More Homemade Bread

This was my second try at Dutch oven bread. It was very good! I've since read some recipe variations. They're all just as simple, so I'll keep experimenting.

No Knead Dutch Oven Bread Finished

Here is the finished loaf of "No Knead, Dutch Oven Bread." It looks like a sourdough loaf or something from the artisan bakery. It has flavor and a real crust. And no, I didn't make that "X" on the top, it just naturally happened. What a great recipe! Thank you Faith! Here it is:

Dissolve 1/4 tsp active dry yeast in 1 1/2 cups of warm water in a large bowl. Add 3 cups of all-purpose flour and 1 1/2 tsp of salt. Stir into a shaggy, sticky dough. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let it rest for at least 8 hours. I left mine 14 and I think you can leave it even longer.

The surface of the dough will be covered with bubbles when it's ready. Lightly flour a work surface and scoop the sticky dough out. Sprinkle with a little more flour and then fold it over itself a few times. Cover with plastic wrap and let it rest 15 minutes.

Use enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to you, or the counter, and shape it into a ball. Coat a dish cloth with flour and/or cornmeal. Put the dough seam-side down. Lightly flour another towel and cover the dough. Let it rise 1-2 hours until it doubles in size.

Heat oven to 450 with a covered dutch oven inside. Carefully remove the pot when the oven is ready, lift off the lid and turn the dough over into the pot, seam-side up. Shake the pot a little to distribute the dough, don't worry if it looks strange, it fixes itself while cooking.

Cover and bake for about 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake for 15-20 more, until the bread is nice and brown to your liking.

Dough

This shaggy dough under plastic wrap is supposed to be the bread that goes with our dinner Wednesday night. I'm trying out a "No Knead, Dutch Oven Bread" recipe my friend Faith gave to me when she gave me a beautiful red dutch oven. She showed off a beautiful bread she made with the recipe yesterday, so I'm giving it a try. This dough is going to bubble and rise overnight before the next stage.