.)

Place a shallow metal pan or cast iron skillet in oven while preheating. Have a cup of water ready to add to pan when you load the loaves.

Just before baking, score loaves using a French lame razor blade or sharp knife, then using pastry brush, lightly brush loaves with milk.

Place bread in oven, pour water into hot pan and close door quickly.

Bake 25-35 minutes, or until deep golden brown. If using a digital thermometer, you want at least 200 degrees. Remove bread from oven, cool on rack. Allow bread to cool completely before slicing. Store leftover bread at room temp in a plastic bag; do not refrigerate. Freeze leftovers for breadcrumbs, croutons, bread pudding and toast.

Scaling: Total dough weight is 51.50 ounces. For 3 loaves, scale at 17 ounces each.

*Note: In recent years bakers have started placing bread dough in a special "cloche" dome or a cast iron/enamelware Dutch oven for baking. Such containment helps re-create the hearth baking of Old Europe and concentrate the heat so it's consistent around the loaf, with the added benefit that evaporating water can't escape, so it helps steam the loaf. (So you can skip the hot pan and water for steaming if using a dome.) The results are golden, brown and delicious. You can also use a baking stone and turn the Dutch oven upside down over the dough. Be sure to preheat the stone and Dutch oven before baking.

And yes, I do bake my loaves in the cast iron Dutch oven. The loaves look fuller and rounder, and the top crust browns in classic, artisanal style. There's no worry about steaming the dough. (But please use caution when lifting the dome after baking, as you can steam your fingers. Tilt the dome away from you when lifting.) Isn't it freeing to no longer squint through how long to mix the dough on a stand mixer? By allowing this dough to hang out a few days in the fridge, the mixing happens passively as water migrates through the gluten network. Acids that contribute flavor build up. All's right with the world.

To go deeper into the chemistry of artisan bread, check out Jeffrey Hamelman's book "Bread: A Baker's Book of Techniques and Recipes" (second edition). Hamelman, baking director of King Arthur Flour, is a Certified Master Baker who helps coach Team USA when they compete in the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie, the bread Olympics held in Paris.

I like what he said about baking when accepting the Golden Baguette Award, the highest bestowed by the Bread Bakers Guild of America: "We are lucky to be bakers, doing this good work that requires our minds, hands and hearts, because we
 have a lifelong opportunity to grow."

A sourdough made with stiff culture, from Hamelman's book "Bread," first edition

*With special thanks to King Arthur Flour for permission to reprint the recipe. To learn more, visit King Arthur Flour.