No-knead additions
I have been making the no-knead bread since it came out in the NYT and have been experimenting with various additions. I have found that if I substitute 1/3 cup whole wheat flour, 1/3 cup of Ezekial cereal, 1/3 cup of Bob's Red Mill 5 grain cereal and some flax seeds for 1 cup of white flour I have a really great-tasting, healthier loaf of bread. I also have made a good rye bread by substituting 1/2 cup whole wheat and 1/2 cup of rye flour for a cup of plain flour. I throw in some caraway seeds and it makes a delicious loaf. After the 18 hour fermenting period, I spray a piece of parchment with non-stick spray and sprinkle a little corn meal on it. I then turn the dough out onto that and let it rise for the final 2-hour period. I still preheat the oven and my cast iron dutch oven. Just before cooking I cut the parchment around the dough to the approximate size of the dutch and simply slide the circle of parchment paper with the dough on it into the hot dutch, put the lid on and cook just as the original instructions say. It is much easier than trying to scrap the dough into the hot dutch oven and my loaves are more uniform.
I have also done a lot of the no knead style loaves but skipped warming the dutch oven. I just plop the dough on parchment in a cold dutch oven. After the rise, it goes directly into the oven and finishes as usual. I have even tried it with a cold oven at start. It all works well. I simply adjust the time in the oven by a few minutes to compensate. After the lid of the dutch oven comes off I can see how the loaf is doing. I do a temp check with an instant read thermometer and always cook to around 205 degrees internal.
How clever - so it dispenses with the linen lined basket and the fiddling with a dangerously hot pot!
Andrew
I let mine rise in a large stainless steel bowl on Reynolds Release foil. I use the foil as a sling to transfer the risen dough to the preheated Dutch oven or my homemade flowerpot cloche. I use the foil because I can get many uses out of one piece, while I had to replace the parchment every time.
After reading about people starting with a cold oven, I did a head-to-head test. I divided my dough in half, and started one loaf in the cold oven. When that one was done, I put the other loaf in the hot Dutch oven to bake. The hot-oven loaf got better oven spring, although both were fine.
Dave
After watching the video countless times and reading virtually everything in the thread about the NYT/Sullivan St Bakery no knead bread recipe from a couple of years ago (I'm new and still catching up), I'm still a bit confused. I wanted to rely on the video, not the printed recipe, because others commented on the problems with the latter. But the video doesn't actually explain all the steps. It goes straight from fermented dough (19 hours) to patting and folding, and into the pot, skipping the 15-minute rest and 2-hour final proof. So my questions are:
What happens immediately after the 18 hour fermentation?
When does the dough rest (15 minutes as per printed recipe)?
When do I do the quick fold (as in the video)? Is this the same as making a ball (as per printed recipe) Is this when it goes onto the towel?
Do I go straight from 2 hour proof into the pre-heated pot, without any handling?
Due to my confusion about rest/fold/form ball/proof, I don't think I really folded it as well as I intended on my first try, but didn't want to overhandle at the wrong time. The bread turned out pretty nicely so maybe none of this matters too much, but I'd still like to know what steps others take.