Making bread is nothing new. I’ve been making home made bread since the early ’90’s. The recipe was given to me by a friend of my mum’s. It is a quick and easy bread recipe which delivers a lovely, soft, fluffy bread.

Soft, White Aussie Bread

  • 5 cups flour
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 1 TB lecimax or other bread improver
  • 1 TB instant yeast
  • 2 cups warm water
  • 1 TB oil

Combine and knead until desired consistency. Shape into rolls or loaves. Leave to rise for about 20 minutes. Bake for 15-20 minutes (for rolls) or 30 minutes for a loaf in a 200degree oven.

Problem –  My Italian husband doesn’t like soft, white, fluffy bread. He loves going to his mum’s place where she always has strong, crusty, continental loaf.
Solution – No Knead Artisan Bread! It is just how my husband likes his bread… strong with a deep crusty crust.
New problem – The cooked loaf doesn’t last longer than an hour or so in our house.

No Knead Bread

  • 3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
  • ¼ teaspoon instant yeast
  • 1¼ teaspoons salt
  • Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed. (I don’t bother with this)
  • Approximately 375 – 400 ml lukewarm water

1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.

4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. 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.

Yield: One 1½-pound loaf.

See original sources

See the recipe in the New York Times here.
Learn how this method works here.
Watch a video of it all here.

I use our pizza stone for baking the loaf. I pre-heat it, which is an important step. I also use a little baking paper as it allows for quick clean up. Another tip that I use is to put a pan of water in the bottom of the oven when pre-heating and baking. Helps to get a lovely crust.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13Ah9ES2yTU