Homemade bread... for lazy people

Hi Nerds,
Growing up, I can always remember my mom making 3 large loaves of homemade crusty Italian bread for our family, every week.  I couldn't wait for my mom to slice into a freshly baked loaf or bun, still warm, and spread butter on it.  As we grew older, and our eating styles changed, and we moved out (my siblings first, then me eventually), there was less need to make so many loaves every week.

A couple of weeks ago my kids stayed with my mom for the day and she made homemade bread with them; my kids loved it.  Michael said to Nonna "I didn't know you were so talented"... he's always saying things that crack us up.  They each made their own mini loaves which they brought home, still warm, and we enjoyed, with butter.

My kids and husband asked why I never learned to make bread like my mom.  Well, the truth is, she did try to teach me, but, I'm bad at kneading dough and it tires me out!  I think bread making is an art that takes lots of time to master... To understand the right ratios of water and flour, and how the dough should feel when you're done kneading it.  It's something I haven't mastered and don't feel like I have time to master it, but I would still like to make my family some nice bread.

Enter... No-Knead Bread... bread making for the lazy!  You literally mix the ingredients (you can use the handle of a wooden spoon), cover the bowl and let it rise for 8-24 hours, shape it in a loaf and let it rise again for 1-2 hours, then bake.  Why does it work:  The long proofing (rising) time replaces the kneading, allowing the dough to form the gluten strands that give the bread its texture (thanks Wikipedia)

I recently found a great resource on YouTube: artisanbreadwithstev (Artisan Bread with Stev),  I'll admit, when I first saw him, I thought "this guy is going to teach me about bread?"
He also has a cookbook, available on Amazon: My No-Knead Bread Cookbook: From the Kitchen of Artisan Bread with Steve. Though I've only followed along with his videos.  If you want to understand the science about No-Knead Bread, watch his video here: No-Knead Bread 101.

If you hop over to his channel, there are several videos of bread recipes varying based on flavor, type of bread, cooking method (i.e. dutch oven vs. bread pan).  He has "turbo" methods for proofing the bread in shorter periods of time, but I actually prefer when it proofs for 8-24 hours.  For me, I got an airy-er loaf.  Whereas the shorter time period gave me a denser loaf.

Here's a basic recipe for baking in a bread loaf:

• 3.5 cups all-purpose flour
• 0.5 tsp instant yeast
• 2 tsp salt
• 16 oz cool water

Instructions below slide shows

 

• In a large bowl, combine flour, yeast, and salt.  Stir to distribute
• Add water to flour mixture.  Stir with the handle of a wooden spoon.  This takes a bit of time 3-5 minutes.  It will get more difficult to mix as the dough begins to form a dough.
• I ended up having to use my hand to combine the ingredients fully together.  But took me less than a minute
• Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and a couple of tea towels.  Set the bowl in a draft-free spot.
• After 8 to 24 hours, degas the dough, by punching it down, and pulling it away from the sides of the bowl
• Take the dough out of the bowl, onto a lightly floured surface and sprinkle with more flour so it's not sticky
• Use a bench scraper to fold the dough onto itself a few times.  You want to be able to flip the ball over and have a smooth side.
• Place in a loaf pan, cover with plastic wrap and tea towel and let it rise 1-2 hours in a warm place
• Preheat the over to 400 F.  Place the loaf in the oven after its sufficiently heated.
• Bake for 45 minutes
• Remove from oven.  Let it cool at least 15 minutes before slicing.

ENJOY


Here's my boys enjoying a slice fresh out of the oven with butter