Cook's Illustrated Almost No Knead Bread

Hi, Dew. Thanks very much for replying. I have been set straight in the same way by baking friends, and am now experimenting with flour in the range of 3.5-4 cups, since I do lack a scale (and currently am unable to buy one–want to go to a store instead of online). Getting some pretty good results, too. Stay safe.

With kneaded breads, the flour measurements aren’t critical since, as you knead, you add more flour until it ‘feels’ right. No knead breads always throw me for a loop since there’s no opportunity to adjust the flour.
I’m currently struggling with my husband’s grandmother’s no knead sweet rye bread recipe. (I think my rye flour is not the same as hers from decades ago and her instructions leave a bit to the imagination) I came here looking for an ‘almost’ no knead recipe/technique so I can have more control over the dough and maybe make what hubby remembers his Mom making when she used her mother’s recipe (I suspect she made some changes she never wrote down.) I’m going to try her recipe again but add that 10 to 15 turns kneading between risings (and add a bit more flour while I’m kneading)
I’m glad you want to shop at a real store, local merchants will need all the help they can get. If you live in the hinterlands like I do, you may end up having to get a scale on line, but at least you will have looked locally first. Keep safe.

Should the salt measurement be for table salt or kosher salt like Diamond. I used table salt and found it to be too salty

I got the proportions down and am coming up with some tasty loaves (though they won’t win any beauty contests). However, when I slice them, the piece fractures on one side–falls apart and tears away. I’m told that this happens because I didn’t put the uncooked dough in the pan with the seam down. But even when I do that, I still get the fracturing. And is that even the cause? Eric turns the dough as he kneads it, which would leave a seam on at least one side as well as the bottom. So what’s causing this? Thanks.

Probably down to shaping. You might be introducing air pockets when you fold the dough causing seams to form and split. If you’re using flour, oil or water on you hands or bench in the shaping process make sure you aren’t introducing any to the interior of the dough which will cause the folds to not “glue” together.

But if you flour your kneading surface, as is done in the video, how do you avoid flour in the interior?

Try and get used to shaping with no flour or if you really need to use some to stop sticking then keep it a light sprinkling. If the gluten is developed well and with the correct handling with the aid of a bench scraper you should be able to get away with not using excess flour. If you have coloured the bench then brush off any excess as you are folding so you aren’t introducing too much I side the dough (a little can’t be helped just don’t overdo it). Then tightening up so it has a taut skin should help to seal the folds.

I’m following the recipe for the sandwich loaf very carefully (even bought an electronic scale), but my loaves always have structural flaws. When I knead, I end up with these big seams that won’t go away. Plus my dough is much wetter and stickier than Eric’s. I’m using honey instead of sugar, but could that make that much difference? The whole wheat recipe allows for honey, and otherwise it’s virtually identical to the one for the sandwich loaf. I don’t know where I’m going wrong. The pictures show the unbaked and baked loaf, and a typical slice. (The ones right after that one wouldn’t even hold together.)

Just wanted to say that I made a loaf from the “Almost No Knead” recipe. Although I think I made a “too wet” dough, it turned out really well. My wife said it was the best I have made since I have been baking bread, about a year now. It was a painless procedure.
I enjoy all of Eric’s videos, they’re fun to watch and very informative.
Keep it up Breadtopia!

@amoore58, the photos of your dough are helpful in troubleshooting; thanks for posting them. I see a couple potential issues.

First, as anon44372566 suggested, it seems probable that dry white flour is being folded into your dough during shaping. It can be difficult to handle dough without managing the stickiness in some way. Although flour helps with the stickiness, it can have the unwanted side effect of getting inside your loaf and preventing the seams from sealing properly (not to mention the line of raw flour baked into your loaf!). You could try a different solution, such as water. Dough won’t stick to wet surfaces. Don’t get things dripping wet as that, too, will cause different problems. Simply wet your hand and swipe it on the work surface and you’ll have enough to keep the dough from sticking to your work surface. Or spritz it lightly with a spray bottle. Then get the fingers on one hand wet and lightly rub your hands together to keep the dough from sticking to your hands. Repeat as necessary, but do be mindful of how much water you’re using. Using too much can make things slippery which would be counter-productive as you do need some tack to develop surface tension.

The other thing I see is that there are a couple seams in your loaf, which makes me think that a different shaping technique might help you out. There are a lot of ways to shape a loaf and the best one is the one that works for you. Ultimately, you want one straight seam that will end up on the bottom during baking, but shaping is about more than molding the dough into a certain form. You need to conserve fermentation gases and build surface tension while you’re at it (and avoid incorporating raw flour or too much water). Check out some videos and pay attention to the way bakers handle the dough and why. When you watch the videos, hopefully you’ll see some techniques that kind of click with you. Try to emulate those techniques. Shaping is an afterthought for a lot of bakers, but it’s important. I still struggle with certain shapes. Anyway, I hope this helps you out. Have fun and good luck!

I want to share my variation of this recipe. I have made at least 6 variations of the original recipe (different beers, use of spelt flour, etc.) and this one is my favorite. The crust improved and became a little thicker and crunchier, the crumb opened up a bit, too, so it becomes a more rustic bread. I attribute this to the addition of a little sugar.

I also substituted the King Arthur Instant Sourdough Flavor instead of the beer and vinegar. While I usually don’t care for this addition in short rise breads, it certainly made a difference in the overnight ferment. I went with a 16 hour ferment, 2 hour final rise, and dutch oven at 450F for 30 min covered, 10 min uncovered.

White Flour Recipe

3 cups (15 ounces) all purpose or bread flour
1/4 tsp. instant or rapid-rise yeast
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp raw sugar
1 tsp King Arthur Instant Sourdough Flavor
3/4 cup plus 2 Tbs. (10 ounces) water at room temp

(I added about 1/2 tsp more water to hydrate the sourdough dry ingredient and compensate for no vinegar)

It had a great oven spring and it looked like this out of the oven.

More experimentation… I increased the sugar to 2 tsp and I like the taste even more. It didn’t seem to change the structure much if any. This is a fun recipe to modify.

I did the almost no knead for the first time, and it’s great! Very happy with the results.4th Loaf First Almost No Knead

@racertrader That looks yummy!

Blessings,
Leah

Question about this recipe. I think on occasion I have over proofed my dough. How do I really know when to go to quick kneading step or when is the dough proofed properly? Eric says anywhere from 8-18 hours. In the video he proofed for 16 hours. I don’t have a good feel for when dough is ready. I have usually waited 18 hours but think that might have been too long.
Please advise.

Generally speaking, you don’t want the dough to expand by more than 75-100% (doubling = 100%) during that first rise. If your kitchen is warm this could take 8 hours, and if it’s cold, 18 hours. Some people don’t even let the dough expand that much, and they do a longer final proof instead.
But for newer bakers, I believe it’s easier to front-load most of the fermentation into the first rise. Figuring out what is happening in a shaped dough in a proofing basket requires more experience. (The poke test has never been that useful for me.)
Dough expansion can be hard to track in a bowl too, but over time you’ll get a sense of what level in your bowl results in what final breads (under-, over-, perfectly proofed).

If you look at many of the recipes on our blog, you can see “before” and “after” photos of no-knead sourdough bulk fermentations. Here are a couple:

Though you’re not speaking of dense bread, this FAQ and the links within might be helpful for you:

Edit: This recent forum thread where @Benito analyzes different bread interiors (photos) is also very helpful for interpreting your final product in terms of the over- and under-fermentation.

I recently made this loaf and it turned out great! It was so very tasty and the people I shared it with absolutely loved it. I made the white flour version and next time I’ll try the whole wheat. It really was remarkably good.

2 Likes