24 hour bread

[Undertoad]

The NY Times posted a story about making bread in about 24 hours with no kneading and practically no work.



You put 3 c flour, 1 1/4 t salt, 1/4 t yeast into a bowl and mix it, then 1 1/2 c water, and stir it with your fingers until it's a ball of semi-wet dough. No kneading.

You set it aside for 12-18 hours, then remove it to a floured surface, and fold it over so there are some folds in the dough. This is the only part I haven't pictured. Then you set it aside for another 4 hours.



You bake it in a dutch oven or covered casserole or something like that, in a standard oven at 500 degrees. You just flop the dough, seam up, into the pre-heated pot. Then you put the lid on the pot, and bake for 30 minutes. After that you remove the lid, and bake for another 15-20 minutes.



I've done this twice, with regular old all-purpose flour, and it makes the best crust ever. The inside is a little spongey. Although it takes all day to make, it only takes about 10 minutes of actual effort.

[Bullitt]

I looks something like sourdough.. what other kinds of bread is it like?

[skysidhe]

*drool*

very doo-able

[Undertoad]

I'd say sourdough is close to it, without the sour. There are nice big pockets of air where the dough rises, and a thick and very tasty crust. Jacquelita suggests that it's the kind of bread that goes well with soup.

First two batches were made with regular old all-purpose flour; the next one will be with Ceresota unbleached flour.

[barefoot serpent]

you can probably just add some sourdough starter to the mix and...

[Undertoad]

this person has done a better job of documenting it than I have.

[Bullitt]

<<This person still wants a loaf of that and a nice warm bowl of chicken noodle soup to celebrate the end of finals. I'll bet your place smells grrrreat right now UT

[orthodoc]

Cool ... I have to try this! Inconvenient timing of punching down, shaping, and baking is the main reason I stopped making bread. Even 'colddough' bread isn't as convenient as this. Sounds like a winner.

[Spexxvet]

My wife HAD to have a bread machine. You know: HAD to have it. She used it for about a month and it's been collecting dust in the basement ever since.

[xoxoxoBruce]

She "HAD to have it." Now she has it. Nothing about has to use it, so what's the problem. You're lucky she used it more than once.

I have to have the latest book, Oprah's touting, doesn't mean I have to read it. Bragging rights is the name of the game, like having to have a 4x4 that will climb trees, for commuting to the city.

[glatt]

I finally got around to trying this recipe over the weekend. It turned out pretty good. Better than bread machine bread, but not quite as good as the best bread I've had from bakeries, which would be like $4 a loaf.

The only trouble I had was after the second rising, dumping it into the preheated dutch oven. It was a bit sticky and didn't want to separate from the floured wax paper I had wrapped it in. I pried it loose from the paper, but it lost much of its bubbles as I manhandled it. Next time, I would use much more flour on the outside to keep it from sticking to the paper so much. Maybe I'd throw it into a greased covered bowl or something instead.

Anyway it was pretty good. The crust was great. The bread was a little dense, but I think that's because I essentially punched it down as I removed it from the paper and baked it right away after the punching down.

Overall, it was very easy, and the results were good.

[Trilby]

Ooooo. Now that looks gooooood.

[busterb]

I sent that link to sis before x-mas. Here's what she had to say.

I tried it. It definitely had a nice crispy crust. The only problems I had were the kitchen not being warm enough for a good rise and not having enough flour on the parchment paper. I baked it in a 3 qt. covered Corningware. It was good and had a slight sour dough taste. It keeps several days in a towel.

Tomorrow would be a good day to have the oven on hi-heat.

[glatt]

We keep our house cold in the winter (65) and that isn't ideal for bread rising, so I stuck my dough in the oven for several hours with only the oven light turned on. The incandescent bulb warmed up the oven nicely, but not too hot. I turned the light off before I went to bed so it wouldn't overdo it.

Here's a before and after of the rising in the oven with just the oven light..

[zippyt]

That looks GREAT !!!