Knead Not Sourdough

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I have never made bread before. The first time I tried this recipe, It came out wrong. The dough was too lose. The second time I made it, I used less later (1 cup and a couple of tablespoons, instead of 12 oz. I also only used 2 cups and 8 tablespoons of flour (17 0z according to google. The dough didn't rise as much as I thought it would. Maybe next time I'll use more yeast. I also let it sit out for 24 hours instead of 19. I think next time, I'll let it sit a little longer. The dough wasn't as sour as I would like. Otherwise, I think this recipe is great. It was a great texture and it still very delicious. Relatively easy, after a couple of mistakes. Lol. Thank you!

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The easiest bread Ive ever made! Texture is chewy like sourdough and like you spritzed the inside of the oven when baking, but you didnt. This is by far the best for ease recipe and method for making a round of sourdough bread. I make it at least once a week. My dutch oven is enamel and it works great in there. I believe it would work great as well in an un-enameled dutch oven too. Highly recommend this recipe - and I have.

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This bread came out amazing for me, but only after a couple tries with some modifications (some of which have already been mentioned in older reviews.

First, I only used 10 oz of water. It will seem a bit dry when you just mix it together, but the water permeates all the flour after a few hours.

Second, I let the bread sit out for 26 hours. 19 hours just wasn't enough to get any noticeable sourdough tang going.

Third, I let the dough bench proof first for an hour in the oven with a pan of hot water (a la Alton's basic bread recipe, then let it sit covered on the counter for 2 more after that. I just didn't get a decent enough rise any other way.

Finally, I scored the top of the loaf before putting it in the oven, though I think that might have had more of an aesthetic effect than anything.

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I have made many yeast breads, both sweet and savory and look forward to making this one. My 3 star rating is due to not making it yet (will comment again later on taste, etc. I plan to use my slow cooker insert in place of a Dutch Oven (which I do not have. I do have a scale and use it frequently; I would recommend every cook have one.

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Excellent on the first try! Well, my first rise was really about 24 hours. Perfect, beautiful loaf by following the directions exactly. Next time, I will use less salt; my finished loaf is saltier than I prefer. Can't wait to try variations! Thanks so much for a wonderful, correct recipe.

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The first time I made this bread, I didn't care for it. The second time I let the dough sit for 28 hours and baked it 30 minutes with the lid on and then 25 minutes uncovered. What a difference! The first loaf was underbaked and slightly raw; the flavor was missing that sourdough taste. The second loaf was delicious and tasted like Fisherman's Wharf bread. Thank you Alton for reviving this recipe. One more thing: Score the top of the loaf before baking for a classic sourdough look.

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I saw this recipe this week on good eats. It looked interesting.
My first rise was 22 hours, I over slept.

20 hours! wow

I do not have a dutch oven, so I used a oven proof bowl with aluminum foil.

When I took it out of the oven it looked ok, however not as good as Alton's.

We let it cool, cut it and found the butter.

OMG this bread was wonderful! It was worth 22 hours.

Patricia and George Cummings

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I found a way to shorten the prep time to about 9 hours. One day having forgotten to start the bread the night before, I reasoned that the yeast being biologicals could be hurried by increasing the temperature at which they act, as long as that temperature was not so high as to denature their enzymes. I thus incubated the dough mass in a turned off but preheated oven at 100 degrees F. for about five hours (re-warming the oven without the dough in it once.
I also speeded up the second 3-4 hour rise in the same way.
Otherwise the recipe was carried out as Mr. Brown wrote it.
The resulting bread was indistinguishable to the full time bread to my and my wife's eyes and taste.
Worth trying when time is short. rametcalf

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Alton's amazing. The bread was at EXACTLY 211 degrees at the end of the cook time! Nice texture, too.

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Wow, great sourdough without the starter! Let it sit for 2 days for extra flavor, but any more than 2 days and it dies. I make this twice a week. So good, yet so easy. Get ready to impress guests.