We live in a world that values instant gratification.
Really, we don’t have to wait for anything anymore.
We have massive stores everywhere to buy anything your heart desires, there are credit cards to pay for those things without needing to save up, and we can instantly know how long the gestational period for a dog is, the world truly is at our fingertips.
I’m pretty bad for this lack of patience. Patience is definitely not a virtue I was born with. It’s something I have to work on every day.
As I’m getting older, I’m actually enjoying having to wait for the good things in life. Everything seems a little sweeter when it’s taken work to get it.
This bread is patience personified (foodified?). Not only does it take 30 hours to ferment before baking, but I have been personally waiting to make this bread for years but never had the proper cast iron pot to do so.
This no-knead bread is insanely easy, but produces a gorgeous, chewy crumb and looks stunning out of the oven. The best part about it is that as it cools on the rack, you can hear it crackling. It really engages all of then senses. And, after days of waiting, it’s pretty gratifying.
It’s true, the best things in life truly are worth waiting for… unless of course you need to know RIGHT NOW if Mad Max: Road Warrior was movie number 1 or 2 in the triology (I’ll save you the Google search…it’s number 2).
- 2 cups (250 g) bread flour, plus more for dusting
- 1 cup (110 g) whole wheat flour
- ¼ tsp instant yeast
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 ½ cups (375 ml) warm water
- In a large bowl stir together the flour, yeast and salt.
- Add water, and stir until blended; dough will be sticky.
- Cover bowl with plastic wrap or a plate and let it rest on the counter to, in a warm room, for 24-36 hours at room temperature.
- The dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles.
- Flour a work surface and place dough on it
- Sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice, then roughly shape into a ball.
- Generously coat a clean cotton cloth with flour
- Put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour.
- Fold it over the bread and let it rest for another 2 hours.
- For the last 45 minutes of the bread resting, preheat the oven to 220 C (450°F).
- Put a 6-8 quart heavy covered pot (cast iron or enamel is best) in oven as it heats.
- When the dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven.
- Slide your hand under towel and place dough in pot- don't worry if it looks ugly, it'll even out when baking.
- Cover and bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove the lid and bake another 15-20 minutes, until it’s golden.
- Remove from pot- you'll know the bread it done when the bottom sounds hollow when tapped- and allow to cool on rack…. Stay close by to enjoy the crackling.
- (Bread crust will seem really hard at first, but will soften up quickly)
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