Hi everyone! I know absolutely nothing about baking bread, I'm just starting to learn, so please don't flame me if this is a stupid question. :-) I'm wondering if you could just tear or cut away the excess paper so there would be less scorching. It looks like the most severe scorching is happening on the excess that is hanging down, and less so up close to the bread. It looks like a fire hazard to me. eek! But that is some kind of beautiful bread.
Breadtopia
· 1 year ago
Dear (No) Bread Doofus,
Not a bad question at all. Besides, this site, as with parchment paper, is flame retardant.
I've never seen or heard of a case of parchment paper actually catching fire but when it gets scorched like that it crumbles easily. So if nothing else, trimming the excess would reduce clean up issues.
Joe Valencic
· 1 year ago
I use a different approach with the use of parchment paper. I line my proofing baskets (wicker) with parchment paper, being careful to form the paper closely to the inside shape of the basket. I trim off all but 2" of paper extending over the edges of the baskets, then spray the paper with no-stick spray. I shape the dough to the basket shape, cover with plastic and allow to rise for 60 minutes. I then lift the proofed dough out of the baskets with the edges of the paper, and place them in the preheated pots and bake as usual. This method eliminates inverting the proofed dough and risking deflation. I have the La Cloche oblong baker from Eric, as well as two other clay bakers I acquired along the way. IMHO, the clay bakers are the greatest way to bake no-knead breads.
Joe
kathyjean
· 1 year ago
Newbie question: Do I soak the clay pot in water first? Thanks. I find this site very helpful and informative in helping me out with my bread making. I am just starting to experiment with no-knead bread, I have been making our bread a few years now.
Chris
· 1 year ago
Thank you for the parchment tip, I look forward to trying it. Given my wheat intolerance, I tried using oatbran to line my proofing basket and it works great.
Breadtopia
· 1 year ago
Hi Kathyjean. You can soak the clay pot in water first if you want. A lot of people do it this way. If you do, then start baking with it in a cold oven. In other words, put your bread dough in the pot just after you've soaked it and bring them both up to temperature together.
This is in contrast to another popular way of handling it where you preheat the pot and then put the dough in. There would be no point in doing it this way if you've soaking the pot first, since the water would have evaporated by the time the dough was placed inside.
kathyjean
· 1 year ago
Thanks for the answer. I've never done this before. What is the difference in the crust with the hot pot versus the soaked pot?
Breadtopia
· 1 year ago
I've never tried the soaking technique. But I'd LOVE it if you tried it each way and report back on what you find.
I know others have done it both ways, but I don't think very many people are subscribed to this particular thread, so we may not hear from them on this page.
kathyjean
· 1 year ago
Well, I made the loaf today (click link) in the pre-heated clay pot, and everyone really likes it. It is not as "holey" as I had hoped, but still very good. I had to make 1/2 again as much because the pot I got is pretty big. I used 1 1/2 c. whl wht, 3 1/2 c bread flr, and 2 1/4 c water. I'm going to mix some up tonight with all bread flour and see what that does. I'm really enjoying this. I will try the soaking method after that.
marc lowen
· 1 year ago
So I baked an interesting No Knead and thought I would share 3.5 white KA .5 Whole wheat 2tsp sea salt heaping cup of starter 1/4 tsp yeast 1++cup goldin raisins 1.75 cups of water...a little to much 12 hour first rise 1hour second rise divided cut off small piece and baked it at 350 = delicious loaf small loaf pan waiting to cut the large loaf from my cast iron pot it look great..............
marc lowen
· 1 year ago
thats a heaping 1/4 cup of starter for my interesting bread and 2 heaping tsp of cinnamon
Marsha
· 1 year ago
The kevlar oven glove is absolutely wonderful. It's better than anything I've ever used to handle those super-hot baking stones and the cloche. I'm going to get a second one.
Susan
· 1 year ago
Has anyone tried freezing a fresh bread? I'm making the steel cut oats recipe now and thought I'd cut half of it to eat today/tomorrow (if it lasts that long) and freeze the other half. I was planning on using it Thanksgiving with another loaf as well, of something else, maybe rye (looks yummy). I would thaw it out and reheat at 350 for 10 minutes to crisp it up. Do you think that will work?
BTW, I am so happy to have found your site. I have been making the standard NKB recipe for the last few weeks (since I"discovered" it) and wanted to branch out into other grains but was a little uncertain how much of what to use. Now that I have found your recipes, I am planning to be much more adventurous!
Happy crunching!
Dave the Novice
· 1 year ago
Susan,
I freeze bread all the time. I usually divide a loaf when I first cut it, and freeze half. Lately, though, because I've been playing around with sourdough, and doing lots of experiments, I've been baking a lot faster than we can eat, so the freezer is filling up.
The crust crisps right up when you reheat it.
As a matter of fact, I keep my thawed bread in plastic bags, so the crust softens. I always pop that in the oven for a few minutes before dinner, too.
Susan
· 1 year ago
Hi Dave, Thanks for your quick answer! I've often frozen other breads, homemade as well as store bought, but just wasn't sure about this one, which goes in the oven in an hour....drooling on the keyboard! Susan
Eve
· 1 year ago
Hi All,
Is there a no knead recipe or method for making small, nicely crusty dinner rolls, made in the la cloche clay baker?
It would be nice to have my lovely bread in smaller portions, easily portable, etc.
Eve
Joe Valencic
· 1 year ago
Hi Eve,
This may sound a little off the wall, but I can assure you that it works, even though it's not something a lot of people know about yet.
When you make your no-knead dough, allow it to proof on the counter for at it's normal 12-20 hours, then put the dough into the refrigerator and allow it to get cold (overnight is best). You may notice that the dough begins to sag and partially deflate, but that is normal. The dough will keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks as long as it's covered. I use a five quart Tupperware-style container to keep my dough in, and I make a double recipe of no-knead dough.
When you're ready to make rolls, flour your hands and dust the top of the dough where you'll grab it, and pull off a hunk of dough about the size of a grapefruit and cut it off using your kitchen shears or a sharp knife. This will be about one pound of dough and will make 8 dinner rolls. Put the dough on a well floured work surface and use your knife or dough scraper to cut the dough into 2 oz portions, which is a little bit larger than a golf ball. I use my kitchen scale to weigh the dough, and I shape the dough into the shape of a ball, stretching the dough and pulling it all under the dough ball. Try to not overwork the dough. Arrange the dough balls in a circle on a cornmeal dusted piece of parchment paper that's about 2" larger than the inside of your La Cloche clay baker.You can use additional flour to keep your hands and surface from sticking. Make sure your grouping of dough balls allows room for the balls to grow to double their size without exceeding the inside measurement of your baker. Cover with oiled plastic wrap and a towel and allow to double in size, about one hour.
30 minutes before you bake the rolls, preheat the oven and clay baker as you would for regular no-knead bread. When the rolls are ready to bake, grab the parchment paper and place paper and rolls right into the baker and cover and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and continue to bake for 10-15 minutes or until the rolls are colored as you prefer.
Any leftover dough can be put back in the container and returned to the fridge where it will be ready for the next batch of rolls or loaf of bread.
The beauty in this method is that you can have dough ready each day to bake fresh bread or rolls, without the lengthy fermentation process, and fresh bread is ready for the oven in an hour from when you open the fridge.
This process is an adaptation of the method described in "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day." I have also used the no-knead sourdough dough to make french baguettes in the open oven. After allowing the dough to rise for one hour I give an egg wash and sprinkle sesame seeds and bake in my countertop convection toaster oven. They're great for breakfast or anytime you want fresh French bread.
Let me know how this works for you.
Joe
Billie
· 12 months ago
Can I freeze or refridgerate the dough for later use? Do I do that after the 18 hour rising?
.
Marilyn
· 12 months ago
I tried dried rosemary, approx. 2 T. , dried tomatoes-6-8 halves, chopped in large pieces, and some baked garlic in the bread. Put the rosemary and dried tomatoes into the initial mixing. Fantastic!!!! I had baked the garlic in the oven before, cutting off the top and putting a little olive oil on it. Wrap in aluminum foil and bake 20-30". Let cool and mash up a bit. Then put the garlic in when you fold the bread over itself and let rise an additional 2 hours. Very good. Colors are nice with the red and green. I have also tried a chunks of Parmesan cheese in the bread with the initial mixing, but it melts away--still good flavor and looks. Enjoy! Marilyn
Breadtopia
· 12 months ago
Hi Billie,
Yes. There's whole book out (Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day) that's based on refrigerating large batches of dough and then taking from that when you want to bake.
You can also freeze dough for later use. I don't know what most people do, but I freeze the dough right after the initial mix and knead and then let it rise when I thaw it out. I do this with pizza dough a lot but it would work for bread too.
Linda
· 10 months ago
I've been using the recipe from the article in Mother Earth News from the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. I've had a couple of flops - we eat them anyway - but this recipe is for free form bread baked on a stone. The crust is good, but by the second day (only two of us eating it, plus I make a whole wheat sandwich on a regular basis) it is soft - does enclosed baking make the crust last longer?? I store my bread in a plastic bread keeper with vent holes - would it be better just left out on the counter? I love the educational videos - I'm a visual person and a lot of my bread book reading is making much more sense.
Breadtopia
· 10 months ago
Hi Linda,
How to best store bread is an interesting topic and how people handle it varies a lot. There are a few discussions on the topic. One starts here http://www.breadtopia.com/2008/10/31/no-knead-r... and continues through a few posts below.
Question: has anyone tried to do this with a teflon sheet instead of parchment paper? I love using them in cooking, lining roasting trays, grill trays, cake pans, and afterwards you only need to wipe and dry before reuse. So if it works, it would save money and paper. (I would try myself, but I haven't made a successful loaf yet :( so I'm sure anyone else could answer faster. I do hope to get there soon though)
mai O'Neill
· 10 months ago
Hi Eric, I'm looking for Denise"s recipe for strawberry & rhubarb pie but can't seem to locate it on the site right now. Could you please e-mail to me or the part of the site it's on. Thanks. Mai.
All Comments
Not a bad question at all. Besides, this site, as with parchment paper, is flame retardant.
I've never seen or heard of a case of parchment paper actually catching fire but when it gets scorched like that it crumbles easily. So if nothing else, trimming the excess would reduce clean up issues.
Joe
This is in contrast to another popular way of handling it where you preheat the pot and then put the dough in. There would be no point in doing it this way if you've soaking the pot first, since the water would have evaporated by the time the dough was placed inside.
I know others have done it both ways, but I don't think very many people are subscribed to this particular thread, so we may not hear from them on this page.
3.5 white KA
.5 Whole wheat
2tsp sea salt
heaping cup of starter
1/4 tsp yeast
1++cup goldin raisins
1.75 cups of water...a little to much
12 hour first rise 1hour second rise divided cut off small piece and baked it at 350 = delicious loaf small loaf pan waiting to cut the large loaf from my cast iron pot it look great..............
BTW, I am so happy to have found your site. I have been making the standard NKB recipe for the last few weeks (since I"discovered" it) and wanted to branch out into other grains but was a little uncertain how much of what to use. Now that I have found your recipes, I am planning to be much more adventurous!
Happy crunching!
I freeze bread all the time. I usually divide a loaf when I first cut it, and freeze half. Lately, though, because I've been playing around with sourdough, and doing lots of experiments, I've been baking a lot faster than we can eat, so the freezer is filling up.
The crust crisps right up when you reheat it.
As a matter of fact, I keep my thawed bread in plastic bags, so the crust softens. I always pop that in the oven for a few minutes before dinner, too.
Thanks for your quick answer! I've often frozen other breads, homemade as well as store bought, but just wasn't sure about this one, which goes in the oven in an hour....drooling on the keyboard!
Susan
Is there a no knead recipe or method for making small, nicely crusty dinner rolls, made in the la cloche clay baker?
It would be nice to have my lovely bread in smaller portions, easily portable, etc.
Eve
This may sound a little off the wall, but I can assure you that it works, even though it's not something a lot of people know about yet.
When you make your no-knead dough, allow it to proof on the counter for at it's normal 12-20 hours, then put the dough into the refrigerator and allow it to get cold (overnight is best). You may notice that the dough begins to sag and partially deflate, but that is normal. The dough will keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks as long as it's covered. I use a five quart Tupperware-style container to keep my dough in, and I make a double recipe of no-knead dough.
When you're ready to make rolls, flour your hands and dust the top of the dough where you'll grab it, and pull off a hunk of dough about the size of a grapefruit and cut it off using your kitchen shears or a sharp knife. This will be about one pound of dough and will make 8 dinner rolls. Put the dough on a well floured work surface and use your knife or dough scraper to cut the dough into 2 oz portions, which is a little bit larger than a golf ball. I use my kitchen scale to weigh the dough, and I shape the dough into the shape of a ball, stretching the dough and pulling it all under the dough ball. Try to not overwork the dough. Arrange the dough balls in a circle on a cornmeal dusted piece of parchment paper that's about 2" larger than the inside of your La Cloche clay baker.You can use additional flour to keep your hands and surface from sticking. Make sure your grouping of dough balls allows room for the balls to grow to double their size without exceeding the inside measurement of your baker. Cover with oiled plastic wrap and a towel and allow to double in size, about one hour.
30 minutes before you bake the rolls, preheat the oven and clay baker as you would for regular no-knead bread. When the rolls are ready to bake, grab the parchment paper and place paper and rolls right into the baker and cover and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and continue to bake for 10-15 minutes or until the rolls are colored as you prefer.
Any leftover dough can be put back in the container and returned to the fridge where it will be ready for the next batch of rolls or loaf of bread.
The beauty in this method is that you can have dough ready each day to bake fresh bread or rolls, without the lengthy fermentation process, and fresh bread is ready for the oven in an hour from when you open the fridge.
This process is an adaptation of the method described in "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day." I have also used the no-knead sourdough dough to make french baguettes in the open oven. After allowing the dough to rise for one hour I give an egg wash and sprinkle sesame seeds and bake in my countertop convection toaster oven. They're great for breakfast or anytime you want fresh French bread.
Let me know how this works for you.
Joe
.
Fantastic!!!! I had baked the garlic in the oven before, cutting off the top and putting a little olive oil on it. Wrap in aluminum foil and bake 20-30". Let cool and mash up a bit. Then put the garlic in when you fold the bread over itself and let rise an additional 2 hours.
Very good. Colors are nice with the red and green. I have also tried a chunks of Parmesan cheese in the bread with the initial mixing, but it melts away--still good flavor and looks.
Enjoy! Marilyn
Yes. There's whole book out (Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day) that's based on refrigerating large batches of dough and then taking from that when you want to bake.
You can also freeze dough for later use. I don't know what most people do, but I freeze the dough right after the initial mix and knead and then let it rise when I thaw it out. I do this with pizza dough a lot but it would work for bread too.
How to best store bread is an interesting topic and how people handle it varies a lot. There are a few discussions on the topic. One starts here http://www.breadtopia.com/2008/10/31/no-knead-r... and continues through a few posts below.
Another here: http://www.breadtopia.com/cooks-illustrated-alm...
(I would try myself, but I haven't made a successful loaf yet :( so I'm sure anyone else could answer faster. I do hope to get there soon though)
Ah, thanks for mentioning that. I didn't realize it wasn't showing. You'll find it by scrolling down on this page a bit: http://www.breadtopia.com/strawberry-rhubarb-pie/