by Tierney O'Hara

Created on: July 22, 2009   Last Updated: August 23, 2011

There are so many ways to make bread at home and so many different recipes to choose from. Some breads need to be boiled like Boston Brown Bread, others are fried in oil like Indian Fried Bread, but most homemade breads are yeast breads which are usually baked in loaf pans in the oven.

Yeast breads are time consuming. Patience is a necessity as are strong hands for kneading the bread at least once, but often twice or three times.

But, even if you have weak hands or no patience, you can make a delicious, artisan quality, crispy-crusted, Ciabatta-like bread whenever you want.  No bread is easier to make than this recipe.

Some home bakers are seeking a white or wheat loaf, soft inside and not too much crust, a fine crumb suitable for sandwiches or the toaster. If that is the style of bread you are looking for, this recipe is not for you.

But if you want crunch and character and bread that looks and tastes like the kind you find in bread baskets of real upscale, Italian restaurants, then you will love this bread!

This recipe is based on the New York Times, Speedy No-Knead Bread recipe. There are a few slight changes to the original recipe here but basically we have the Times to thank for this magnificent bread recipe.

3 cups flour

1 packet or 2 1/4 teaspoons of dry instant yeast

2 teaspoons salt

1 1/4 cups water

1. Combine flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Add 1 1/4 cups water and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest about 4 hours at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest 30 minutes more.

3. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6-to-8-quart heavy covered pot like cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic in the oven as it heats.*

When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under dough and put it into pot, seam side up. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes.

4. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

Tips:

-Use a plastic flexible cutting board for the rest period or let it rise on parchment paper.

-If you aren't going to use a lidded pot, you can bake this on a pizza or bread stone. Roll the bread off the plastic cutting sheet right onto the stone, or bake the bread right on the parchment paper on top of the stone.

-Cover the bread with a "dome"  made out of heavy duty aluminum foil and this way you need a special pot or pan. Bake it as above.

-Also, using a plastic cutting board or parchment paper makes it easier to get the sticky dough onto the stone rather than trying to place it into the red hot pan. You can use your pizza peel to transfer the bread, paper and all, onto the hot stone.

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