Warren Lee Cohen

No knead bread is a growing fad that gives more people entree into the art of baking bread. There are a number of very good videos describing the process on youtube . I find this idea both interesting and at the same time far from compelling. I simply love to have my hands in the dough, to feel its sticky sloppiness transform into soft elasticity as all the ingredients meet one another and come together into a lively dough. Kahlil Gibran wrote that work is love made visible.  So too is bread love made visible.

So, I choose to knead my bread dough (all except for sour rye which is happy with a vigorous stir). It is good exercise and meaningfilled and the results are more pleasing in terms of crust and crumb. Nevertheless, from these video clips  I have learned to bake my slowly risen loaves in a well heated cast iron pot with lid. This simple technique produces crusts that rival those of my best bread ovens.

1. shape mature dough into large loaf  (18 to 36 hour preliminary and 2 to 3 hour final rise – depending on temperature of the house)
2. place cast iron pot and lid in oven at 500 F.
3. using well floured hands transfer loaf into pot
4. cover and put in oven for 20 minutes
5. uncover pot and lower oven temperature to 400 F.
6. bake for 15 to 20 minutes
7. let cool and admire remarkably beautiful crust