No Knead/No Dutch Oven Bread
For anyone without a Dutch oven or finds them too heavy to lift, this recipe is for you. Aerate your flour before measuring! (For the overnight method, simply switch to COOL water and let the dough rest overnight on the counter top for 8 to 24 hours). - Jenny Jones
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 4 hours, 10 minutes
Makes: One loaf
Ingredients:
- 3 cups bread flour - all purpose works too (360 g)
- 1/4 teaspoon (1 g) yeast (active dry or instant)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups hot water, not boiling - up to 130° F (354 mL)
- (about 2-4 Tablespoons extra flour for shaping)
Instructions:
- Combine flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Stir in water until it’s well combined.
- Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature for 3 hours.
- After 3 hours dough will become puffy and dotted with bubbles. Transfer it to a well-floured surface and sprinkle dough with a little flour. Using a scraper fold dough over 10-12 times & shape into a rough ball.
- Place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet (not wax paper) and cover with a towel. Let stand on counter top for 35 minutes.
- Meantime place a disposable 6-cup muffin pan or other small pan in the oven, making sure there is room for the baking pan - if not place the small pan on a lower rack. Preheat oven to 450° F.
- After a 35-minute rest, the dough will puff up a little. Place it in the oven and carefully pour 3/4 cup of very hot or boiling water into 3 or 4 muffin cups or small pan. Close oven door immediately and bake for 30 minutes.
- For a darker, crispier crust, remove loaf & parchment from pan and place directly on the oven rack (on the parchment paper). Bake for 5-10 more minutes.
Note: For more details on this recipe, click here.
I’ve been baking soda and sourdough bread for 20 years. Thought I’d give this a go. After 3 hours the dough was basically a wet lump. I tried adding more flour but no use. A complete waste of time
I made this bread turned out perfect
wouldn’t it be easier to put the pan with tap temperature water into the hot oven and let it heat up while the oven is preheating?
You won’t get as much steam that way, but you could do that. You could also just skip the water altogether. You’ll just get less crust when you have less steam. But you’re going to have somewhat less crust when you don’t use a Dutch oven and you’re going to have less anyways because it’s a home oven and not a bakery oven… so it’s all relative anyways haha.
If using a pizza stone, do I let it heat up in the oven for the 35 minutes while I’m
Heating the water…. Before I put the dough in?
Hi. When you preheat your oven you must have your stone in there too. You might crack your stone if you put it in that very hot oven. Do as with your Dutch oven method. Put it in a cold oven and then turn on your heat.
I am planning on making mini loaves to take to nursing homes with some Jam, I will be making 50+ loaves, are there any adjustments I need to make in the recipe for a large batch?
Thanks
Jenny I love your no knead bread. I was looking through for more recipes and I ran across your new knead Ciabatta bread. It looks like the instructions are the same except for the Dutch oven part. How does ciabatta manage somehow to taste differently from regular bread? What’s the difference between the two?
Do you have a recipe for sourdough bread that you could share. I love your recipes.
Happy Thanksgiving do you and your family.
Cathy T
To have a recipe for sourdough bread that you could share. I love your recipes.
Happy Thanksgiving do you and your family.
Cathy T
I made this recipe with all purpose flour. It didn’t work, but then I found your facts section and my water was too hot. Oops! I have another rising now. I’m determined! Thank you Jenny!
I feel kinda stupid when I do things like this. Then I remind myself that; the only people who don’t make mistakes are those who don’t do anything.
My latest bonehead thing in the kitchen was using the wrong pan to make banana bread. I used a round pan instead of a loaf pan. What was I thinking? (I was thinking corn bread!) Well, it turned out OK, but it baked in 1/2 the normal time. Hmmmmm.
Story: Many years ago, I was teaching myself how to program computers. I arived at the conclusion that the more mistakes I could make in one hour, the faster I would learn not to do that. LOL!
It’s just my thought, but part of learning to bake is the ability to recover from mistakes. Ever forget the salt? Ever forget the salt twice? Never again. (grin)
Hi Jenny, i have been making almost.the same recipe except i found it needed 2 tsp of salt rather than one and using luke warm. I have also found it needed 24 hours or more to rise. I will try this method because my husband eats almost the entitre loaf the morning after its cooked so a two day process is not good.
Can I double the recipe and just use one large bowl, Or is it better to use a separate bowl for each loaf?
Doubling the recipe does not double the number of bowls and utensils I need to clean afterwards and I only heat the oven once. So I’m all about doubling these days.
The exception is a new recipe for somthing that I have never tried before. In that case, I make the exception and try to follow the recipe exactly before using any add-in’s.
Also, for a new recipe, I first give it a sanity test. For example; does the amount of yeast, sugar, flour, etc. look similar in proportion to other recipes? If it doesn’t pass the sanity test, I move on to some other recipe.
Can i use a glass bowl instead of a dutch oven?
Please see the FAQs.
Larry,
I always use one of my round, glass casserole dishes when I make this bread and haven’t had any problems.
.What is the diameter and depth of your casserole dish. This is a great tip, thanks.
Mary Ann
After making your no knead breads for years with a Dutch oven, I decided to try this method. It’s so much easier, but doesn’t stay as crusty as with the Dutch oven. Still fabulous though! Now I will have to use barbells for my arm excercises! 🤣
Ahhh, Le Creuset….they last longer than you can lift them!
Made this for the first time yesterday. It is amazing. I added Kalamata olives into the foods. So tasty and easy. Will be making this again. Thank you.
Hello, It takes 45/50 min for my oven to heat up is it ok to let the dough rise for that long? Or does it have to be 35 min? Thanks!
Sara, just start warming up your oven earlier.
This recipe is wonderful!! I made a loaf yesterday and found the recipe to be easy and the bread was delicious!! Thank you Jenny for another wonderful recipe.
This bread is so tasty, and I have made it several times. However, it is never formed in a “ball”, more like a wettish, loose, spreading blob of dough on bake sheet.
And the result is a flattish type of bread.
It is also quite moist inside (almost a touch doughy) despite baking it for an extra ten minutes or more right on the oven rack.
Just wondering if anyone else has this same experience, or is this just how this bread shld be? Appreciate any comments or suggestions. This happens no matter whether I bake same day or rest it overnight. Thanks!
Please see the FAQs.
You added waaay too much water then. You just need enough for it to come together. Should be wet or dry. Add a little at a time next time. Should be perfect.
I’m afraid mine spread quite a bit also in spite of weighing the ingredients. I won’t be so precious next time. Should have followed my gut but I’ll follow a recipe to the T the first time.
Dziękuję pani za ten przepis. Ten chleb jest bardzo smaczny!
Thank you for this really great recipe!! Just the thought of baking bread used to intimidate me. This is so easy and it comes out perfect every time. I’ve used both instant yeast and recently found a Sourdough Instant yeast! I used the Sourdough yeast to bake your No Knead bread and I added chopped fresh rosemary and garlic…..OMGOODNESS!!! Delicious and Beautiful!!! Thank you again!
Hi Janice, I just bought instant sourdough yeast. I was wondering how much of it you used in this bread recipe. Aren’t Jenny’s recipes great!
Thanks
You have to use the whole package
Thanks for all the fantastic recipes Jenny! I have your no/knead/no dutch oven bread on the go right now. I have made it several times and it has become our favourite crusty loaf. When I can get the big airy holes in my bread like your photo then I will know that I have excelled at the recipe.Cheers!
Fantastically easy recipe. I make bread all the time but have started relying on this for its ease and versatility! I make long loaves, rolls, you name it. SO wonderful, so easy, SO much less mess!!!
This Bread recipe is magical! I use it for everything. So fun to make, and eat☆☆
Tanks, Jenny, for this beautiful bread recipe!
♡♡♡
Thank you for this recipe. It’s so easy and delicious!
First time trying this recipe, as I have made bread before but never achieved a nice crust and airy inside like your pics. I followed your recipe, and mine just came out of the oven and looks fabulous. Can’t wait to taste it.
Thanks for this easy to follow recipe! Would love to see some variations, like multigrain, or everything toppings, etc.
I have several variations here under “Breads.”
Hi Jenny. I love the 4 hour ciabatta bread. Can I use the faster recipe for No Knead and use the muffin tin in the oven method for super fast ciabatta?
Wow! I was so impressed with myself…and with this recipe! This was my very first time making homemade bread without a bread machine! It was simple and it turned out perfect! I used all purpose flour and active dry yeast. Next time I will experiment with 1/2 whole wheat flour. Thank you for this recipe!
I abandoned my bread machine long ago when I found Jenny’s no knead recipes….so much easier! I often switch up the flours for these, eg 2c. white, 1 cup whole wheat, or 12 grain, or any other, as long as it has gluten. Sometimes I add extra seeds or dried herbs, sometimes extra sugar (or honey in the water) and dried fruit or citrus zest. Honey whole wheat (2 c white, 1 c ww is a favourite!
And I often put plain yogurt or some lemon juice in my water to give it a “sourdough” taste!
Like you, I abandoned bread machines ages ago. I found them much to limiting to my liking. I am now limited only by chemistry, physics and my imagination. LOL!
I try to bake about 2 to 3 times a week. Usually two different yeast breads and a quick bread. The quick bread is a treat since we no longer buy bread or snack foods at the store. Now I have more money to spend on kitchen tools! Yea, for that!
Tip: Want to get to know your neighbors better? Gift them a loaf of your fresh home made bread and watch the look on their face. Keep it simple. Most kids seem to like white bread as opposed to whole wheat. Even the most basic loaf of home made bread beats the pants off store bought bread.
I wrap my bread in parchment paper and tie it up with jute twine. It presents well!
I’m having difficulty getting the bread to brown—it stays doughy white even tho it’s baked inside. Any suggestions?
Please see the FAQs.
I have been making your “No Knead (No Dutch Oven) Bread” for 7 or 8 months. Now I have started making Sourdough Bread with the No Knead recipe, substituting a half cup of my homemade sourdough starter for the yeast. So far it has turned out fine with a gentle sourdough taste!!! Thank you, Elliott M.
Thank you Elliot, your comment was what I came on here to find! I wanted to use sourdough starter instead of instant yeast and wondered if anyone had done it. Now I need to look through the comments and see if anyone did sourdough starter AND mixed dough with cheese! I’m going to try it but am undecided which step to add the grated cheese when using sourdough starter instead of instant yeast in the recipe.
Hi Jenny I am a great fan of yours as I love to cook! I will try my hand on baking this bread. Could I add garlic or olives before I bake it? Would it change the time?
Take care & keep on sending these wonderful cooking & baking ideas,
Carol
This recipe is my no fail go to for all my breads. I’ve added 3/4 cup each of cranberries and pistachios–home run! 3/4 cup chopped Kalamata olives and 1 tsp dry rosemary –awesome. And it”s fabulous subbing 1/2 cup of rye flour for the same amount of bread flour and 1 tsp caraway seeds. I’ll never buy bread again.
Oooh. Sounds so good. I’m going to try it. So far, I’m having good luck with this recipe. I have it on it’s last rest right now, and it seemed a little more dense as I did my last folding. We’ll see how it turns out.
My wife and I are what you might call senior citizens. I take advantage of baking bread by including things that add nutritional value to the bread.
Not all of these go in every bake, but to give you an idea of my list of possible add-ins; chia seeds, hemp hearts, sunflower seeds, whey, nutritional yeast, flax meal, bran, nuts, different flours like soy, oat, quinoa, rye, and of course nuts and berries. Prior to me baking, we never ate most of these.
Tip: My wife and I have almost completely elilminated processed food from our diet. (Processed defined as removing nutrition or adding preservatives, etc.) Both of us are losing about 0.5 pounds a week without counting calories and just mindful eating. My wife loves it! I later found this approach backed up by a couple studies. So we now eat better, more nutritious food and are able lose some weight at the same time. We do not go hungry or starve ourselves or even think about calories. Yes, we even still eat chocolate, just not in unlimited amounts. Easy peasy! This approach seems sustanable for us and with little or no effort on our part. We never intended this approach for weight loss. My focus was on better health, the weight loss is just a bonus. But I’ll take it.
Good health is expensive to buy if you don’t have it.
I have made this a few times and it comes out just like the dutch oven except I am more comfortable with the weight of the pan. You saved my life. I make your bread at least once a week. Thank you for such great recipes.
I have made this bread five times and every single time it has been perfect. It is also the perfect size for my family. The time and care you put into developing your recipes is truly appreciated. I hate waste and your recipes have yielded great results! Thank you Jenny!
What makes this website stand out is its no-nonsense approach. And such approach, when followed, makes cooking more fun (less fussy) with great results. Like this one!
The problem with this bread is being able to stop eating it. I’ve made bread for over 50 years, and this is so easy any beginner could make it. So good.
Hi Jenny I have used this recipe a few times with the overnight / room temperature water option and we all love it! I want to know what change I can make to make it less dense with bigger holes? If you refer to the picture in this exact recipe, it shows the kind of density and size of holes that I am looking for. Mine right now are very good, very even throughout, similar to the picture you showed in the no-knead recipe. Any suggestion? Thank you and take care!
For the holey, artisan bread texture, I used a splash more than 1 1/2 cups water in the mix, allowed the dough to sit overnight, then instead of kneading the next day as instructed, I just carefully plopped the bubbly mass directly onto a piece of flour dusted parchment (placed on a cookie sheet) patted the blob w/ some more flour on top, then baked (no kneading or folding whatsoever). I baked it at 450 F until golden. The result was the most magnificent loaf I ever made! It had the texture of an English muffin inside, and toasted like a dream! I hope that helps.
WOW! Thank you so much….will try that next!!
Do you leave out overnight or put in refrigerator?
Thank you for this comment and observation…I love the artisan breads with the big holes, our favorite. I have made breads in the past and they are always dense..thanks again for the tip!
I let the bread rise for 30 minutes in the pan it bakes in.
Made bread yesterday a last minute thought and it came out and wonderfully. I decided to add some herbs from my garden basil ,thye ,marjoram,rosemary at the point of shaping. Adding them in the beginning with the dry mixture would be a good option also.
Hello Jen.
I tried to make the dutch oven no knead bread today and alas the dough was dry and crumbly and I followed your recipe exactly/ Help!!
How disappointing sorry that happened .I would check your yeast to see if it is good and the only other thing I can think of is the water was not hot enough. Use a thermometer to check your water temperature.
Please check the FAQs for a solution.
I’ve made this several times. My husband says it tastes better than the $8 artisan loaves we buy from the farmers market. I am a horrible novice baker and it has turned out beautifully all 3 times! Heed my advice when I say: do not use a glass Pyrex as the steaming dish. I poured hot water in there last time and it exploded. Seems like common sense, but it just happened to be the closest baking dish within reach. Overall, excellent recipe!
FYI
Glass Pyrex .can be used BUT put it in filled with water while your preheating the oven allowing it to come up to temperature slowly.
I hope everything and everyone was ok with the explosion… ?
Also, know that there are two versions of Pyrex glass, before and after Corning sold them in the mid-nineties. Different capabilities of dealing with heat and cold and sudden changes.
Glass baking dishes or Pyrex cannot be heated to over 400* degrees or they can break, crack or explode. Never heat casserole dishes or glass pans over 400*
“Made” this bread today. After 30 minutes in the oven with the water, I took it out. The crust was nice and golden. After it cooled, I sliced a little bit off the end and it became clear it was not cooked. I stuck it back in the oven, again with the water, for another 20 minutes. After this, I removed it from the oven and cut the entire loaf in half. It was still essentially raw. Then, I removed the water bath from the oven, thinking that the moisture was preventing it from baking somehow. After another 20 minutes (under tinfoil, because the crust was getting quite hard), I cut a slice off from the inner side of the half, only to reveal that the inside of the half was still raw! I have no idea what happened, as I followed the directions explicitly, and I am pretty disappointed.
Hi Eleanor,
It’s not easy to overcook crusted breads. As you experienced, undercooking is comparatively very easy. You can bake it until the crust is a dark brown; your loaf will resemble a russet potato but the inside will still be moist and tender.
* * *Warning: I’m a scientist and the following is a nerdy explanation of why you want steam when baking bread * * *
When a substance changes phases—such as water evaporating into steam or steam condensing into water—energy is either absorbed or released. It takes energy for liquid water molecules to break free of the liquid as water vapor—this is how your body cools itself by sweating; the evaporation takes energy from your body in the form of heat, thus lowering your body temperature. When water vapor/steam condenses into liquid water, the molecules *release* energy as heat, thus increasing the temperature of the object on which they are condensing. Because of this, steam has a *much* higher rate of heat transfer than air (or even water) at the same temperature. This is why steam burns are much worse than hot water burns, and why humid climates feel hotter than arid climates. If you have one, I recommend putting a cast iron skillet or pan off to one side on the bottom rack while the oven is preheating. Get a small 100% cotton (the 100% cotton bit is critical—synthetics and blends will melt and make an enormous, smelly mess) and soak it with water, then wrap 4 – 6 ice cubes inside the wet towel. Right after you put the bread in to bake, place the wet towel with ice cubes inside on the cast iron skillet, taking care not to drip on the oven window, then quickly close the door to prevent steam from escaping. This will produce steam consistently as the bread bakes, which will help ensure your bread cooks all the way and that it has a nice chewy crust.
This is a great suggestion, Kevin. Using an iron skillet would feel safer for me than how dealing with water other ways.
Cutting any hot bread right out of the oven looks doughy. It needs to rest at least 30 minutes to finish cooking and slice better. I never was able to convince my husband of that. I was lucky if he waited 10 minutes. The end of the loaf always looked awful.
Would it be possible to double the non knead bread to make a larger loaf? I would think it take longer to back but anything else or would you advice against it. Thanks.
We live on a 28ft sailboat in the Caribbean and are working on becoming self sustaining. Love your website and have been following you for years.
i’ve doubled it and it was delicious just the way the recipe is. it was a hit!
This no knead…no dutch oven method. I feel very stupid asking this. Do I put the disposable tin while it is preheating then put the boiling water into the pan. Or do I put the water into the pan after it preheats? I hope I explained that right.
Hi! I put the empty pan for the water in the oven after the oven was preheated , then carefully added the boiling water when I put the bread in. I think it would work either way. If you add water to a pan when you start to preheat it, there would be less chance of burning yourself. Thanks for the thought! I’m going to try it that way next time!
I added a bit of rosemary and some Parmesan cheese to the dry mixture and it was delicious. Thanks to my sister for the suggestion and getting me to love baking bread!
Well, I usually make the dutch oven recipe. I know it is the same but I am in my Motorhome for the summer. I decided to try this recipe and use my Traeger Grill. So far it has worked well, and used a Pizza stone in the oven to place the bread on with parchment paper. The outside looked a bit like a huge baing powder biscuit! Today I will try it with my dutch oven in the Traeger. Just do not know if I can get it to brown, it is a bit hard in the grill.
My very first boule and I am thrilled with it. Thank you!
My 13-year-old son’s been baking knead breads and wasn’t up for baking yesterday. I’m lazy and wanted a quick fix for me to make. We were amazed at how delicious this came out!
Please do not use DISPOSABLE anything! Irresponsible in these times to create added unneccary waste in our lands and oceans. Its time to be responsible for our future. Surely you can come up with something else that does not have one use and then thrown out.
Thank you.
First of all just because I used a disposable aluminum pan to bake this bread does not mean that I threw it away. I plan on reusing it as often as I can. Second, keep your snarky remarks to yourself.
Good for you girl!!
I use “disposable” baking pans over and over. Those little tin foil wonders are good for SO many things. there are a lot of things branded as disposable that really can be used over and over. So I agree people need not be waging their finger in anyone’s face til they REALLY know how you are using so called disposables.
Thank you , Nina.
I use disposal tin cook wear over and over! I generally use the small tin pie plates in my toaster over for making my baked potatoes etc…some people should not assume that disposable cook ware means only use once!!
Drama at the bottom of a bread recipe. I think it’s time to get a hobby or somthing.
Hey why don’t you come up with something. I agree but it sounds like you are adept at multi-useful items. so have at it..we could all use your input.
Jenny came up with a wonderful time saving recipe so now it’s your turn to put your clever ability where your…etc.
Just a suggestion.
I feel like the intention here is to stand up for our earth and that is a good intention, however, I’m sure you can find a much better use for that energy than scolding strangers on the internet.
I made this yesterday. It was easy but you do need ALOT of extra flour when you shape it into a rough ball. I used a disposable aluminum lasagna pan with an upside down cookie sheet on top. I removed the cookie sheet after the 30 minutes and cooked it for 15 more minutes to get a nice color. It is a crisp, crusty bread. You don’t need a Dutch oven.
Thsnks Tina. That was a great idea. We don’t have a dutch oven pot either and really don’t want to goto Walmart right now for that with the stay at home deal going on.
First time ever making bread. I used this recipe and it turned out wonderful! My only issue was the bread was underbaked at 30 minutes…I have a new oven so it’s hard to tell when it’s actually preheated! I just stuck the loaf back in at 350 for another 20 minutes and it was excellent. Thanks for posting!
What if we have no parchment paper?
Please see the FAQs.
Just to confirm: does “aerate flour before measuring” just mean to sift it?
https://www.jennycancook.com/how-to-aerate-flour/
Love this recipe. I followed your recipe exactly as directed.
Used a foil pie pan with water next to cookie sheet the bread was on.
The crust came out perfect, texture perfect.
Thank you so much.
Just found you on line and tried both whole wheat and regular flour and must say both were great. I have never baked bread before and really surprised myself thanks to you. I have put the dough in the oven only with with the oven light on; it seems to speed up the process. Any suggestions?
Just a note: No knead breads do not call for heat during their resting time. They should be left to rest at room temperature.
Hi Jenny; Room temperature at my home during the Winter is >55F with the heat on!!! I use the oven light on to rise my bread to about 70F, works fine for me. Thanks so much for the recipes, I use a lot of them and read your book!!!
I recently made your no Knead bread & am delighted with the result. My question is this, is there a time during the process that I can stop and leave it over night?.. and come back and finish it the next day… maybe after the 3 hours resting..? I want to help some peole in my community and fresh warm bread is what I would like to share with them. Thanks for your help.
Please see the note in the recipe about the overnight method.
Jenny,
The instant or dry active yeast are impossible to find anymore. can you use be refrigerated cake yeast and if so how do we alter the recipe to accommodate this. I’m running low on my yeast.
Thank you very much.
Lilian, I’m sorry you can’t find instant yeast. I just found Jenny Can Cook and went to buy yeast for some of her recipes. I found it at Safeway grocery store and also a large package of packets of the instant yeast at Sam’s Club. I hope this helps.
Delicious and easy bread!
About the cup vs grams, I have one cup marked as 235ml and other cup as 250ml, so the gramaj will vary, I always work with the cup=238ml which weights about 145gr, so the 3cups is aproximativ 435grams of flour and never got a bad bread ever!