I had a taste for cinnamon bread, and I had just finished a two-day feeding of my starter. So I just improvised a little from the standard no-knead formula and came up with this handsome fellow. The smell was magnificent as it was baking, and this loaf had an 18 hour fermentation.

Baked in my oblong cloche

11 oz. All purpose flour

5 oz. Stone ground whole wheat flour
1/2 C Cinnamon chips (you can add up to another 1/2C, but no less)
1-1/2 t Kosher salt
1/2 C Sourdough starter (vibrant)
14 oz. Purified water at room temperature

Blend starter with water until all you have is milky colored water, then mix everything together as you normally would. Allow to ferment on the counter for 12-18 hours before shaping.

No-knead directions for beginners avsailable on my website at http://flyfishohio.us/NoKneadBread.htm

After several nasty results years ago, I attempted yet again to bake a decent bread. I have had massive success...

I use a very wet dough and bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes, then turn it for another 15-20 minutes.

Just one problem...

Obtaining the optimum temp of 200 degrees.  I do one of two things...take it out about 198 degrees, or leave it in for what seems forever and if I'm lucky it reaches 200 degrees.

What should I do...lower the temp for longer or raise it.

Today, since I normally use a very wet dough I attempted to bake it in a pot. I read that the temp should be about 210. Still I couldn't reach 200, much less 210. The second loaf is baking now.  The first turned out great, I took it out at 198.

Same question...higher temp or lower temp for longer? AND...why 210?

Thanks. 

Here is my experience with kefir as a component used in sourdough bread making.

Summary:  When adding kefir milk/curds/whey to my typical slow-ferment (no-knead) bread dough recipe, I find the quality of the gluten to be degraded: the dough tears more than stretches compared to if I use plain water instead. I suspect that proteases present in the kefir are cleaving the gluten strands.

Background:  I have been making bread dough using the "no-knead" method and the "5-minutes-a-day (refidgerated)" method, employing regular dry yeast (with proofing), instant yeast (without proofing), and sourdough starters (including my own local wild yeast starter and Carl Griffith's Oregon Trail Sourdough Starter).  I thought that adding kefir (instead of water) to my various doughs might add more flavor.

Method:  Using a 80% hydration ratio: 100g whole-wheat, 400g bread flour (13% gluten), I compared a loaf using 400g of water to another loaf using 400g of kefir milk/curds/whey, plus 50g of water (to account for the solids in the milk).  To these, I added 1/4 cup of my sourdough starter.  Primary fermantation of the dough (first rise) was done in my cool Michigan basement for 12 to 18 hours, covered in a plastic bag.  For baking, I used the preheated dutch oven method at 450deg for 30 min, then uncovered at 375 for 20 min.

Results:  After the 12 hour rise, the kefir bread dough did not seem "over-risen" compared to the control (water) dough.  However, using kefir instead of water seemed to degrade the gluten: the resulting kefir dough was much more prone to tear, and the resulting baked kefir loaf did not have the elastic crumb compared to the non-kefir (water-only) control.

Comment:  As far I know, there is no well-established historical cultural tradition of using milk kefir to leaven bread.  Although kefir might add more flavour than water, the resulting dough and loaf seem inferior to using traditional sourdough starters with plain water in the method described above.  There may indeed be an adventage in using kefir in fermenting/levening other types of bread (using different flours), or varying the water/kefir ratio, or using younger kefir or older kefir.  Such variables may be seen as either as a headache, or an opportunity to explore.  Because these 2 loafs were prepared and baked on different days, I plan to repeat this experiment under better identical conditions.  If there is enough interest, maybe I should post photos at each stage.

Until then, your kefir-levening experience comments/advice are greatly appreciated,

JonnyP

Hello everyone -

I took Lahey's No-Knead recipe for Pane Integral, and experimented with it a little bit. I used 2 cups of whole wheat and 1 cup bread flour and 1/4 cup of flax seed. The water, salt, and yeast amounts are the same.

Everything looked pretty much identical to the 100% bread flour recipe, but when I baked it in the Dutch oven the center of the loaf is sunken. The taste is and the crust is crunchy, but I'm not sure why the center of the bread didn't rise (or maybe it fell?).  Any ideas?

I have pics but I don't know how to upload them. There are some nice holes to the crumb, but don't know yet how to upload them, unfortunately.

Hi everyone -

I've been lurking here and there, maybe with one or two posts, always AMAZED by what I see! I'm very new to breadbaking, but I find it pretty addictive.

I stirred some fresh rosemary into the Lahey no-knead basic recipe. It looks and smells delicious, but I'm suspecting that there will be no rosemary flavor. Is there a suggestion on how to infuse more taste into the recipe? Is there a way to use rosemary-infused oil?

Thank you!

Thanks to the answers on this board, I've now got loaves that are looking and tasting wonderful! I'm making Tartine-type bread and no-knead bread with my wild yeast. But, never content with the status quo, I'd like my crumb to be airier, with bigger holes. Any suggestions?

Hello all,

I tried my first no-knead bread in a Calphalon Dutch oven.  This is truly EASY bread! I didn't want a large loaf, so I made it cut the recipe (King Arthur) by 25%, and I wondered.... how do you know when to take the lid off?  

I'm thinking that once the bread (any kind, not just "Dutch oven" bread) reaches full size, additional steam just toughens the crust.  Is this right?

The top of the bread has a 'shiny' look to it and didn't get very brown, even though the temp was over 205 F.  Perhaps the lid was left on too long?

The bread was delicious with some added cheddar cubes.  Too bad I forgot to put it on top of the fridge as it cooled, because the dog got over half of it!!!

Mary Clare

Hi folks,

I know that the topic has been discussed before, but I still don't get it. No-Knead (sourdough in this case, but I've tried the authentic recipe) just does not work for me!

I have pics and I would really appreaciate if you could give me feedback on my sourdough no-knead disaster. It has been quite frustrating since it is not the first time I fail, it is the 5th or 6th indeed (I lost count). It never worked! I keep seeing online beautiful pictures of fully risen loafes baked without effort, but in my case, unless I spend 10-15 minutes kneading the hell out of my dough, it just does not work!

So, here's my intuition:

1) The gluten did not develop. Maybe because this time the dough was not wet enough and I know that all flours have different absorbing power, but how the heck do you know if you have to throw all the ingredients at once?!

2) The second rise seem to be the real problem, since the first time it maybe even overfermented. Maybe my kitchen was to warm?!

Again, these are just random thoughts because every time a new problem arise. Ao any suggestion is appreciated! :-) I have more details in my blog post http://sickofood.blogspot.com/2010/10/no-knead-sourdough-bread-disaster.html

Cheers,

Matilda

http://sickofood.blogspot.com/

Hello there!

My name is Stephanie and I've been quietly observing this website for a couple weeks now. I love this forum!

So here is my dilemma: I am not getting the kind of oven rise everyone else keeps talking about so I'm going to include some pictures and explain in detail the method I have been using and hope some of you wonderful, experienced bakers can point me in the right direction!

Ingredients for Sourdough Recipe: (from the book The Urban Homestead)

8 oz. sourdough starter

13 oz. unbleached white bread flour (I've been using King Arthur)

3 oz. whole wheat flour

2 tablespoons wheat bran

8 oz. cool water

1-1/2 teaspoons sea salt

No-Knead Technique: (I followed Breadtopia's video here)

Mixed the ingredients

Covered with plastic bag for 15 minutes

Let ferment for 18 hours

Streched and folded (It seemed to be a great consistency. Not too soupy but not dry enough to handle easily)

Rested for 15 minutes under plastic

Shaped into boule (I am having difficulties getting the hang of this)

Let proof in a bowl lined with a floured towel for 1 1/2 hours (I think maybe this was too long? What happens when you over proof?)

Inverted boule [seam side ended up] into a dutch oven that had been preheated to 500 F (This is where I started to get worried. The dough had a lot of room to spread laterally on the bottom of the dutch oven)

Baked for 30 minutes then removed dutch oven top and reduced heat to 450 F

Baked for another 15 minutes and then let it cool

Pictures:

So my basic concern is getting a better oven spring. I'm also curious if anyone has any possible explanations for why my crusts turned out so light. Does that mean there wasn't enough moisture?

It tastes fantastic and I'm really happy with the ingredients but I'm looking for ways to refine my technique and timing so that I can get a loaf that has risen really well and has alot of the characteristic sourdough holes.

Any assistance is appreciated!

Best,

Stephanie

So , I finally have one I want to share in my first post!  I have only been baking steadily for a couple of months now, and since I successfully captured some wild yeasties, have been using them exclusively.  I have also tried to simplify things as much as possible, hence have tended to keep my sourdough starter roughly the same hydration as my final dough.  As I have a regular day job, but don't want to limit my baking to weekends, I have been working on a means of fitting my baking into a regular day's schedule, and have come up with a technique that seems to work for me (made specific for this loaf):

The night before baking, I take the ~1 cup of starter that I have in my fridge out, and add 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup water and ~1/3 tsp salt.  I typically use rye or whole wheat, but this time I used organic spelt (the existing starter was ~80% spelt, 20% AP).  Mixed alltogether and left on the counter overnight.

Morning, 5:45am before going to work, added 3 cups organic AP flour, 1 1/2 cups water, 1 and a bit tsp salt.  Mixed together, and put down in the basement where it is a bit cooler.

Went to work.  Returned ~5:00pm.

Had roughly doubled.  The challenge has been to find a spot in the house that is the right temperature to leave the dough all day.  This has been a cool spring, so some days the basement is too cold, and I get almost no rise. Recently it has been a lot hotter, and I can get over-fermentation.  This still to be refined.  Nevertheless, today things worked out perfectly!

Cut ~1/2 cup of dough off to save as my next starter, stretched/folded/rested/formed a boule and let it sit in the colander for a couple hours to proof.  Next used the handy cast-iron dutch oven method, and results were most satisfactory.  The starter got fed (tripled) and immediately put in the fridge.

I have varied quantities of starter from batch to batch, and this quantity (~1 cup doubled the night before and then more than doubled the next morning) has given me the best flavour yet!  Not so sour that the wife won't eat it, but not as lightly-flavoured as I have been getting with half the quantity of starter.  Mmmmm.

Bit of an explosion on the crust, despite a cramped (as it was in the dutch oven) slashing with my handy straight razor.