Other Kneadlessly Simple breads I have made

For a review of Kneadlessly Simple by Nancy Baggett, click here. For other breads I made from the book and posted about, click here and here.

Crusty seeded cracked wheat pot boule
This bread was excellent. We loved it. I had changed the recipe to sourdough.

Rustic rye pot bread
This one I also converted to sourdough. It was good but not exceptional.

Hearty caraway beer bread
This bread, I didn't convert to sourdough. I pretty much followed the instructions (to a point) and baked it in a covered oiled oven-proof dish (a first for me). Since I hadn't added flour before the second rise, as recommended by Baggett (I just can't bring myself to do that), the final dough was a bit slack, to say the least, and almost impossible to score. Which is why the crust cracked where it wanted to. That being said, it came out scrumptious and I would strongly recommend it to any rye/caraway lover. Of course, if you don't like caraway seeds, this bread isn't for you. Next time I make it, I'll use a natural starter.

100% whole wheat honey bread
This one is the best whole wheat bread I ever had. Tasty, wholesome and light. What more to ask for? Well, maybe it could look better. However its flat, deceptively low-key appearance may be due to the fact that I had trouble timing myself for this one and it ended up spending an extra night in the fridge, which is exactly the opposite of what the author recommended. But we soon forgot about its unassuming look. It was so airy it melted in the mouth and the flavor of the whole grain came out with a peppery aftertaste which made it very addictive.

Kneadlessly Simple San Francisco Style Sourdough Bread

The recipe for this bread comes from Nancy Baggett's Kneadlessly Simple, a book I rewieved here. Ingredients: 496 g all-purpose unbleached flour (+ more as needed) 9 g de sel (the bread wasn't quite salty enough to my taste. Next time I'll use 2% of the total amount of flour indicated in the recipe, including the flour in the starter, i.e. 13 g) 1/4 tsp instant yeast (I used SAF) 12 g corn oil, canola oil or other flavorless vegetable oil + more for coating dough and pan 368 g wild yeast sourdough starter (hydration 100%) 350 g ice water (water chilled to around 50 F/10 C by adding ice cubes)

Method:

1. In a large bowl, thoroughly stir together the flour, salt and yeast
2. In another bowl or measuring cup, whisk the oil and starter into the water
3. Vigorously stir the mixture into the bowl with the flour, scraping down the sides until the ingredients are thoroughly blended. If too dry, stir in just enough ice water to be able to incorporate the flour but don't overdo it as the dough should be very stiff (conversely, if necessary, add more flour)
4. Brush or spray the dough with oil and cover the bowl with plastic wrap
5. If desired, for best flavor or convenience, the dough can be refrigerated for 3 to 10 hours
6. Then let rise at room temperature for 18 to 24 hours. If convenient, vigorously stir the dough once partway through the rise (I forgot to do that part)
7. When ready for the second rise, vigorously stir the dough, adding more flour as needed to make it very stiff and hard to stir (as I couldn't bring myself to do that, I more or less stopped following the author's instructions at this point and proceeded my usual way. I still did steps 8 and 9 however)
8. Then using a well-oiled rubber spatula, fold the dough in towards the center, working your way all around the bowl (which will help organize the gluten)
9. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes
10. Invert the dough on a lightly floured counter, sprinkle the dough with flour and pre-shape it into a boule (ball)
11. Let it rest for 20 minutes under a damp cloth
12. Shape it into a tighter boule and place this boule into a floured cloth-covered basket (probably because I hadn't added flour as recommanded by the author, the dough wasn't stiff enough to rise by itself on a baking sheet)
13. Place the basket into a large clear plastic bag, blow in the bag and close it tightly. Let the dough rise at room temperature for 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours or 4 to 24 hours in the fridge (I chose to let it rise overnight in the fridge)
14. On the day of the baking, take the loaf out of the fridge and invert it onto a semolina-covered parchment paper and then to a Dutch oven lined with parchment paper (I use a 5-quart Lodge cast-iron oven but Pyrex or any large enough other covered ovenproof dish would work too). Do not cut the paper to the diameter of the Dutch oven as you will need the extra paper to carry the loaf into and out of the Dutch oven as on a sling
15. Sprinkle some flour on the loaf, then score it in a tick-tack-toe pattern
16. Close the Dutch oven and place it into the cold oven (once again, this is not the author's method, but mine) and turn the oven on to 470 F/243 C. Bake for 45 minutes
17. Take the Dutch oven out of the oven, get the bread out of it (lifting it on both sides using the paper as a sling) and set it back in the oven, without the paper, directly on the baking stone (if using)
18. Lower the oven temperature to 440 F/227 C and bake for another 15 minutes (tenting the top of the loaf with foil to avoid overbrowning if necessary)
19. Take the loaf out of the oven and check its internal temperature with an instant thermometer. If it has reached 204 F/ 96 C, it is ready. If not, put it back in the oven for another few minutes (taking care to protect the top with foil)
20. When the bread is done, take it out of the oven and set it to cool on a rack before slicing it.

This bread didnt taste like the one I had several times in San Francisco but I like it better that way as I am not a huge fan of the famous San Francisco sourdough bread, except when eaten with clam chowder. But I like the fact that without being exceptionally good, this bread is really tasty (especially after a few hours or the next day as it truly improves with age), that the work involved is minimal and that, best of all, all I had to wash afterward was a couple of bowls and a wooden spoon...

No-knead garlic parmesan bread

This recipe is one of several I tried in Nancy Baggett's Kneadlessly Simple book. I am not a huge fan of no-knead breadmaking as I don't mind the kneading (especially since I am the lucky owner of a bread machine, which means that, when I don't have the time or energy to knead by hand, I just throw all the ingredients in the machine, select the dough cycle and let the machine take care of the temperature, the mixing and, sometimes, the first rise).
But I still find Baggett's book rather amazing as it manages time and again to produce great breads with minimum effort.
While in most of her other recipes, I replaced the yeast with sourdough starter (with very good results), in this one, I stuck to yeast. The only thing I changed is the way I baked the loaf. From step 17 on, I reverted to my usual way of doing things.
Whenever possible, I like to put the dough in a cold Dutch oven which I cover and put in a cold oven which I then turn on. It saves on the energy bill and it is better for the environment than preheating. It also saves me the trouble of creating steam as the dough self-steams inside the Dutch oven.

Ingredients:

• 1 large head of garlic
• 1 tbsp olive oil 
• 10 g freshly grated Parmesan + 2 tbsp for garnish
• 570 g unbleached all-purpose flour (I use Whole Foods 365 organic)
• 2 tsp salt
• 3.5 g instant yeast (I use SAF)
• 500 g ice water + more if needed

Method:

1. Peel off the papery outer skin from the garlic but do not separate the cloves. Cut across the top portion to display the flesh inside. Discard the cut-off portion
2. Put 1 tbsp of olive oil in a small ovenproof dish, dip the cut side of the garlic in the oil, then turn the head cut-side up, place in the cup and cover the cup with foil
3. Bake in a preheated 350 F/177 C oven for 35 to 45 minutes
4. Let cool, then squeeze or scrape the garlic from the cloves into a medium bowl
5. Add 10 g of Parmesan and thoroughly mash with a fork to form a paste
6. Reserve (this paste can be made several days ahead and refrigerated; it would need to be brought back to room temp and stirred before using)
7. In a large bowl, thoroughly stir together the flour, salt and yeast
8. Vigorously stir the water and the garlic mixture into the bowl until the ingredients are thoroughly blended
9. If too dry, stir in just enough water to blend the ingredients but don't overmoisten as the dough should be very stiff (add flour if necessary to stiffen it)
10. Brush or spray the top with olive oil
11. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 12 to 18 hours (I put it in the fridge overnight)
12. Then let rise at cool room temperature for 12 to 18 hours. If convenient, vigorously stir the dough once partway through the rise (I forgot to do that)
13. Using an oiled rubber spatula, lift and fold the dough in towards the center, working all the way around the bowl, taking care not to deflate it. Brush or spray with olive oil. Re-cover with plastic wrap
14. Let rise at warm room temperature for 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours or if preferred, refrigerate for 4 to 24 hours (I refrigerated overnight again)
15. Then set out at room temperature and let rise until the dough doubles from the deflated size, removing the plastic as the dough nears it
16. Put a rack with a baking stone on it in the lower third of the oven
17. Here is where I didn't do what the recipe says, which is to oil a Dutch oven and heat it in the oven. I just took the dough out of the bowl, inverted it on a piece of parchment paper and, using the paper as a sling, lifted the loaf and put it into a cold Dutch oven
18. I sprayed it with water and sprinkled the 2 tbsp of Parmesan over the top
19. I put the covered Dutch oven in the cold oven and turned the oven on (475 F/246 C)
20. I baked for 30 minutes at 475 F/246 C, then reduced the temperature to 425 F/218 C)
21. After 10 more minutes, I took the loaf out of the Dutch oven, removed the parchment paper and set the loaf directly on the baking stone
22. Then I let it bake until golden. When golden, I tented it with foil and continued with the baking until it reached an internal temperature of 207 to 208 F/97 to 98 C on an instant-read thermometer
23. Then I took it out and let it cool on a wire rack.

No-knead bread strikes again!

(click on the image to see the book on amazon.com)

Just as we thought we now knew more than we ever would need or want to know about no-knead bread and painless artisan bread, here comes a new book with a new method and plenty of well-researched recipes and, listen to this, it rocks!
Serious amateur bakers who love to mix their dough just on this side of enough, make sure it comes out at the right temperature (usually somewhere around 75 F/24 C), like to give it some strength (but not too much) by folding it once or twice while it is rising, treat it like bone china and are rewarded by crusty crusts and holey crumb will be horrified to learn that pouring ice water onto the flour and mixing it until just incorporated, adding flour so that the dough becomes very stiff, then sticking it in the fridge for up to 10 hours, then letting it rise at cool room temperature for 18 to 24 hours, then adding yet more flour not only works, but works great!
It is easy to see that the author spent years baking the traditional way before going on to experiment with this method. She is clearly on solid grounds when talking about bread "science".
Her goal is to make it possible for everybody to bake good bread at home using a simplified Reinhard/Gosselin method (for more info on this method, please refer to The Breadbaker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhard).
Bagget minimizes the number of steps and opportunities for mistakes and explains how to adapt traditional recipes to her method. Generally speaking, she goes a long way towards simplifying artisan baking at home.
Her book contains many different recipes, covering a wide variety of grains and other ingredients.
I can't vouch for her baking method which I didn't follow as I don't like the idea of doing the second rise directly in an ovenproof pot or casserole. I like to use baskets or to just shape the loaves on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and then, transfer them to a Dutch oven just before baking. Also, the San Francisco style sourdough bread recipe is the only one in the book that uses sourdough. Since I prefer baking with natural starter to baking with commercial yeast (I like the crust better and the shelf life is much longer), I converted to sourdough most of the recipes I tried. They still work, which says a lot for the soundness of the method, however out of the beaten paths it may sound.
It was fun to try the recipes and find out time after time that the bread came out just as I wanted it. The only part I take exception with is that the process is rather long. This is not a spur-of-the-moment let's make bread for dinner tonight kind of book. The actual worktime is quite short but you need to plan ahead a little bit. On the other hand, if it were at all quicker, this no-knead method would probably produce mediocre breads, so it is a trade-off.
I like the fact that, in most cases, there is only one bowl, sometimes two, to clean but I regret that the ingredients are mostly measured in volume (although ounces are indicated for the flours). I hope that in another edition (or a follow-up book), grams will be given as well.
For people who watch their sugar intake, some of the breads may contain too much sweeteners such as honey or molasses. In my experience, it is possible to considerably reduce that amount or to skip the sweetener altogether.