I'm new to this forum, and while I normally pose my baking questions to family members, none of them seem to have the ability to help me.

I started baking bread a few months ago, and while I had some trouble in the beginning I was finally able to master a basic white loaf recipe from King Arthur Flour.  Maybe I'm taking too much of a leap here, but I am just not satisfied with the sweetness of that bread.  I want something fluffier, more like a sourdough.  After doing some research, I found this recipe for a no-knead bread which promised me that time would do all the work.  I blame myself for being lulled into a false sense of security here, because my first attempt was just awful.

The first rise has generally gone well.  After this, I turn the dough onto a well-floured surface and sprinkle it with a little more flour, then fold it over a couple of times.  I let it rest for 15 minutes, then put it back into the bowl with a towel saturated in cornmeal.

IT'S ALWAYS THE SECOND RISE THAT DEFEATS ME!!!  It never quite rises properly this second time, and then when I go to turn it into my heated ceramic pot, disaster strikes.  The dough clings to the towel like a spider monkey, and when it plops into the pot it does not look happy at all.  The loaf comes out flat and rubbery, but I don't want the bread to know it won, so I eat it anyway.

1. Could it be that the bowl I am allowing it to rise in is too small?

2. Could the pot I am cooking it in be too big?

3. Is there a possiblity that I let the first rise go too long?  I gave it the requisite 18 hours, but if I have class or something it could be a bit longer.

I'm at a loss here, and I could really use some suggestions.  I'm generally a pretty good baker, and I am confident in my baking skills - sometimes to the point of conceit.  But for a unicellular fungi, yeast has certainly mustered the strength to knock me off whatever horse I was riding on 3 months ago when I embarked on this journey. 

Defeatedly yours,

NoKnead in VT

Mark Bittman of the "famous" Sullivan bakery no knead bread had recipe last week in the NYT for fried pizza. Husband and I tried it last night and it's pretty darn good!

Hi KipperCat

I said I would try out your method for the NYT loaf using 100% wholemeal spelt. I stuck to your instructions as closely as I could:

1lb 100% wholemeal spelt flour

1/4 tsp instant yeast

1 tsp salt

2 oz yoghurt

BUT

10 oz water NOT 12 oz as it just seemed too wet to me ...

Anyway mixed it all at 9pm last night.

At 9am today, turned it out and did the stretch and fold thing as best I could on a clean unfloured board - 10 times - 6 then 5 min rest then 4 more

When I was in graduate school, I baked regularly. A couple of loaves of sourdough whole-wheat bread every week, a big pot of lentil soup, and I had regular but boring meals every night of the week.

Insert extended detour for marriage, child, divorce. I didn't bake bread.

I saw the New York Times no-knead bread recipe and thought, "I can do that!", and indeed, I can. I have been making it with sourdough. I recently branched out to sourdough English muffins and naan.