Update on my Whole Wheat no Knead bread.

[alfredo]

The results have been so good, I find little reason to try a different recipe. I make one two pound loaf a week. The tanginess of the crumb is addictive. I only bake it for five minutes with the top off because I don't want a hard crust.

Now that the weather has turned cold I do the extended rise in the microwave. The stove hood light keeps it warm enough to encourage the yeast to act. I'm so glad I have found a use for the microwave.

So here is the recipe I posted back a few weeks ago: http://www.myhealthyeatinghabits.com/2012/03/21/my-favorite-no-knead-whole-wheat-bread/

The video:

Maybe some day I will try regular manual labor bread.

[enough]

1. I agree, alfredo. Whatever kind of bread I want, I always use the no-knead method now.

It's not just that it's so easy, it also makes better bread.

[alfredo]

8. The long rise might be what adds the flavor.

[fizzgig]

2. good to hear you're happy with the results

i haven't done a loaf of wheat bread for awhile, i'm due.

[alfredo]

9. A warm oven cuts the chill in the air.

[Callalily]

3. Here is my recent successful

no knead bread recipe, with personal notations.

No Knead Crusty Bread

¼ teaspoon active dry yeast
1 ½ cups warm water (105-110 degrees)
3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting. You may use white, white-wheat or a combination of both.
1 ½ teaspoon salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran for dusting

Directions

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add the flour and salt, stirring until blended. The dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rest 13-18 hours at about 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21.1 degrees Celsius). Note: my place is much colder than that and the dough rises just fine. Overnight is usually what I do.

The dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour your work surface and place dough on it. Sprinkle with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let it rest for about 15 minutes. This is where I digress from the recipe. Knead the flour into the dough just a few times and place in well greased (I just use cooking spray - no cornmeal - no nothing) Dutch oven (I use a large Pyrex casserole dish). Cover with plastic wrap and let rise over night (or when the dough has risen enough–double in size).

Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Cover Dutch oven (or casserole dish) and bake for 30 minutes. Remove cover and bake another 15 to 20 minutes or until loaf is beautifully browned. Note: set timer for 10 minutes and then check. Typically this is all the time I need. Remove bread from Dutch oven (or casserole dish) and let it cool on a rack for at least one hour before slicing.

Typically I start the dough right when I get home from work, and then the next morning I knead once or twice and place in casserole dish to rise while I'm at work, and when I get home I bake.

[alfredo]

5. That looks good. I might make a loaf of that for my sister in law at Christmas.

She doesn't eat whole wheat. I don't know why.

[Major Nikon]

4. You don't necessarily need a warm environment

I sometimes do pre-ferments in the refrigerator (called a poolish). Some people do their proofing between 40-50F in order to redard the process for more flavor development.

When it comes to fermentation, yeast, time, and temperature all have a functional relationship to each other with time being inversely proportional to the other two. In other words, more yeast = less time or higher temperature = less time. What you may have noticed is that the no knead bread recipe calls for much less yeast than others you may have used. This is because you are giving up yeast in order to extend the ferment and develop more flavor along with gluten development (which is why you don't need to knead). What you are doing is growing a yeast culture which is constantly multiplying and producing CO2 gas which provides leavening. So long as the temperature is above freezing and below about 122F, the yeast is going to be doing its job. You are really more concerned with how much expansion you are getting rather than how much time it takes to get there. More time generally means more flavor (although there is a point of diminishing returns). So if it's cold and it takes more time, don't sweat it because the results will be even better. If it's taking more time than you like, you can use a bit more yeast initially.

[alfredo]

6. I've never had a satisfactory kneaded bread. I either do it too much, or too little.

[Major Nikon]

7. Professional artisan bakers don't knead bread for the most part

They do use folding, which is not the same thing and is done for different reasons, but also has to do with gluten structures.

Kneading is necessary for quick ferments that don't have time to develop gluten structures on their own. If you allow the yeast time, this is not necessary. Think of billions of little cells doing all that hard work so you can sit back with a beer and watch the ball game instead. Less work, more flavor. My kinda cooking.

[alfredo]

10. I noticed the elasticity of today's loaf. I knew it would be good. Everything went right,

even the dropping of the dough into the dutch oven. Dead center.

[Major Nikon]

11. If you really want to have some fun with it, try doing everything by hand

That's how I make my bread. No machines or implements of any kind. Folding during the initial fermentation is quite interesting because you get to see and feel exactly how the gluten structures develop. The dough goes from a big wet sloppy mess on the first fold to something that can begin to hold its shape and structure by the last fold. It's kinda like the yeast are little minions that are busy building steel girders inside the mass so everything holds together.

[alfredo]

12. It was so interesting to see how it changed by that simple action. I just use a wooden spoon,

and a rubber spatula. My only physical contact is the folding, then dumping the dough onto the bar towel.

[Major Nikon]

13. If you decide to do very much of it, invest in one or more proofing baskets

I do two loaves at once, so I have two pots and two cane proofing baskets. Get a cane basket that matches the size of your pot. In other words if the bottom of your pot is 8" across, get a 8" proofing basket. There's a bit of a learning curve because you have to flour the hell out of them or they will stick, but they will make your life easier than trying to proof on a towel and they make for a much more attractive loaf. Get the hang of judging your proof with the finger test. There's really only a small window of opportunity between under and over proofed (perhaps 15 minutes or so at room temperature). It's not the end of the world either way, but you get the best texture when the proof is inside that window.

Round polycarbonate tubs (6qt size) from the restaurant supply are great for fermentation because you can do all of your mixing and rising inside the tub and since they are marked with graduations on the side, you can easily tell how much the dough has risen.

[alfredo]

14. I have some good thick glass bowls I use. I use plastic wrap

To hold in the moisture. I will look into proofing baskets.

[Major Nikon]

15. A glass bowl lined with a floured piece of cheesecloth or linen works well also

When you first use a proofing basket the tendency is to not use enough flour and they will stick. Make sure you rinse them off well between uses.

[alfredo]

16. I see that the baskets are inexpensive, but for now the bar towels work well.

The dough is so wet I don't think it would retain the basket shape.

[Major Nikon]

17. It should

I have made Jim Lahey's no knead recipe many times using proofing baskets and even get a circular indentation of the canes in the finished product. Not the same recipe, but the loaf on the left is what it looks like:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/115723932#post2

If it's too wet at the end of proofing, you may be underproofing. The nice thing about proofing baskets is they draw some of the moisture away from the outside of the loaf, which results in a crispier crust. If you're not doing it all that often, it's probably not worth investing in proofing baskets. What I really like about Lahey's recipe is it shows novice breadmakers how to make great bread with things they probably already have around their kitchen and I think there's a lot to be said for that. When someone wants to break into artisan bread, I always steer them to Lahey's recipe. Many need to go no farther. There's a few good videos on the youtubes if you search by his name as well. He's also got a book that others here have praised, but I've never read it.

[alfredo]

18. I make one loaf a week, so I don't think I need much more than what I have.

I do like woven baskets, so one more in the house would be no big deal.

[alfredo]

19. I noticed the crumb was compressed in places. Maybe it was too wet this time.