Easy Artisan Bread


Yields one 2 pound loaf

4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus a little more for dusting

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon active dry or instant yeast

2 cups water

about ½ tablespoon vegetable oil for bowl.

  1. In a large (3-4 quart) bowl, combine flour, salt, and yeast. Add water and stir until blended. Dough will be VERY “sticky and shaggy,” only slightly stiffer than thick batter. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Let rise at least 12 hours, (overnight) at warm room temperature. Dough is ready when the surface is dotted with bubbles and volume has roughly doubled.

  2. Lightly flour a work surface and “place” (more like “pour”) dough onto it. Sprinkle the dough with a little more flour and fold it over onto itself two or three times. (A “bench scraper” helps.) Wipe out bowl and add oil, wiping around to cover inside. Return dough to bowl and cover again with plastic wrap. Place in a warm spot and allow to rise for about another 2 or 3 hours. When it is ready, the dough will again have doubled in size, more bubbles will show (some may be large), and dough will not spring back when poked with a finger.

  3. At least 30 minutes before dough is ready, turn on oven and set to 450 °r; F. Place a 3- to 4-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enameled iron, Pyrex®, or ceramic) in oven at start of preheating period, with cover on the rack beside the pot.

  4. When dough and oven are ready, carefully remove the hot pot from the oven. Remove plastic wrap from dough bowl and gently transfer the dough to the hot pot. (An oiled rubber spatula may help.) The dough may look like a mess in the pot, but that's OK. Shake pot if needed to even out the dough. Return the hot pot to the oven and cover.

  5. Bake covered pot for 30 minutes, then remove lid. Bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is “beautifully browned.”

  6. Cool bread completely on a wire rack before slicing. To soften crunchy crust, store in sealed plastic bag after completely cool. To retain crunchy crust, store in paper or opened plastic bag.


Inspired by “No-knead bread”, Breads & Breakfast column, New York Times, November 13, 2006.