No-Knead Everyday Bread

Cook's notes

One loaf now, or double it. The recipe makes a single boule and fits a 4-quart dough bucket — right for one person or a small fridge. Want two loaves? Tap + on the loaves counter to double everything; then you'll want a 6-quart, or just mix two 4-quarts. Same method either way. (Affiliate link — as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you.)

Why two hours and not overnight. The classic no-knead loaf uses a pinch of yeast and a long 8–18 hour rise, and exactly when it's ready drifts with your kitchen temperature — foolproof it is not. This version uses more yeast so the first rise finishes in a predictable two hours; the long, flavor-building ferment then happens cold, over the dough's five days in the fridge. Same deep flavor, but on a schedule you can plan around.

The covered pot is the trick — trapped steam gives the thin, crackly crust you can't easily get on an open tray. See the shortcut below if you don't own a Dutch oven.

It gets better as the week goes on — dough baked on day four has more tang than day one, the same way a sourdough does. Nothing to do but let it sit.

Bread flour or all-purpose? Sourdough or not? Use the Flour and Sourdough toggles above the ingredients — they rewrite the exact amounts for you (all-purpose takes a little less water; sourdough folds in 100 g of starter and adjusts the flour, water, and yeast), and it all still works at whatever size you set. Bread flour gives a chewier crumb and taller boule; all-purpose is softer. A starter adds real sourdough tang, and discard works fine here since the yeast still does the lifting.

For a true no-commercial-yeast sourdough, that's a slower, different bake: leave the yeast out entirely, use a ripe and bubbly starter, and go by eye rather than the clock — and bake it within 2–3 days, since sourdough dough slackens sooner than the yeasted version.

Provenance: the stored-dough, mix-ahead-and-bake-when-you-like method of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoë François, married to the hot-covered-pot crust of Jim Lahey's My Bread (Lahey's is the classic overnight version, if you'd rather a pinch of yeast and a long slow rise). (Those book links are affiliate links — as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you.)

Cool fully before cutting — slicing hot bread gums up the crumb.