Our Daily Bread

Two years ago I got a nice used bread machine at a yard sale for 5 bucks. That was the beginning of me getting serious about our "daily"bread. The machine lasted a year ( pretty good for the price!). My husband bought me a very nice brand new bread machine. ( guess who loves homemade bread the most?) I love it....most of the time. Its great for making dough for rolls and pizza, makes a decent sandwich loaf. But honestly we discovered this year we love artisan style bread. So much so that my bread machine is gathering dust. I was out of bread machine flour and wanted to make bread in a hurry. This is the recipe I found and tweaked that has become quite literally our daily bread. I make a loaf every day. It is made with four simple ingredients, does most of the work all by itself and has a taste and texture my whole family loves.

Rustic No Knead Bread
3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon yeast 
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup warm water

• Mix yeast and salt well with the flour
• Stir in the water and stir mixture until all is just incorporated. Do not over mix. Do not knead.
• Cover with saran wrap.
• Let sit 12 to 20 hours on the counter. Can sit as few as 5 hours, however the longer it sits the more flavorful it becomes so be patient!  ( I often do this the night before at bedtime and bake in the morning)

It will nearly triple in size and look like this. ( and smell amazing)

• Prepare cast iron dutch oven or ceramic dutch oven with oil.
• Pick up bowl with dough in it ( uncovered) , wet your free hand with cool water, ( I just do this step by the sink and have the water run), gently pull dough so it falls into dutch oven. Wet hand often to keep from sticking. Do not add flour. Do not knead. It will look like a wet mess. That's okay!

Very wet and sticky. Resist the urge to fix it!

• Cover dutch oven with saran wrap and let rest for 2 hours. If your home is on the cool side put it in a warm spot.

Heat oven to 450. Do this at least 15 minutes before you plan to put the bread in the oven.

• After the rest period, fold the dough ( with wet hands, NO flour, I promise you will be amazed at how easy it is with the water) onto itself four to six times. Loosely shaping the loaf. Do not pick the dough up. Simply rotate your pot as you fold. Do not over fold or punch the dough down.

The dough will nearly fill the dutch oven.

This is after the folding. Still a wet and sloppy dough. Do not add flour!!!!

• Put cover on Dutch Oven and place in oven for 30 minutes.

I do not have a lid for my old cast iron dutch oven. Two layers of foil sealed tightly works just fine.

• Then remove the lid and cook for 15 to 20 more minutes. This step depends on your taste. Some like the crust dark almost burnt looking. We tend to like ours somewhere between dark and light.. so experiment!

This is at the 30 minute mark. 

• Remove from Dutch Oven to a cooling rack.

This is the hue we like. The crust will be crunchy. The inside nice and soft with lovely texture.

 

 

This is great warm, makes great toast, and awesome sandwich bread. Best if stored in a paper bag. After 2 days ( although I am quite sure there won't be any) put it in the fridge.
Nutrition Information based on: Calorie Count
Calories  per slice: 86
Cholesterol 0
Sodium 148 mg
Protein 2.4 gr
Carbohydrates 17.9 gr
Fiber 0.6 gr