Does seeing the word “bread” in a recipe title send you running away from your stand mixer and into the door of the nearest bakery? Take a deep breath: Almost No-Knead Bread is here to quell your bread-baking fears. It almost completely eliminates kneading, the pesky but all-important arm workout that produces bread’s gluten—that is, the proteins that give a loaf its structure.
Follow these simple steps to make bakery-quality bread with an open crumb and a thick crust with very little effort. You’ll be a bread-baking machine in no time.
STEP #1 Mix and rest: Make the dough by folding the wet ingredients into the dry with a rubber spatula until the dough comes together and looks shaggy. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for at least 8 hours or up to 18 hours. Letting the dough sit for such a long time actually develops the gluten, much like kneading—this is the trick to making this bread. Don’t shortchange this resting time or the bread won’t have enough structure and will turn out very flat.
STEP #2 Knead it 10 to 15 times by hand: Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and knead by hand to form a smooth, round ball, 10 to 15 times. These few turns done by hand on the counter make a big difference to the texture of the final loaf, and it’s very easy to do.
STEP #3 Shape the loaf: After kneading the loaf, shape the dough into a ball by pulling the edges into the middle.
STEP #4 Let it rise in a skillet: Transfer the dough, seam side down, to a parchment-lined 10-inch skillet. We found that the skillet is the perfect shape to support the round loaf while it rises. Make sure to grease the parchment so the dough won’t stick.
STEP #5 Bake in a Dutch oven: Transfer the bread to a Dutch oven to bake. The hot pot traps steam and will give the loaf a thick, hearty crust while helping it keep its round shape.
STEP #6 Bake covered and uncovered: Bake the bread covered for 30 minutes then remove the lid and continue to bake until the center of the loaf registers 210 degrees on an instant-read thermometer and the crust is deep golden brown, 20 to 30 minutes. By baking the bread both covered and uncovered, you can get a chewy interior and a thick, hearty crust.
About the Author: America's Test Kitchen
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Making bread can be a time consuming process, so this is a great way to spread out the task. and the recipes are delicious. I especially enjoy the olive rosemary.
I have been baking bread, rolls, and sourdough in my dutch oven in the oven for years, it’s a fantastic way to get that crispy crust with a normal oven. I highly recommend this technique to any bread baker!
If you use a metal pie plate instead of a skillet for the second rise, you can just stick the pie plate straight into the dutch oven. I’ve found it eliminates scorching on the bottom of the loaf.
Bingo greg mac..i always scorch the loaf on bootom..i tried using a couple pieces of aluminum foil but wll try the pie plate today..thx!!
I don’t drink beer, and I don’t know what kind to get or what to do with the rest of the can after I’ve used a little in this bread recipe, or how long the rest of the six-pack will last if I don’t make this bread again for a while. Can you please give me some tips? Can I keep the rest of the can in the fridge and use it for another loaf in a few days or weeks? Does it lose its yeas-y properties over time if refrigerated? How about the sealed cans in my pantry – do they expire? Hellp!
Hi Jenesis76, if you view the recipe (link is above), it calls for a mild-flavored lager, such as Budweiser (mild non-alcoholic lager also works). It’s best to work with a fresh can. And beer comes with a sell-by or drink-by date, so sealed cans should be good until then. Refrigeration should not affect anything.
Christine Liu, thank you for the follow-up. What I mean about refrigeration was whether I could refrigerate the remainder of a can and use it later, but you’re saying a fresh can is best. Thanks! It’s been so long since I’ve made this recipe that I’ve been hoarding the rest of a six-pack for over a year now, so I’d probably better throw it out and start over! So I can just go get a pack of any old Bud off the shelf, and it’ll work? Does it say “lager” on the cans?
Open a new sealed can, always!
And yes, just get regular ol’ Budweiser, or just ask your friendly liquor store associate for a cheap lager.
Thanks again, Christine. I’m also going to try gregmacdnld’s tip and use a pie plate to keep the bottom from scorching. Did you know it’s practically impossible to find a metal pie plate for sale anymore, except the kind with “handles” that stick out so the plate doesn’t fit in a Dutch oven?
This recipe used to call for preheating the oven – and the Dutch oven with the lid – to 500 degrees prior to baking the bread… why has this changed?
Hi CKIII, on occasion we improve upon our recipes. In the May/June 2012 issue of Cook’s Illustrated (“Kitchen Notes”), we updated our No-Knead Bread recipe to version 3.0, where we start the bread in a cold oven. The details from the article:
Our No-Knead Bread 2.0 (January/February 2008) presented a foolproof way to make bakery-quality loaves in a preheated Dutch oven. The heavy covered pot, which preheats at 500 degrees for a half-hour before the dough is added, acts like a miniature version of the steam-injection ovens used by professional bakers: The lid traps steam released by the loaf for maximum rise (without kneading) and a shatteringly crisp crust. But after further experimenting with the recipe, we discovered that this already simple method can be made even more so by eliminating the 30-minute preheating step and starting the loaf in a cold oven. When we started the process in an unheated pot in a cold oven, the loaf rose just as high as the standard hot-oven version did, and the crust browned beautifully. Why does this cold-oven method work just as well as the original? Because the same process is taking place, but in slow motion. Instead of blasting the loaf with heat and steam right from the get-go, we let those elements build gradually. Eventually, the loaf achieves the same amount of “spring.” We did need to make two more adjustments to the original recipe. First, after you put the dough in the oven, simply set the oven dial to 425 degrees (rather than beginning at 500 degrees). Second, don’t start your timer until the oven has reached 425 degrees. After that point, bake for 30 minutes with the lid on and then 20 to 30 minutes with the lid removed.
Wow! I would never have guessed that you could get the same results starting off in cold pot AND a cold oven. Crazy. I’ve got just enough time to start some dough and try this in the morning.
Thanks for the details, Christine!
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