1) The reason shaping the dough is important: In the recipe for "No Knead Bread" this is when you shape the dough into a "ball" shape. You want to create surface tension, so that the second rising produces an beautiful, even bread that bakes evenly. I usually will use my hands to smooth and stretch the surface and pinch the bottom to hold that tension.
2) The covered pot will trap moisture in the bread, creating a steamy environment that is perfect for producing a crust. It acts like a mini-hearth oven that radiates the heat evenly on all sides.
3) Rose Beranbaum, author of The Bread Bible, has a blog - myself and a few others have been chatting with her about this recipe.
She suggest that you don't need to punch down the dough for multiple risings - this will "overexercise" the dough, it will tighten the crumb and you won't get the nice airy holes that make this bread so darn good.
4) I used my Pampered Chef large rectangular baker for perfect results. The first time I tried this recipe, I used my very expensive Le Creuset pot - however that was a bad idea. While the bread was perfect, the Le Creuset's max safe temperature is 450. Using the convection setting, the oven probably got a lot hotter than that. My husband would not appreciate exploding porcelein enameled cast iron at $20 per square inch. I was on a mission to find a cheap-o cast iron covered pot today, but I had the kids with me. Tootin' around town with them for 3 hours and $60 in bribes (bubble gum, gummy bears, Brio train tunnel) later, no luck. So I guess if I ever find this "cheap" cast iron dutch oven - I should probably add the
cost of the bribes to calculate true COGS (cost of goods sold)....and it will probably turn a $20 pot into more like $120, depending on COB (cost of bribes). This just doesn't make sense, huh? I could have bought online, but I was thinking to save $10 on shipping and just buy locally here. Crap. I'm screwed! It would have been cheaper to hire a babysitter. Now I'm digressing....back to bread....
5) Why do you not need to "knead" the bread?
Giving the dough 18 hours to rise PLUS using so little yeast is what make this bread so delicious. It allows the gluten to develop slowly, producing a lighter, tender, airy bread. The wetness of the dough makes it hard to knead anyways. Wet dough produces the best bread.
6) The internal temperature of the bread should be 210 degrees.
7) Everyone measures differently, so the best way to measure how much flour to use is to weigh it. 16.5 oz is what I use. You want to be pretty exact in following recipes for baking. Flour is difficult to measure with measuring cup because people scoop differently and humidity will also affect how the flour settles and sits in the container.
8) If you don't have 12-18 hours to let rise, double the amount of yeast to 1/2 tsp and let rise for 6-8 hours.
9) After baking, let the bread cool 20 minutes before cutting into it. Why? I forgot why. hmmm....need to research. Something about implosion of your kitchen floor. But honestly, like a kid with a candy bar, I can never wait the entire 20 minutes and I end up standing at the kitchen counter with knife in hand, salivating until I can't stand it anymore. I've never been known for my patience. Oh well.
10) Bread flour is different than All Purpose flour. I've only used Bread Flour in this recipe, which contains higher gluten. Bread flour also has other additives that allow the gas to be trapped in the dough during the risings better than All Purpose. It gives the bread the nice chewy texture.
11) Too tired to think of the 11th smart thing to say about bread. So, I'll leave it at this and go to sleep!
