Sunday 30 March 2014

No knead bread.

You might think that, with a thermomix to do all the hard work anyway, there's no point in hankering after a bread you don't have to knead.  You would have a good point.

However, the gumph I have read indicates that it is really rather delicious with an open texture and a great crust.  So I thought I'd give it a go.

The first bit is dead easy - in a big mix together the flour, yeast, salt and water.  No oil, no sugar.  Just mix it with a spoon until it's all more or less come together (takes a minute or so, no more).
Then cover the bowl with cling film and leave for between 16 and 24 hours - it's a very forgiving recipe and the time is not exact.

Then (and this is the gungy bit) you have to tip out the very, very soft dough and sort of 'sides to middle' it briefly.  What a mess!!!  That's the bit that would put me off!  Then you cover it and let it rest for half an hour while you heat the oven and a dish with a lid.  I used a pyrex dish with a saucepan lit that fitted perfectly but you could use foil.  You do your best to dollop it into the dish or whatever and I lined the dish with some parchment scrunched up in water and then shaken out.

Then it is baked, first covered then uncovered.

It looks very 'country' but I will wait for lunch time to cut it and see.  Looks OK though so I hope it tastes as good as it looks.
Gungy dough at the start of the whole process

And at the end

Another view.
Update after lunch.
Actually very nice indeed.  very sourdough-ish, artisan type taste and texture to it with a very open crumb.  My dad used to call those holes 'butter thieves'.  I will make it again but it won't be an every week thing like the usual loaf.
There's some left so I intend to slice, wrap and freeze it.  Without any fat it will go dry quite quickly.
Definitely a success!


2 comments:

  1. That looks delicious! I used to bake no knead bread, after a bit I sort of got used to the... gungy is the only word!

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  2. I suppose you could get used to it after a while. It was very tasty, that's for sure! :-)

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