How to make no-knead bread - the Rémi way

Given that the quality of bread purchased in stores has been steadily declining, and the number of chemicals gradually increasing, I've been making my own bread. My dad wanted the recipe, so here it is (along with my commentary):

Ingredients:
Unbleached white flour - 2 cups
If you like hydrogen peroxide, go ahead and get bleached flour.
Whole wheat flour - 1 cup
Multi-grain flour - 1 cup (I use a Robin Hood brand, "best for bread").
A note on flour: the higher the protein, the better. All-purpose flour is generally 10-12% or so, and bread flour nearer to 14%. If you can find affordable white bread flour, you can increase the amount of whole wheat flour without making a brick instead of bread.
Also, fight the agro-industrial complex. Choose organic if you can find and/or afford it. Who is the government to tell you that you need a bunch of chemicals in your flour? Seriously: go to your pantry and look at the ingredients on the flour bag. Do you really think the government knows best?
Quick-rise yeast - 1 tsp
Again, you can culture your own yeast for free. As soon as I learn how, if there is interest, I'll post that here too.
Salt - 1/2 tbsp.
Sensing a theme? get kosher or no additive. You don't need iodine unless you happen to live in a place like Vietnam. As for yellow prussiate of soda, whatever that is, I can get the clumps out of my own salt thank you.
Wheat germ - some, a quarter cup maybe. Trial and error is best.
Sunflower seeds - see above for quantity
Sunflower seeds add a lot of flavour.
You can also add whatever other seeds you want and/or have in the house. You can sprinkle some poppy seeds on the top of the bread before baking, if you're so inclined, flax is good for you, so add some of that if you want to as well.

Step 1.
Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl (it will rise, so bigger is better). Add two cups of cold water, mix until there is no flour left in the bottom of the bowl. You may need more water if you added a lot of wheat germ or oats or other dry ingredients. See the picture for the texture you're looking for. Cover with Saran wrap or a dish cloth. If you want, you can put this in the fridge for about 24hrs before the next step. I rarely bother.

 The flours I use.

 The mixed dough.











Step 2.
Allow the dough to rise for 12-24hrs. I usually wait 24hrs. You can mix the dough half-way through if you want.

 The risen dough.











Step 3.
Fold the dough into the middle (see picture), and allow to rest for 1.5-2.5 hours, depending on how hot it is that day (hotter=shorter)

 The dough folded into the middle.











Step 4.
Put two rack in the oven, as close together as possible.
Set the oven to 450°F.
When there is 30 minutes left of rising time, put a dutch oven in the oven to heat up. Canadian Tire sells a good one for about $30. Don't bother oiling the pot. The bread will come out if you do this right.
Then place a large cookie sheet on the lower rack, fill with water. This will even out the heat, help keep a better crust, and somewhat avoid the chance that the dough will stick to your pot. You may have to top up the water part way through.

Step 5.
When the pot is hot, take it out, and with someone's help if you can, dump the dough into the pot. If you're feeling Martha Stewarty, used oiled kitchen shears to cut a pattern in the top of the dough. This is also a good time to add poppy seeds, salt, herbs, or whatever else you might want to try to the top of the bread.

Step 6.

Put the pot back in the oven, and wait an hour.

Step 7.
Take the lid off, wait 10 minutes. Tap the bread, it should sound hollow.

Note the cookie sheet under the pots.










 
Step 8. 
Take the pot out of the oven. If you shake the pot, the bread should move. If it doesn't, you may have under-cooked the bread. Try putting the lid back on and wait another 10 minutes. Once out of the oven, let it sit for another 10 minutes.

Step 9.
Drop the bread out. You can eat it right away, but it's best to wait a couple of hours. Store in a bag in the freezer, or it will keep in bag at room temperature for a few days.

 The finished loaves.















Step 10.
Accept widespread praise without any sign of modesty.

This recipe is very forgiving. The quantities can be imprecise, the timing can vary, the ingredients can vary. Try different flours, or different proportions, add raisins when mixing the dough during the first rise, put herbs in the dough. Not all herbs and spices will work (some kill the yeast), but you're working with a few cents of ingredients here, so it's worth playing around. I made this recipe up with trial and error, so theoretically, you too can come up with your own bread.

I also make two loaves at a time. I figure it can't be cheap to run the oven at 450°F for a couple of hours, so I might as well get my money's worth.

If the recipe doesn't work, let me know, I might have forgotten a step.

Remi

We have been doing stuff

We have been doing stuff, bBut mostly it's just wedding planning. Talk about a nice way to ruin a summer. Want my advice? get married in March. Still, we've gotten out a bit, even if we haven't posted many blogs.

 This is me on the way up Yak peak. I climbed that pointy thing behind me. Sarah was too lazy so only went part way.

 But she was bored so played with her food.

 a nice cornice below the summit.

I almost stepped on this idiot, along with three or four chicks. Got half decent photos though.

 Then mom and dad came for a visit. I took dad rafting while Sarah and mom when for a mani-pedi (whatever that is).

 We've also been going to the lake a few minutes from the house. The water is chilly, but it's nice on hot days.

Sarah by the Chilliwack river waiting for dad and I to come back from rafting (yes, it's out of order).

I played with my camera and Photoshop a bit this morning.

That's about it.

Remi