Sourdough or Not Best No Knead Bread Recipe

The moment you have all been waiting for!!!  First time bread makers should totally give this one a try.  The hardest part is forethought!  First rise is 12-18 hours.  But oh so worth it!

In a bowl mix:

3 cups of white flour (bread or all purpose)

1 1/2 teaspoons of salt

For yeast users add: 1/4 teaspoon of instant yeast then add 2 1/2 cups of body temperature water

Sourdough starter... its alive!

For Sourdough add:  1/4 cup active sourdough starter and enough body temperature water to make 2 1/2 cups of liquid total.

Stir either mixture up with a wooden spoon into a fuzzy looking ball.  Add water a tablespoon at a time if all flour is not incorporating.  Or a little flour if ball cannot keep its shape.

Cover this with plastic wrap and let it sit on your counter for 12-18 hours.  I've even let it go 24 with sourdough.  And as little as 6 with yeast.  Still worked!  

After it sits for a very long time, dump it out of the bowl and knead it 10  times.  Form a nice little ball and let it proof in a bowl or pan lined with parchment paper.  Make a few slashes in the dough.  Now cover and let it rise for 1 hour for yeast and 1 to 4  for sourdough. 

It will look like this.

Then you pre heat your oven to 500 degrees with your oven safe pot, dutch oven, or crock from your crock pot, in your oven.   Be sure to remove plastic knobs on lids as they will melt or crack at this high temp.  When the bread is ready to bake, take the dutch oven, crock, or pot out of the oven, remove the lid and gently lift the bread by holding the parchment paper and lower it into your pot.  Turn your oven down to 425 degrees, put the lids back on the pot and put it in the oven for 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes, remove the bread by the parchment and place it on a cookie sheet to bake for another 15 minutes.  When its done, cool on a wire rack.  Serve it with butter or herbed cheese.  Oh my goodness you will love this bread!

I actually make 2-4 loaves at a time.  They freeze VERY well!  I pop a frozen loaf in the microwave for 2 minutes and its almost like eating it fresh. 

Some insider information:  The recipe my friend gave me for this bread has beer in it.  As I am not a beer drinker I had never bought the stuff before, but for this bread I would!  First time I went to buy beer I didn't have my I.D. with me.  Second time, my I.D. had just expired.  Third time, it was only 6 am and they cannot sell beer until 7.  So that was the last time I tried to buy beer, and I never miss it in this bread!

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