Got a real cool head

Iris and I are nothing if not fashionably late. Remember how last fall everyone was making that no-knead bread from the New York Times? I didn’t join the party. I have no good excuse for this.

But we made it this week, because the new issue of Vogue arrived, and the no-knead bread got Jeffrey Steingarten’s seal of approval. When it comes to bread, the word of Steingarten means more to me than that of Mark Bittman plus a veritable army of bloggers.

Anyway, here’s what the bread looked like:

Bread

As you can see, (a) I floured it too heavily and (b) it seems to be sporting angry eyebrows. What you can’t see is that I also underbaked the crumb because I had the oven too hot, so it was a little gummy. This did not deter Iris, who never met a crumb she wouldn’t burrow through. The crust was superb, and the bread is true to its name: you don’t knead it at all.

(If you want to see many, many other examples of no-knead bread, check the noknead tag on Flickr.)

The best thing about this recipe, I think, is that it puts very good bread within the reach of the millions of people who can’t buy it because nobody near them sells it. It’s the only yeast bread recipe I’ve tried that really is easy enough that it’s not just for fanatics. Until, oh, December 2003, I was a bread fanatic. Now, count me among the no-knead crew.

10 thoughts on “Got a real cool head

  1. L

    oh dear… if I lost readers with ever apostrophe typo, I’d be deep into negative digits by now.

    I like the no knead bread, but I have to say, I miss the kneading. I just made the Italian loaf recipe handed down from some grandmother or another, and I kneaded again! It’s fun and much faster! And, the loaf turned out beautifully, lovely crust, etc. Of course, I used some of the new tricks I learned from the no knead bread. I cooked it, covered, in a cast iron pot.

    -L

  2. mamster Post author

    It’s okay, L, I’ve tried everything I can to scare liza off, but she keeps popping back up like overyeasted dough.

  3. mike

    I was a home bread maker before this phenomenon, but since trying it, I haven’t gone back. I’ve made about 30, and in my experience is only gummy if you don’t let it rest long enough.

    I don’t get Vogue, but I love Steingarten. I’ve read both books twice. Is there any other way to get his articles? Say i subscribe, how often is he published? Also, does anyone know if he has plans for another book? It has been a while.

  4. mamster Post author

    Mike, I don’t think there’s any other way to get his articles. He’s published almost every month–probably ten times a year. And I’m sure he has another book in the works, but I couldn’t say when.

  5. Jess

    I’ve also tried the Bittman No-Knead plopped right on a baking sheet, sans Dutch oven . . .and it actually worked.

  6. Chris

    Am I the only person in the free world who is not completely taken by this recipe? I LIKE to knead bread and the no-knead dough was so messy that I’m still scraping it off my counters and towels. Is it really less time-consuming? I leave regular bread dough to rise overnight and the no-knead recipe has the two hour wait before you bake it. I’ll take 15 minutes of kneading warm, springy dough over 20 of rinsing flour paste out of my towels!
    (Okay, okay, it did have a terrific crust.)

  7. mamster Post author

    Chris, even back when I made bread, I was partial to extremely wet doughs. I think the biggest breakthrough in this recipe is baking in a pot, though, not the no-knead part. (Actually, baking in a pot sounds suspiciously like La Cloche, the earthenware baking bell that bread geeks tend to scoff at.) The two-hour wait is annoying, though.

  8. Dayne

    Funny, I just made this for the first time over the weekend too. I quite liked it. Just like you, I over-floured the crust a bit; next time I think I’ll try cornmeal.

    I sprinkled some fleur de sel over the top right when I put it into the oven, but managed to knock most of that off when I dumped out the loaf after baking. I’ll have to find a kinder, gentler method of getting the bread out of the pot.

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