No need to have The All-Purpose Baking Companion for this No-Knead recipe. I did, however, use the book for this recipe. The main difference is the website has a whole blog post on storage.
Onto the experience. Cooking this was a charm. I needed bread. I wanted it to be easy so I could have something crusty and good for dinner. I started this loaf early in the day, right before work. Since I work remotely, this meant I set it up for the first rise like one minute before work.
It is a simple loaf — four ingredients — and then let time do the rest. After the first rise, you have to put the dough in the refrigerator for 2 hours or up to 7days. Really, the recipe describes a spectrum of similar loaves. This time allows for the flavor to develop. As the recipe explains, seven days allows for the loaf to taste like sourdough. I opted for the much shorter route, because I wanted bread that day. So two hour rise and about 7 or 8 hours in the fridge.
As the recipe says, the dough will rise a lot and it lives up to that. I used my kitchen aid mixing bowl and the dough was reaching for the top.
I gently divided the dough into three parts. I opted for shaping them into ‘logs’ instead of ‘softballs.’ By the time they were oven-ready, they looked like flat ciabatta . The recipe promised that they would puff up in the oven.
The recipe calls for water to be poured into a hot pan and I have seen enough cooking shows to know that this can be a dangerous process if you are not quick so take care to avoid the steam.
The loaves puffed up, on schedule and turned out beautifully.
If you did not get into the quarantine sourdough kick or have given up on your starter altogether, but still want all that delicious flavor, this is a great recipe for you. It is also a great recipe if you are feeling a little crunched for time and want bread by the end of the day.
Food For Me 