I’ve been wanting to bake bread for some time and have grandiose plans to build a bread oven in the back garden. To further these plans and jump start my baking education I attended a basic bread baking class at Gaynor’s School of Cooking. It certainly got me started and some of the recipes come out very well. However the basic french bread recipe had a thick and disappointing crust. This is a common problem with home ovens as there is not enough moisture in the oven to create a thin and crunchy crust. A friend had told be about the no knead bread recipe promoted by Mark Bittman of the New York Times. The no knead bread recipe gets around the problem by baking a very moist dough in a preheated dutch oven in the oven. With the confidence gained from the class I made a couple of loaves of no knead bread using the basic recipe. It turns out my oven runs hotter than expected and I have to turn the temperature down 20 degrees or so. I also had a few problems with overly wet loaves but, as these pictures show I am starting to get the hang of it. Here is a loaf that I have cut open some time after baking.

There is a nice thin and crunchy crust. The loaf has a good crumb which is the result of the small amount of yeast used and the long fermentation. It tasted pretty good too!

The recipe is pretty flexible and you can easily change a cup of flour to wholemeal or other whole grain containing flour or add a few nuts and dried fruit. The only downsides is the length of time needed to let the loaf rise which means you have to put some thought into when to start the dough and, like many European breads, it is only at its best for a day or so. Still working from home gives me the flexibility to make it in the week.  If you like European style bread and have a dutch oven I recommend giving it a go!