Jean B. wrote:
> sf wrote:
>> Made the dough last night and did two small boule shaped loaves today.
>> The dough has already taken on the smell of sourdough, so I expect my
>> bread to taste great. I'm glad I baked them consecutively because I
>> would have considered it a failure by my first.
>> I forgot to score the first boule, so I slid out the rack and hastily
>> scored it... apparently I didn't score deeply enough because there was
>> no evidence of scoring when I took the bread out. The bread didn't
>> rise properly in the oven even though I cooked the bread an extra 10
>> minutes and it didn't brown. I remembered to score the second before
>> I put it in. It raised properly and browned very nicely. Haven't cut
>> into them yet, so I don't know how the crumb turned out.
>>
> Okay. In spite of what I said about bread, maybe I'll make some when I
> have company. Soooo, what is the best book to get--or the best recipe?
> Yes, I can search, but I am not sure where folks' tinkering may have led
> them.

This is the basic recipe I use without fail. It's the Bittman recipe
from the New York Times, with the amount of water adjusted to match what
he did in the instructional video. My notes are in [brackets].

Recipe: No-Knead Bread

Adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery
Time: About 1 1/2 hours plus 14 to 20 hours rising

3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 1/2 cups water,
and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with
plastic wrap [I use a covered glass baking dish and cover it that way.].
Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room
temperature, about 70 degrees. [Temp doesn't really matter; in a colder
room, it just takes longer, and in warm temps, it goes faster, but it
all turns out well.]

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour
a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more
flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with
plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface
or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball.
Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran
or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour,
bran or cornmeal. [I just put it on a cutting board covered with flour
or cornmeal.] Cover with another cotton towel [I use flour and oiled
plastic wrap, or just toss a bowl over it.] and let rise for about 2
hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will
not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees.
Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or
ceramic) [It works fine in any ovenproof pot -- I've even just used a
soup pot with foil as a cover.] in oven as it heats. When dough is
ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and
turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but
that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed;
it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes,
then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is
beautifully browned. Cool on a rack. [Don't try cutting into it before
it's cooled at least 20 minutes, or it won't have a good texture.]

Yield: One 1 1/2-pound loaf.


--
"Basic principles of the Universe, oo. Do tell. Quantum mechanics?"
"You cannot know simultaneously where you are in a relationship *and*
how fast it is going." - Piglet and Rob Wynne, on alt.polyamory