Knead Not Sourdough

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2008

Show: Good EatsEpisode: Going Dutch

Rated: 5 stars out of 5Rate itRead users' reviews (50)

RECIPE
COMMENTS & REVIEWS(50)

Cook Time:
45 min
Level:
--
Yield:
1 loaf

Times:

Prep: 10 min
Inactive Prep: 20 hr 0 min
Cook: 45 min
Total:: 20 hr 55 min

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Ingredients

17 1/2 ounces bread flour, plus extra for shaping
1/4 teaspoon active-dry yeast
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
12 ounces filtered water
2 tablespoons cornmeal

Directions

Whisk together the flour, yeast and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the water and stir until combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to sit at room temperature for 19 hours.

After 19 hours, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Punch down the dough and turn it over onto itself a couple of times. Cover with a tea towel and allow to rest 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, shape dough into a ball. Coat hands with flour if needed to prevent sticking. Sprinkle the tea towel with half of the cornmeal and lay the dough on top of it, with the seam side down. Sprinkle the top of the dough with the other half of the cornmeal and cover with the towel. Allow to rise for another 2 to 3 hours or until dough has doubled in size.

Oven baking:

While the dough is rising the second time, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Place a 4 to 5-quart Dutch oven in the oven while it preheats. Once the dough is ready, carefully transfer it to the preheated Dutch oven. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake another 15 minutes or until the bread reaches an internal temperature of 210 to 212 degrees F. Transfer the bread to a cooling rack and allow to cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

Outdoor coals:

Heat charcoal in a chimney starter until ash covers all of the coals. Place 20 to 24 coals on a Dutch oven table. Place a cooling rack, or other wire rack, that is at least 2-inches high, directly over the coals. Set a 5-quart Dutch oven on top of this rack and allow to preheat during the last 30 minutes of the second rise. Carefully transfer the dough to the Dutch oven and cover with the lid. Place 20 coals on top. Bake for 45 minutes or until the bread reaches an internal temperature of 210 to 212 degrees F. Transfer the bread to a cooling rack and allow to cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

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Comments & Reviews

recipe Knead Not Sourdough
Bob Cedar Rapids, IA 01-24-2010
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Holes
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

Love this recipe, but always has huge air holes. Any suggestions?
recipe Knead Not Sourdough
todd orange, CA 01-14-2010
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Easy, simple, delicious....
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I just couldn't. believe how easy this recipe was to make. I'm not much into baking but after picking up some cast iron... skillets and a dutch oven at a garage sale ($5 each for a 10", 12" and dutch oven) I had to give it a try. My son and I whipped up a couple batches and they worked perfectly, tasted great! Now that we've got the basics down we'll try and make some tweaks for the fun of it. Any suggestions on stuffing with cheese or herbs or something?......I really don't care where the original recipe is from, AB showed me how easy, simple and fun it is...Now that I've been paying attention for the last year or so, I'm coming to realize that I don't have to run to the store all the time and can make pretty much anything I want once I've found a recipe, or after learning the "science" of cooking I can figure it out....Read more
recipe Knead Not Sourdough
Brian Houston, TX 01-08-2010
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Let it sit longer!
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I've made this bread several times now and its been great every time. But, this most recent time, I didn't get to it until it... had been sitting for about 36 hours. It tasted the BEST YET! It had a lot more of the sourdough flavor that way. Also, I figured out that I don't like to bake it uncovered at all. If you do, it will have a fabulously crisp crust, but for my taste a little too crisp (I cut my finger pretty badly trying to slice it up with a bread knife). I just leave it covered and bake it for about 7 minutes longer that it says for the covered section. Then, its done and incredible. I also brush the top with olive oil or butter when it comes out of the oven to soften it and add a little more awesomeness. Read more
recipe Knead Not Sourdough
Mikey Towson, MD 01-04-2010
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Wonderful Bread, but give credit
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

This recipe and method makes wonderful bread. Far better than anything I've ever made before. So that gets the 5-stars... (although it isn't really sourdough). However, I do think Alton needed to acknowledge that this recipe and method, while not invented by Jim Lahey, is an almost exact replica of his recipe that appeared back in 2006. Yes, I agree that Lahey did not "invent" this method, and it has been the subject of various books in the last couple years. However, by the same token, Alton Brown certainly didn't invent this recipe or method either, so it's a little unseemly for him to present this copy-cat recipe on his show without at least saying, "Hey there's this great no-knead bread method that's been making the rounds the last year or two and I wanted to try it." And to those who say Alton's recipe is markedly different from Lahey's, it isn't. It's the same recipe, same method, same everything with some very minor tweaking. Read more
recipe Knead Not Sourdough
Adam Union City, CA 12-27-2009
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Amazing bread - some tips.
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I have made this bread at least 30 times now and it never disappoints. I constantly have people asking for the... recipe. Tip for the second rise - I spray a standard dinner bowl with a small amount of cooking oil spray before sprinkling the cornmeal on it. You could also use a dinner plate for this but I think the bowl makes the shape a little more round. The cooking spray makes the cornmeal stick right where you drop it. I then drop the dough on top (seam side up) and sprinkle cornmeal on top and cover with a towel. After this I never have to touch the dough again. Once the second rise is done, I simply take the heated pan out of the oven and turn over the bowl and the bread drops right into the pan (seam side down). The PAM doesn't seem to affect the flavor or the crunch at all. Good luck!Read more
recipe Knead Not Sourdough
john san francisco, CA 12-21-2009
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Good take on an old recipe
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

My grandmother used to make a bread like this but she never measured anything and never made it quite the same way twice so... we despaired at ever getting a recipe which would guide those of us more challenged in the baking department. Alton did that for me and I am profoundly grateful since I inherited the cast iron my grandmother so religiously used all her life. And for those who say this is a rip off of the Sullivan Street recipe, as I recall theirs has beer added into the mix. But regardless, it was not their recipe or technique as this has been around since forever or at least 1954 when I remember grannie making it.Read more