Artisan no-knead dutch oven bread
This easy artisan no-knead bread recipe is going to free your hands. It is made with the simplest of ingredients, fermented overnight, in the fridge, and baked in a dutch oven creating a crispy crust on the outside and an airy, soft and chewy crumb on the inside.
Ingredients
- 600 g/4 ¾ cups bread flour
- 400 g/3 ¼ cups durum/yellow flour
- 18 g/~2 tbsp instant yeast
- 30 ml/2 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- 1 teaspoon honey or sugar
- ½ tablespoon sea salt
- 680 ml/2.9 cups lukewarm water
Instructions
- Sift the flours, sugar if used, and salt to a large bowl and mix them.
- In a measuring cup, add the water and dissolve the instant yeast in it. Add the olive oil and If honey or maple syrup is used, add it also now.
- Pour the water/yeast mixture into the flour bowl and mix with a wooden spoon.
- When wet and dry ingredients are well combined the dough is ready.
- Seal the bowl with a lid or with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 12 hours.
- After 12 hours, add a dutch oven with the lid on in the oven and preheat it to 250°C (475°F).
- While the oven is preheated, take the dough out of the fridge.
- Transfer the dough to a well-floured surface and fold it. Pull the outer edges up and into the center a few times.
- Separate the dough into two equal sizes and form two round balls.
- Place them on a floured surface or on top of floured parchment paper with the foldings at the bottom.
- Put the lid on, add the dutch oven into the oven, and lower the temperature to 220°C (425°F).
- Bake for half an hour with the lid on and another half with the lid off, or until the top is golden brown.
- Take the loaves of bread out of the oven and place them on a cooling rack to cool.
- Slice and Enjoy 😉
Notes
The milling of semolina produces a finer grain flour which is yellow, durum, or pasta flour, and is hard wheat flour. In Greece, we use it for traditional, country, or village-style bread.
You can use any pot or casserole with a lid that can be placed in the oven. Dutch oven and enameled steel are the best to bake bread. If your pot is stainless steel, line it with parchment paper.
Always be very careful and always use oven mitts (silicone, neoprene, or aramid fabric) to remove any part of a dutch oven. It gets extremely hot.
If your dutch oven is small just bake one bread at a time.
Replace the sugar or honey with coconut sugar, or maple syrup (if vegan).
If you can't find yellow bread flour, then replace it with the same amount of bread flour or whole-grain flour.