No-knead bread in a pot

Easy-to-make bread without kneading

While many call it no-knead bread, for me it’s the miracle bread. Crispy on the outside and airy inside, the recipe is surprisingly simple. It just needs time: but don’t worry, the dough takes care of itself.

Step 1: Make the dough

• 3 cups flour (approx. 600g)
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. dry yeast
• 1 cup lukewarm water (approx. 450ml)
  

Place the dry ingredients in a bowl, mix briefly with a spoon and add the water. Stir well. Don’t be surprised if the dough is relatively thin and sticky. This is how it’s supposed to be.

Step 2: Leave the dough to rise

Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and leave the dough to rise at room temperature for 2-3 hours.

Tip for those in a rush: if you don’t have time to bake the dough at this point, you can store it in the fridge – for a maximum of 20 hours.

Place the dough on a piece of well-floured baking paper and sprinkle with flour. Then use a dough scraper to fold the outer sides into the centre one by one until a ball is formed. Put the ball seam-side-down on the baking paper, place in a bowl or proving basket and leave briefly to rise again.

Step 3: Bake the bread in a pot

Place the pot in the oven. Pre-heat to 230°C on an upper-and-lower heat setting for at least 30 minutes. Remove the pot from the oven. Take care as it’s hot. Place the dough with the baking paper in the pot. Put the lid on the pot and bake for 30 minutes. Then remove the lid and bake for another 20-30 minutes until golden.

Tip before baking: sprinkle the dough with a little flour and make an incision with a sharp knife.

Which flour is ideal

A light wheat or spelt flour is best. Of course, different types of flour can be mixed. Don’t use more than 50% wholemeal flour or 20% rye flour to ensure that the bread is nice and airy. If you have the chance, buy freshly milled flour directly from a mill or from a farmer – it’s worth it.

Seeds, nuts, etc.

You can enhance the bread according to your personal tastes by experimenting with nuts, seeds, dried berries, etc. Prepare the dough as above and stir in the extra ingredients before leaving the dough to rise. If you use nuts, we suggest chopping them first. Then leave the dough to rise.

Gourmet tip: add caramelised walnuts as a special touch. Heat 60g water with 20g butter and 80g honey in a frying pan. Caramelise the nuts over a medium heat. Leave the nuts to cool on a piece of baking paper and then add them to the dough.

Choose the right pot

The idea of baking bread in a pot originally came from baker Jim Lahey and the no-knead bread recipe was first published in the New York Times in 2006.

It's best to use a cast-iron pot for this recipe as cast iron stores heat evenly and is therefore perfect for baking bread. This, together with the longer time allocated to the dough to rise, makes for wonderfully crisp and unbeatably soft bread.

A clay pot or any other kind of ovenproof pot would work too, although you may have to lengthen the baking time.

Sources: