No-Knead Irish Brown Bread (with Stout)
The variety of no-knead bread recipes means you can have a different kind of bread every single day, with little work. Mixing buttermilk and stout with whole wheat bread produces a dense crumb, perfect for sandwiches, and toasting it brings out a robust flavour. This recipe, from My Bread: the revolutionary no-work, no-knead method by Jim Lahey with Rick Flaste (Norton) has been tripled to use up the entire can of stout. I cut the loaf into sections and freeze them for handy use. Or use Jim's original recipe for a smaller loaf - and drink the rest of the can.
More bread recipes: Challah, No-Knead Artisan French Bread, No-Knead Artisan Rye or Whole Wheat, Crusty Baguettes, Soft Baguettes, New York Style Bagels, Whole Wheat Cinnamon Buns, Classic Sticky Cinnamon Buns, Foccaccia, Classic White Bread, Pillowy Buttermilk Buns, Flax and Honey Bread, Portuguese Cornmeal Bread, Olive Bread, One-Rise Buttermilk Bread, Chocolate Babka, Pumpernickel Bread, Italian Bread (Pani di Terni)
Yield: One very large loaf
Ingredients
6 3/4 cups/900 grams white flour
2 1/4 cups/300 grams whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon/24 grams table salt
3 tablespoons/15 grams wheat bran
3/4 teaspoon granulated yeast/1/10 lb. cake yeast
1 400 ml. can stout at room temperature
2 1/4 cups buttermilk, well-shaken, at room temperature
Method
1. In a medium bowl, stir together the flours, salt, wheat bran. Mix the yeast into the beer and buttermilk and, using a wooden spoon or your hands, mix the wet and dry ingredients until you have a wet sticky dough, about 30 seconds. Cover the bowl and let sit at room temperature until the surface is dotted with bubbles and the dough is more than doubled in size, 12 to 24 hours.
2. When the first rise is complete, generously dust a work surface with flour or wheat bran. Use a bowl scraper or rubber spatula to scrape the dough out of the bowl in one piece. Using lightly floured hands or a bowl scraper, lift the edges of the dough in toward the centre. Lift and turn the dough a few times to absorb some flour or bran. That's all the "kneading" necessary. Nudge and tuck in the edges of the dough to make it round.
3. Spread wheat bran or flour on a piece of parchment paper, place the dough on top, seam side down, then put on a tea towel, If the dough is tacky, dust the top lightly with wheat bran or flour. Fold the ends of the tea towel loosely over the dough to cover it and place it in a warm, draft-free spot to rise for 1 to 2 hours. The dough is ready when it is almost doubled. If you gently poke it with your finger, it should hold the impression. If it springs back, let it rise for another 15 minutes.
4. Half an hour before the end of the second rise, preheat the oven to 475-degrees F, with a rack in the lower third, and place an empty covered 4 1/2- to 5 1/2-quart heavy pot in the centre of the rack (cast iron or Le Crueset-type).
5. Using pot holders, carefully remove the preheated pot from the oven and uncover it. It should be "smoking hot." Unfold the tea towel and quickly but gently invert the dough into the pot, seam side up. Use caution — the pot will be very hot. [Conversely, lightly oil a large piece of parchment paper with cooking spray and invert the dough onto the parchment. Lift it and gently place into the hot pot, leaving a good couple inches hanging out the sides of the pot.] Cover the pot and bake for 30 minutes.
6. Remove the lid and reduce the heat to 400 degrees. Continue baking until the bread is a deep chestnut colour but not burnt, for 20 minutes more. Use a heatproof spatula or pot holders to lift the bread out of the pot, or, if you used parchment, gently lift the loaf out using the edges of the paper. Place on a rack and cool thoroughly.
The variety of no-knead bread recipes means you can have a different kind of bread every single day, with little work. Mixing buttermilk and stout with whole wheat bread produces a dense crumb, perfect for sandwiches, and toasting it brings out a robust flavour. This recipe, from My Bread: the revolutionary no-work, no-knead method by Jim Lahey with Rick Flaste (Norton) has been tripled to use up the entire can of stout. I cut the loaf into sections and freeze them for handy use. Or use Jim's original recipe for a smaller loaf - and drink the rest of the can.
More bread recipes: Challah, No-Knead Artisan French Bread, No-Knead Artisan Rye or Whole Wheat, Crusty Baguettes, Soft Baguettes, New York Style Bagels, Whole Wheat Cinnamon Buns, Classic Sticky Cinnamon Buns, Foccaccia, Classic White Bread, Pillowy Buttermilk Buns, Flax and Honey Bread, Portuguese Cornmeal Bread, Olive Bread, One-Rise Buttermilk Bread, Chocolate Babka, Pumpernickel Bread, Italian Bread (Pani di Terni)
Yield: One very large loaf
Ingredients
6 3/4 cups/900 grams white flour
2 1/4 cups/300 grams whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon/24 grams table salt
3 tablespoons/15 grams wheat bran
3/4 teaspoon granulated yeast/1/10 lb. cake yeast
1 400 ml. can stout at room temperature
2 1/4 cups buttermilk, well-shaken, at room temperature
Method
1. In a medium bowl, stir together the flours, salt, wheat bran. Mix the yeast into the beer and buttermilk and, using a wooden spoon or your hands, mix the wet and dry ingredients until you have a wet sticky dough, about 30 seconds. Cover the bowl and let sit at room temperature until the surface is dotted with bubbles and the dough is more than doubled in size, 12 to 24 hours.
2. When the first rise is complete, generously dust a work surface with flour or wheat bran. Use a bowl scraper or rubber spatula to scrape the dough out of the bowl in one piece. Using lightly floured hands or a bowl scraper, lift the edges of the dough in toward the centre. Lift and turn the dough a few times to absorb some flour or bran. That's all the "kneading" necessary. Nudge and tuck in the edges of the dough to make it round.
3. Spread wheat bran or flour on a piece of parchment paper, place the dough on top, seam side down, then put on a tea towel, If the dough is tacky, dust the top lightly with wheat bran or flour. Fold the ends of the tea towel loosely over the dough to cover it and place it in a warm, draft-free spot to rise for 1 to 2 hours. The dough is ready when it is almost doubled. If you gently poke it with your finger, it should hold the impression. If it springs back, let it rise for another 15 minutes.
4. Half an hour before the end of the second rise, preheat the oven to 475-degrees F, with a rack in the lower third, and place an empty covered 4 1/2- to 5 1/2-quart heavy pot in the centre of the rack (cast iron or Le Crueset-type).
5. Using pot holders, carefully remove the preheated pot from the oven and uncover it. It should be "smoking hot." Unfold the tea towel and quickly but gently invert the dough into the pot, seam side up. Use caution — the pot will be very hot. [Conversely, lightly oil a large piece of parchment paper with cooking spray and invert the dough onto the parchment. Lift it and gently place into the hot pot, leaving a good couple inches hanging out the sides of the pot.] Cover the pot and bake for 30 minutes.
6. Remove the lid and reduce the heat to 400 degrees. Continue baking until the bread is a deep chestnut colour but not burnt, for 20 minutes more. Use a heatproof spatula or pot holders to lift the bread out of the pot, or, if you used parchment, gently lift the loaf out using the edges of the paper. Place on a rack and cool thoroughly.