No Knead Bread

I finally made the recipe every food blogger in the world has been talking about: No Knead Bread.

I used www.myaimistrue.com to help me through the process, but a simple google search pulls up plenty of blogs discussing the recipe, plus the original article in the NYT.

The process is simple. Only four ingredients-

3 cups flour
1.5 cups water
1 3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp dry active yeast

1. Mix above in a large bowl and let rise for 12-20 hours.
2. Turn out onto floured surface, fold over a few times. Let rest 15 minutes.
3. Place back in an oiled bowl in roughly a ball shape, seam side down. Alternatively, place the dough between two floured cotton towels (don’t use terry cloth unless you want a dough disaster)
4. Let rise another 2 hours
5. 30 minutes before the rise is over, preheat oven to 450º and place a 5-8 quart cast iron pot, with lid, in the oven while it heats.
6. Take the hot pot out (be careful!), sprinkle the bottom with cornmeal and place dough ball in seam side up.
7. Bake for 30 minutes with the lid on
8. Remove lid and bake for an additional 10-20 to brown.

Our loaf came out really well, but the crumb was a bit spongy. I think this is just because we neglected to let it cool down properly before slicing it. The crust was fabulous, though! No need to mist in the midst of baking with this loaf!