bread with preferment/ Jim Lahey/ Levain & Yeast Hybrid/ Ruth Reichl/ winter

Jim Lahey’s No-Knead Bread | Cabin Fever

Up against the harsh wintry weather, here is a great relief to cabin fever. All you need is flour, water, yeast and salt, the necessary ingredients for homemade bread. And of course, you need an oven, in the cabin, to bake bread. More important, the critical ingredients are more than the tangible ones; it’s the desire and inclination to let time run its course. What I mean is: depending on the kitchen temperature, bread dough takes hours to ferment, proof and finish baking. But don’t let bread-making intimidate you. Jim Lahey’s no-knead bread may well be the easiest way to put bread on the table.

With minimal kneading, the resulting crumb of the no-knead bread is beautifully open. Jim Lahey recommends working the dough gently and quickly because overhandling the dough would likely damage the airy, delicate structure within. That’s key to no-knead breads.

I don’t make white sourdough bread often since I prefer using more whole-grain flour in my breads. However, I consider this simple no-knead white bread as the baseline — that I’d go back to from time to time.

I can’t agree more with Ruth Reichl that this bread is one of the best things you have ever tasted. Besides, the scent of bread baking in the oven is shockingly delicious. I’m invariably drawn to the incredible warmth and aroma wafting from it, which will tame any seasonal woes.

Print Recipe

Jim Lahey's No-Knead Bread

Ingredients

300 grams (1 1/3 cups) room-temperature water
20 grams sourdough starter (or instant yeast)
400 grams (2 3/4 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus flour for dusting
8 grams (1 1/8 teaspoons) fine sea salt
Cornmeal (or wheat bran) for dusting

Instructions

MIX THE DOUGH: Whisk together water and starter together in a 1 1/2-quart bowl until the starter dissolves. Add the flour and, using a large spoon or spatula, rapidly and vigorously mix everything together until it is just combined. Resist the urge to tidy it or consolidate it. Scrape the dough off your spoon and from the edges of the bowl and put it on top of the dough in the bowl. Cover the bowl and let it sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.

ADD SALT AND ADJUST HYDRATION: Add the salt. Add a little water, if the dough seems dry. Flour the edges of the dough lightly and use a dough scraper or rubber spatula to turn the dough. Fold the edges of the dough into the center.

BULK FERMENTATION: Cover the dough again and let it rest for 8 to 18 hours (the colder room temperature, the longer it takes), until it has doubled in size and its sweet and yeasty smelling.

PRESHAPE THE DOUGH: Flour the edges of the dough again, scrape from the side of the bowl and fold them into the center of the dough. Scrape the dough off the bottom of the bowl and flip it over. Let the dough rest at room temperature, covered, for 20 minutes or until the dough shows signs it has slightly expanded.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with a tea towel or parchment paper. (I use a brotform proofing basket.) Sprinkle flour or wheat bran or cornmeal onto the tea towel to cover a large circle in the center to prevent the dough from sticking.

SHAPE THE DOUGH AND PROOF: Work quickly and gently, pull the dough into a taut ball without tearing it—the tension is what will allow the dough to hold its shape. Put the dough seam side down on the coated tea towel. Lift up the corners of the tea towel and loosely cover the dough with it or a new tea towel. Let the dough proof at room temperature for 1 to 3 hours, until it has doubled in size.

Place a large pot (preferably a cast iron Dutch oven) and a tight fitting lid in the oven on the middle rack. Heat the oven to 475°F.

BAKE: Use oven mitts to carefully remove the pot from the oven and uncover the dough. Very gently pick up the dough and lower it into the pot. Use a small serrated or pairing knife to score the dough with a single slash. Cover the pot immediately and bake for 20-25 minutes. Remove the lid and bake for 15-20 minutes, until the crust has attained a rich golden color. If you favor a really dark crust, you can let it bake for another 5-10 minutes.

Let the bread cool on a rack for at least an hour before cutting.