I was fortunate enough to have a mom who baked beautiful breads on a regular basis. Home made pumpernickel, pizza dough, sweet rolls, all kneaded by hand. The fragrance of proofing dough is locked into my memory and when smelled, makes me feel a level of comfort no fuzzy slippers can rival. My own efforts at bread baking? Well, lets just say they’ve been less successful. Maybe I haven’t been patient enough — or maybe I haven’t been trying the right technique.

Enter the “No knead” bread phenomenon, which has been all over the blogosphere and beyond since its debut in the New York Times in 2006. This recipe is crazy-simple, just flour, water, salt, and a scant amount of rapid rise yeast. The dough is mixed together and proofed for 14-20 hours, and then baked in a cast iron dutch oven, producing an amazing artisan bread with a nice crust and beautiful hole-filled interior. I topped mine with a brushing of olive oil, coarse sea salt and fresh rosemary. Warm, out of the oven with a big pat of butter: heaven.
above: No-knead bread one.

I immediately restocked the pantry to bake more bread. But a friend convinced me to branch out and try the Cooks Illustrated version, which adds beer and vinegar to the dough, and actually requires a super-brief knead before the second rise. So of course I had to compare the two recipes.
above: interior of the Cooks Illustrated version. Note the dramatic difference in “hole structure”
Click for my results, after the jump!

Though I really liked both recipes very much, I feel like they produce very different breads. If I want a crusty, rustic loaf to dip into olive oil & balsamic vinegar, then the New York Times recipe will be my bread. For sandwiches, I feel like the Cooks Illustrated bread stands up better because of its tighter crumb.

Whatever recipe I make from now on, I *will* be employing the Cooks Illustrated method of using parchment paper to transfer and bake the loaf — it’s a brilliant improvement on the original method — and would have prevented the dough from sticking to my well-floured towel on the second rise. I also prefer to weigh out my ingredients on a scale rather than measuring — it has made a dramatic improvement on my baking results. I will continue to play with the recipes: maybe substitute rye flour and add caraway seeds to the Cooks Illustrated version, I’m thinking. Have you made any of the no knead breads? Any tips to make them even better? — Megan B.

No-Knead Bread at the New York Times
Almost No-Knead Bread at Cooks Illustrated *note: this requires a subscription to access. For a great adaptation of this recipe, see this post at ErinCooks.