Ingredients
3 cups (430g) flour
1½ cups (345g or 12oz) water
¼ teaspoon (1g) yeast (yes, only 1g)
1¼ teaspoon (8g) salt
olive oil (for coating)
extra flour, wheat bran, or cornmeal (for dusting)
Mix all of the dry ingredients in a medium bowl.
Add water and incorporate by hand or with a wooden spoon or spatula for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest at least 12 hours at room temperature (approx. 65-72°F).
Remove the dough from the bowl onto a tea towel well coated with flour to prevent sticking. Coat the top of the dough with flour,
Next, shape the dough into ball by tucking edges under and rotating the dough. Handle it gently so as not to knock out air.
Preheat oven to 230C fan. Place a casserole pot and lid (about the same diameter as the dough, and twice as deep) in the oven and allow oven and pot to come up to temperature.
Once the oven is to temperature, remove the pot from the oven and place the dough in the pot by lifting the tea towel and placing the dough into the centre of the pot..
Cover with the lid and bake 30 minutes
Then remove the lid and bake 30 minutes uncovered, until the loaf is nicely browned.
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Method
I love bread. There is nothing to beat the smell of it cooking, the sound of it cutting and the taste of it. Making your own is something people have run away from as too difficult, time-consuming or just plain awkward. And in many ways it is - but it doesn’t need to be that way. A couple of the breads in this section require no manual labour - but they don’t use a bread machine, and give you bread with a flavour and texture second to none.
So why make bread? - because if you think it’s important to know what goes into the food you eat, then its important to start with the basics - and bread is as basic as you get. So go for it - making bread is not a time heavy investment. With a little organisation it fits into the schedule of even the busiest family (we have 4 children living at home) and it pays you back in spades. Plus it makes the best toast or bruschetta you’ve ever had.
So I love the taste and texture of sourdough. It’s open structure, crunchy crust and jaw-aching chewiness are the essence of good bread. But it’s a pain in the backside to make. Unless you are a seriously committed home baker churning out loaves on a regular basis, then who has time to make starters, feed them and remember all the timings and feedings to produce an echt sourdough loaf? Don’t get me wrong I have great admiration if you do - and everyone should try it once - it’s amazing and gratifying but seriously all that for a loaf of bread?
Anyway, the long and short of it is that after trying many different ways of trying to make a loaf with all the good qualities, I stumbled across one in the New York Times which is in turn lifted from a bakery there. That is Sullivan Street Bakery, owned by Jim Lahey. A no-knead bread which has all the “mouth qualities” of sourdough but with none of the hassle, or time commitment. Honest.
I have modified the method on this to reflect what I now do - it omits a waiting period in the morning which seemed to serve no purpose and thanks to some experimenting (thanks Neighbour) leaving it out makes the timings easier and the outcome the same. Start your dough at tea time and have a loaf for a late breakfast!