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Easy No Knead Crusty Dutch Oven French Bread


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Easy No Knead Crusty Dutch Oven French Bread

This recipe is so yummy. You get chewy crusty French bread just like the bakery.

½ tsp Dry yeast

1 ½ cups Warm water

3 cups Bread flour

1 ½ tsp salt

Cornmeal or wheat bran for dusting (optional)

Dutch Oven with lid, or large heavy pot with lid

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add the flour and salt, stirring until blended. The dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rest at room temperature (70 degrees) for at least 8 hours, or preferably 13-18 hours. I usually mix my dough the night before and bake it the following afternoon to serve with dinner that evening.

The following day, stir down the dough and then place it on a floured surface to shape. Shape into a round form, using just enough flour to keep it from sticking. Place this shaped loaf on a tea towel that is generously floured (or cornmeal or wheat bran). This keeps it from sticking to the towel as it rises. Dust the top of loaf with more flour, cornmeal or wheat bran and place another tea towel on top to keep it from drying out as it rises. Let the dough rise for 1 hour, 1 ½ hours max. If you let it rise past that amount it could get larger air bubbles inside.

About 20 minutes before dough is ready to bake, place a Dutch oven or heavy pot with a lid in the oven and heat oven to 475 F degrees. When dough is ready, carefully remove the VERY HOT Dutch oven and lid, and carefully lift the towel and turn the risen loaf upside down into the pot. Put the hot lid on Dutch oven and back into oven and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove Dutch oven lid and bake another 10-15 minutes until loaf has a nice golden brown crust. Remove bread from Dutch oven and cool on rack for 1 hour before slicing. (or do like me ... I can't wait ...so I just cut it hot while it's steaming). :D

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Shana, one question before I try this.. prob. after I am back home... after it's in the dutch oven in the stove oven, you bake then turn it over.. I have lost the towel somewhere.. is it out of the dutch oven when turned over the first time, while cooking?

Sounds so good, and store bread here is so flat in taste.

ritaR

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Originally posted by RitaR

....I have lost the towel somewhere.. is it out of the dutch oven when turned over the first time, while cooking?ritaR

Rita, you set the "in process rising" loaf on top of a well flouered towel so it doesn't stick. When you're ready to bake, lift the towel up (with the bread sitting on it) and just turn the towel so the bread just falls into the hot Dutch oven (loaf is now upside down--- that's OK! it turns out just fine) and you don't put the towel in the oven. It's just what you use to transfer the dough to the hot dutch oven. Put the lid on the Dutch oven and back into the oven for 30 minutes. Remove lid to let bread brown for about 10-16 minutes and take it out of oven and dutch oven and let loaf cool on a rack. Viola! It's so easy...yeah, so good, too!

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Boy, I stop looking at the forum for a few minutes and almost missed this wonderful bread recipe from Quiltmonkey. I LOVE baking bread and this ones sounds wonderful. I'm going to try it this weekend. Thanks for the detailed instructions. :D Dar

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