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 the 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 the 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 pre-heated Dutch oven. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake until the bread reaches an internal temperature of 210 to 212 degrees F, another 15 minutes. 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 until the bread reaches an internal temperature of 210 to 212 degrees F, about 45 minutes. Transfer the bread to a cooling rack and allow to cool at least 15 minutes before serving.
Photo: Knead Not Sourdough Recipe
















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By flakatl
San Diego, Ca.
on June 18, 2013
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I just finished this bread for the second time. The first time, ignoring the "no knead" part of the recipe since I had it out, I used my stand mixer to combine everything and let go for about 10 minutes with the dough hook. I let the dough sit for 24 hours before completing the steps in the recipe verbatim. That first loaf was AMAZING. Probably the best bread I've ever stuffed into my face. Yesterday, I made the dough again, this time I didn't used my mixer, I just stirred everything together in a bowl and let it sit. Then today I checked on my dough and it was lumpy, but wet and weird. I kneaded it on the counter a bit and followed the recipe steps again to bake and got a flat-ish but still delicious loaf. I think there is a little too much water in the recipe (I'm going to do 11oz next time and I think you should use a mixer to combine everything in the interest of uniformity. Other than that, this bread is dynamite and I am very impressed with the final result.
By jen1214
Canton, MI
on March 30, 2013
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This is a brilliant recipe. I've made manyof AB's other bread recipes from his books, and this one is the best! I was skeptical given the ease of the recipe, but it came out perfectly and was a total snap to make. I'll definitely do this again.
By oo7snuffy
Bothell, WA
on March 02, 2013
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Alton Brown is my cooking guru, and he hit the ball out of the park with this recipe. I've been engaged in making bread for about a year now, and have been struggling until I discovered the "knead not" sourdough recipe. After three tries at it, I'm convinced that a chimpanzee could make very good bread with this recipe, so simple is it, and so reliable the results. My only suggestion would be to use a smaller dutch oven for a taller loaf more suitable for sabndwiches - we used a Le creuset #22 (about 3 1/2 quart dutch oven rather than the bigger one called for in the recipe.
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