I knead help!
November 4, 2014 8:47 AM   Subscribe

Using the NYT no-knead bread recipe, I started a batch last night. Only to realize today, to my embarrassment, that I don't have a 6-8 quart pot with a lid to bake it in. (Read recipes more carefully, fffm.) Can someone with experience with the NYT recipe suggest an alternative? I need to have bread in the oven within the next 2-3 hours. Thanks.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering to Food & Drink (27 answers total) 9 users marked this as a favorite
 
At my (urban) grocery store, cheap-o pots and pans are readily available. Since you have 2-3 hours, is going out and getting an inexpensive pot an option?
posted by ocherdraco at 8:48 AM on November 4, 2014


It's fine (although not exactly the same!) in a cast iron skillet, if you have one. If you have a smaller Dutch oven, you can easily split it into two smaller loaves (though again, not precisely the same, so keep an eye on the timing).
posted by Admiral Haddock at 8:49 AM on November 4, 2014 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: No, finances don't permit. Should have included that, oops.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 8:50 AM on November 4, 2014


Do you have something comparable that you could just cover with foil? A big cast iron frying pan might work well. Or divide the recipe in half and cook two smaller batches.
posted by mareli at 8:50 AM on November 4, 2014 [2 favorites]


You state you don't have a pot with a lid.

Do you have a pot without a lid big enough to hold the bread? If so, either use a different pan as a lid, a baking sheet as a lid, or foil as a lid as a last resort.
posted by saeculorum at 8:52 AM on November 4, 2014 [1 favorite]


It's bread, which is something that is so simple that people have been doing it forever, out doors even. Divide the dough into smaller pots if you need to or use a skillet with an oven safe bowl over the top. Even a cookie sheet with a bowl over it could work.
posted by myselfasme at 8:54 AM on November 4, 2014 [4 favorites]


In the makeshift lid category, you might also see if you have an oven-safe plate that fits the top of existing pans. I have a pot that technically has no lid, but my oven-safe plates magically fit perfectly on top of it (face up, so the base of the plate goes down into the pot, rather than curving up over it like an actual lid would).
posted by ocherdraco at 8:55 AM on November 4, 2014 [1 favorite]


The no-knead method is really about baking in something that holds a lot of thermal mass, covered, so the steamy environment keeps the top soft and allows a fuller rise. You can replicate this in any covered pot, or a pan covered in a double layer of well-sealed foil.

All this is in an effort to avoid shaping, but of course you can do that too. Shape and bake like you would any heavily hydrated artisan dough—turn it out on a floured counter, wind it up into a boule, slash the top, slide onto a preheated stone or upturned baking sheet. A pan of boiling water on a lower rack will help steam up the oven.
posted by peachfuzz at 8:56 AM on November 4, 2014 [3 favorites]


Response by poster: It's bread, which is something that is so simple that people have been doing it forever

There's really no need to be condescending. I have never used this recipe, so I wanted to know how forgiving this specific recipe is from people who have actually used it.

I'll see if I can jury rig something, thanks folks.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 8:57 AM on November 4, 2014


Best answer: Forgot to add, I used to bake the Lahey recipe like a normal boule all the time (the long left-alone ferment was what was most useful to me). I also patted it out for pizza crust and baked it in long loaves. It's a very flexible and friendly recipe (as long as you're comfortable handling wet doughs).
posted by peachfuzz at 9:01 AM on November 4, 2014 [2 favorites]


I'm not a bread expert, but I've also been told that the reason for a dutch oven or other enclosed space is to keep the steam around the bread.

In more advanced bread recipes, it helps to 'steam the oven' with a baking sheet or roasting pan at the bottom of the oven with an inch or two of water in it. Depending on the recipe, you remove the water, or vent the steam at a certain point. For no knead bread, I'd just leave it steaming the whole time.

If you have a pizza stone, throw the bread on that, otherwise, use a pre-heated cast iron skillet, or some other heavy cooking apparatus.

I'm pretty sure your cooking vessel doesn't need to be sealed, you just need that steam.
posted by furnace.heart at 9:04 AM on November 4, 2014


I've done that recipe with all sorts of setups, including in a cast iron skillet with a top on it. It would help to know what you have available.
posted by geegollygosh at 9:06 AM on November 4, 2014


I didn't mean to be condescending, I was trying to be reassuring. Lots of new bread bakers don't realize how easy it is. Sorry that I offended.
posted by myselfasme at 9:10 AM on November 4, 2014 [2 favorites]


Best answer: I don't have anything like that either. I use a crock-pot liner with a pie pan for a lid, and it works fine.

If you can't kludge a vessel, making steam in the oven like furnace.heart says should be fine. Heck, nothing horrible is going to happen if you just put it on a cookie sheet in the oven. There is a lot of leeway in this recipe, and even if your end results don't come out exactly as you were expecting, you are going to end up with some delicious fresh homemade bread. Go for it.
posted by Opposite George at 9:28 AM on November 4, 2014 [1 favorite]


Best answer: A friend makes it in smaller loaves (divides the dough in 2) on an open pan in the oven with a tray of water underneath. The crust isn't the same but it is still good bread.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 9:44 AM on November 4, 2014


Best answer: You can just form, proof and bake as you normally would. It will still be perfectly good. The heavy iron pot makes some difference, but it's not huge.
posted by slkinsey at 10:13 AM on November 4, 2014


When I bake bread and need steam, I use a trick from The Bread-Baker's Apprentice: I fill a little squirt bottle with water, and when I put the loaf into the oven on a baking sheet (pizza stone is even better if you have one), I squirt water on the back and side walls of the oven before quickly shutting the door. This immediately creates a bunch of steam that reproduces the effect of baking in a dutch oven.

Even without the steam I think your loaf will be fine. I wouldn't worry too much about it; the steam helps create a nice crust but your bread will taste great anyway (just not as crackly on the outside).
posted by iminurmefi at 10:15 AM on November 4, 2014 [1 favorite]


Remember that you can freeze it, find an appropriate vessel, and bake later. Also, this recipe is incredibly forgiving timewise (that's one of its main advantages, imho), so - you haz extra hours.

The NYT recipe is OK, but the Cook's Illustrated Variation is much tastier. Use white balsamic vinegar (regular vinegar yields a metallic taste), and a hoppy IPA. I scaled it up to 4 c. flour, which works out less fussy in terms of measurements: 4c flour, 1/2 t yeast, 2 t. salt. Put 4 oz beer in a 2-c liquid measuring cup, add a couple of glugs of balsamic white vinegar, fill to 1 2/3 c. with water. Go.
posted by Dashy at 10:28 AM on November 4, 2014 [10 favorites]


Response by poster: Boule's in the oven, uncovered, with a bain. Fingers crossed, and thanks! I had figured this was one of those specced-to-the-nth-degree recipes and thus the pot was essential.

Dashy, that looks delicious. Ta.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 10:33 AM on November 4, 2014 [1 favorite]


Please let us know how it turns out! The one time I forgot to put the lid on my cast iron Dutch oven for this recipe I wasn't very pleased with the results.
posted by bitter-girl.com at 1:05 PM on November 4, 2014


Best answer: Oh, this is an incredibly forgiving recipe. That's the beauty of it.

If you haven't already, watch this video of Jim Lahey making the bread. He's remarkably casual about the whole process.
posted by Opposite George at 1:14 PM on November 4, 2014 [2 favorites]


Any chance you have a big crockpot with a removable ceramic "pot"? I've used mine in the oven many times and the crockpot lid fits it, of course.

I'm not familiar with the recipe you're using, but when I let bread rise I cover the bowl with a slightly damp dishtowel (butter the dough lightly first so it doesn't stick to the covering).

Yummmmmmm ... love home-baked bread.
posted by aryma at 7:38 PM on November 4, 2014


Response by poster: The crust was golden brown and chewy, the crumb was a surprising combination of chewy and soft. +1 will not knead again.

(I used both a bain marie and dug up a spray bottle to spritz every 10 mins or so)
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 8:33 PM on November 4, 2014 [3 favorites]


Glad it came out well, FFFM! Sounds delicious. Looks like you've got your answer, but if you want additional anecdata, when I first read this recipe in the NYT I was in college and using a mismatched combination of whatever was in the dorm kitchen. I used to use a stock pot with a couple of layers of aluminum foil squished as airtight as I could over the top, and it still came out beautifully. I think a pot with a weighted-down cookie sheet over the top or even two conveniently-sized bowls stacked together would work.

It sounds like you understand the theory, about how a steamy environment creates a crisp crust (but ovens don't always take well to being wet, so the covered pot contains the steam where it matters). I used to try what another recipe recommended and put a brownie pan in the bottom of the oven and pour boiling water into it to create the necessary steam in the entire oven, but it's kind of dangerous and the covered pot (any way you create that) really is the most elegant solution for the problem, even when executed in an inelegant way. Not to mention, it does a great job. Even with my foil-stockpot I could get crusts crisp enough to shatter when I cut into them.

I remember that I also used a bread tin (to make it loaf-shaped rather than boule-shaped) inside the stock pot with foil lid (to get that wonderful crackly crust)...I don't remember how it came out, but it's an idea to try again.
posted by spelunkingplato at 8:54 PM on November 4, 2014 [1 favorite]


FFFM, I think that myselfasme was being encouraging, not condescending. As in, "No sweat, man, you've got this: it's in your carb-loving bones!" It reminds me of the old "Relax, have a homebrew!" encouragement that beginner brewers were often given.

I have made that recipe and a similar one a number of times. Usually I used a covered, cast-iron dutch oven, but I have also used an ordinary loaf pan with no covering at all. *shrug* It's bread, it'll come out OK. The extra heat & moisture just improve the crust.

A good tinfoil dome and a sheet pan of water should be an acceptable stand-in, or consider the trick of throwing in ice cubes that some bakers have tried (with varying degrees of success). Come to think of it, I believe I read somewhere that one baker used an inverted clay flower put instead of a cloche!!

If you want to bake some bread, just try it, and share your results with us. But if you are HARD CORE about that method, and reject jury-rigging something, then freeze the dough or use it for focaccia or bread sticks or pizza or something while you try to find a cheap dutch oven at the Goodwill.
posted by wenestvedt at 11:57 AM on November 5, 2014


Response by poster: Like I said, I wasn't hardcore about the method; it's a method I've never used and thus didn't know how many of the steps were integral.

I have baked a lot of bread, both personally and professionally. This was just a new method and I wanted feedback. That's all.

Thank you for the feedback, everyone.
posted by feckless fecal fear mongering at 2:30 PM on November 5, 2014


I was inspired by this thread and tried out my own no knead bread. It was really good - so thanks, fffm, for inspiration. I'll do it again
posted by mumimor at 2:50 PM on November 5, 2014 [1 favorite]


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