Comments on: No-Knead Whole Wheat Bread

By: Testers' Choice

Testers' Choice — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 18:45:33 +0000

[Wheatridge] This is an excellent recipe and, especially, a new-to-me technique. I have been baking bread for years and years, and baking bread in a 100-year-old cast-iron Dutch oven has been a revelation to me. The recipe ingredients were absolutely correct for making a traditional 1 1/2-pound loaf of artisan bread. The no-knead revelation, coupled with overnight proofing, led to a perfect loaf. It’s an absolutely no-brainer. My normal method for making this artisan loaf takes three days! The only criticism of the recipe I have is that the author specified only “cool water,” implying that the baker use tap water. Chlorinated city water is not water you should use in making bread.

By: Steve Subera, LC Recipe Tester

Steve Subera, LC Recipe Tester — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 19:30:22 +0000

Is your dough doubling (or more) within the 12- to-18-hour window? I’ve had different no-knead doughs ready in eight hours, and I’ve sometimes skipped the second rise because it was ready. Your dough might have risen too much. If it over-rises, you won’t get the oven spring and you would get a flatter, doughy loaf.

I have to slightly disagree with the instructions given in the recipe on what to look for when poking the dough. If you wait until the dough doesn’t spring back at all, there’s a chance it’s over-risen. It should spring back slowly. If you can’t be exact, I find it better to catch the bread before it’s fully risen than waiting too long.

Also, if you used the same package or jar of yeast for all of the doughy ones, then start with new yeast to eliminate that variable.

By: Victoria F., LC Recipe Tester

Victoria F., LC Recipe Tester — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 15:41:15 +0000

Did you use instant yeast or active dry yeast? If you used active dry, you really need to use a little more than the 1/2 teaspoon of instant. Go with 2/3 teaspoon to 3/4 teaspoon. In addition, I personally like to do my first rise in the refrigerator overnight, the cool rise lends itself to better flavor and texture. Then after shaping it, remember that the second rise will be longer since the dough is colder. This, I think, will make your bread more airy and less dense.

By: Fran Brennan, LC Recipe Tester

Fran Brennan, LC Recipe Tester — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 13:17:41 +0000

I added a bit more water to the original dough to make it less dense. That resulted in more air bubbles as the dough rose and a lighter loaf. I would also increase the rise time a bit.

By: jack

jack — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 14:32:18 +0000

Is there a way to make it less dense with more air pockets? I have tried a few times and it always came out very doughy.

By: Testers' Choice

Testers' Choice — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 22:32:08 +0000

[Fran Brennan] This recipe makes it easy to turn out crusty loaves of chewy whole wheat bread that will have you turning up your nose at supermarket bread in no time. It also invites experimentation, begging to be tweaked with more or less whole wheat flour and the addition of nuts and seeds (flax? sunflower? pumpkin?). Loaves don’t last long in our house, so there are very few days now when we don’t have a bowl of dough rising on the counter.

By: Testers' Choice

Testers' Choice — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:54:12 +0000

[Megan Salazar-Walsh] This bread is so simple to make it has become my go-to bread recipe. (I rarely buy bread). It has a chewy crust and a well-developed flavor. When making it with all whole wheat flour and/or if adding bran, I’ve found adding about a tablespoon of any kind of sugar or syrup really helps jump-start the yeast; otherwise it must sit for considerably longer than 12 hours to finish the first rise. My favorite thing about this recipe is that it lends itself very well to experimentation, I’m still trying to figure out what combination and proportion I like best!

By: David Leite

David Leite — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 18:33:49 +0000

I made this to take to a Christmas Eve dinner. It was exceedingly easy to bake. (The only difficulty I had was the dough stuck a bit because I didn’t flour the tea towel well enough.) The loaf was chewy, with a dense, crackly crust and tons of big, irregular air bubbles. It nearly disappeared during the hors d’oeuvre hour. I will definitely be making this regularly during week. It’s too easy not to.

By: mimi

mimi — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:11:23 +0000

Just tried this recipe here in Honduras the land of white bread and tortillas. I was pleasantly surprised at the outcome when I had not had good results with other recipes of this kind no-knead that is. I added 1/4 cup toasted sunflower seeds, 1/4 cup flax seed, and 1/4 cup steamed wheat berries. The flavor was terrific. Texture ditto, and the crust was just the way we like it. CRUSTY! Because of the extra seeds, next time, and there will be a next time, I will add just a tad bit more moisture.

On to the olive bread. The challenge will be to find an olive dry enough, if possible. Have kalamatas available in oil. Thank you. It was well worth the effort.