Crusty No Knead Dutch Oven Bread Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret of crusty bread? ›

The best way to brown and crisp your bread's bottom crust – as well as enhance its rise – is to bake it on a preheated pizza stone or baking steel. The stone or steel, super-hot from your oven's heat, delivers a jolt of that heat to the loaf, causing it to rise quickly.

Le Creuset enameled cast iron is also exceptional at heat distribution and retention to keep the temperature inside the pot more constant than a regular oven, which also helps the baking process. Most no knead bread recipes call for preheating the Dutch oven while the oven heats up.

Why is my bread dense: Usually bread will be too dense when there is too much flour. Keep in mind this dough will be pretty sticky, do not add more flour than specified. Other factors that come into play are humidity and age of flour. Little yeast, long rise, sticky dough are keys to a good, light loaf.

Large crusty loaves can be stored unwrapped (to preserve their crispy crust) at room temperature for a day or so, cut side down on the counter. For optimum long-term storage (longer than a couple of days), wrap bread in single-day portions and freeze.

Are you baking your loaf at the right temperature? It sounds obvious, but bread generally needs to be baked at a high temperature. A golden-brown, glossy crust is achieved when sugars and amino acids (the building blocks of proteins) in the dough react together at high temperatures in the oven.

Cover with the lid and bake for 20 minutes, covered. After 20 minutes, remove the lid from the oven and continue baking per the recipe (typically 25 to 35 minutes)

Fight the urge to grease your Dutch oven. Because of the high temperature, the fat will burn off almost immediately, giving your bread a charred taste. Splurge for high-quality ingredients—especially flour.

Bake covered for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for 15 minutes more. Remove the lid and bake for 15 minutes more. You can be extra-sure that the bread is done when an instant-read thermometer inserted in the top or side registers 210°F.

It's easy to see the appeal of the “no-knead” approach in bread baking: minimal effort produces maximum flavor. By simply mixing up your dough and giving it an extended rising period, you can enjoy gorgeous, golden loaves without having kneaded a thing.

What is the secret to a soft crust? ›

Sweat It Out

When the hot air hits the cold air, the water vapor condenses, or “sweats.” If you cover your bread with a towel or bowl, you can trap that water in your bread, resulting in a softer crust. I've turned otherwise rock-hard loaves into soft, tasty treats this way.

In-home ovens do not get as hot as the ovens at pizza restaurants, and the stone or steel underneath the crust while baking helps make the best use of temperature. Always bake your pizza pie on the lowest rack in the oven. This allows your pizza crust to get closer to the heat source, allowing it to become more crispy.

Wetting the dough causes the surface to steam. Covering it traps the moisture. This partnership stops the bread from drying out on the surface in the hot air of the oven and forming a premature crust. Your bread rises more and produces a richer colour, becoming glossy on the surface.

An egg yolk lightly beaten with 1 teaspoon of cream produces a very shiny deep-brown crust, beaten with 1 teaspoon of milk, it gives a shiny, medium-brown crust. Melted butter or oil makes for a soft velvety crust. Glazes can also be used to "glue" or attach seeds to bread before baking.

However, there is evidence of a higher concentration of nutrients in the crust of bread than in the soft center. In 2002, a team of German researchers compared the crust of baked bread to the soft part at the center and found that the crust had eight times more of a cancer-fighting antioxidant [source: Lindenmeier].

Scientific studies have investigated whether the crusts of bread contain more nutrients than the moist, springy interior. The short answer is: yes, bread crusts do contain more nutrients. The reason for this is that the baking process causes the exterior of the bread to become firmer and more browned.