easy no knead crusty bread :: from Mother Earth News
No fuss rustic artisan bread. You've heard the rumors and today I support every one.
This recipe closely resembles others that I've shared in earlier posts in its simplicity of ingredients, long rise time, and "leave it alone" philosophy. The single distinctive technique: baking in an enclosed oven-proof dish. It makes ALL the difference.
I do not own a dutch oven, and apparently any covered oven-proof dishes I once had have lost their lids. That was not going to stop me. With a little kitchen ingenuity, I sized together a spring-form cheesecake pan (pre-heated at 475 as called for ) with a stainless steel bowl turned upside down as a cover.
Even without a tight seal, this did the essential trick -- capturing moisture inside during baking -- with remarkably crunchy crusts and moist, tender wholly centers resulting.
The kids asked why I hadn't baked two loaves.
Glad to see you here! Looking forward to more baking adventures in 2009.
Posted by: lisa | January 07, 2009 at 11:37 AM
genius!
I love this bread, I think I'll put some up right now...
Posted by: Jess | January 07, 2009 at 11:50 AM
It looks delicious! I've not tried baking in cloche (real or improvised) and I've been wanting to give it a try. Now that I know you have had success with an improvised one I'll have to give it a try sooner rather than later.
Posted by: nytesong | January 08, 2009 at 09:05 AM
I love this bread and make it a couple of times per week. Good bread is my weakness so I love that this one is a healthy choice as well as yummy. Who knew bread could be this good without ANY fat or added sugar?!!!
I have also made this recipe into english muffins successfully!
Posted by: Katherine | January 14, 2009 at 01:01 PM
I've been wanting to join you in this project and this just might be what I make first. Yum!
Posted by: Beth S. | January 14, 2009 at 04:36 PM
I have been on a quest for this very loaf of bread, and in reading the article accompanying the recipe, had to chuckle at this line: On a Saturday morning bread run to Standard, I asked one of the bakers her secret to a crusty loaf. She replied “quality ingredients, time and a $10,000 professional baking oven.”
um. yeah. that's my problem, too. However, always the optimist, I will set out forthwith to attempt to recreate what I have heretofor only been able to purchase. Rather expensively. I'll be back atcha with the results. Thanks for the linky.
Posted by: Megan | January 16, 2009 at 01:14 PM
mmmm...I just joined the group because of this recipe! Ingenious. I have been searching for the secret--for years!! Now I can die happy...
Posted by: Megan | January 19, 2009 at 06:27 PM
I just made this yesterday!
Posted by: Kendall Lloyd | February 18, 2009 at 07:47 AM
I tried this on my blog, too. So delicious. I also tried this one:
http://kissmyspatula.com/2009/05/20/best-bread-recipe/
and I think I like it even better.
Posted by: Lisa Kisch | August 04, 2009 at 11:24 AM
I made this recipe today, and I will be making it again. It is amazing bread and so easy to make. Thanks for sharing!
Posted by: Plumber in Seattle | May 21, 2013 at 06:02 PM