Scott_R

You don't need sugar! You want the yeast to dine on flour, not sugar. Sugar will accelerate a rise, but with this long a proof, you definitely don't need that.

Definitely a good move; from personal experience, a 7-quart is too big. My 5-quart Lodge may even be a smidge large; if I come across something a bit smaller (0.5 quart smaller) I may pick it up.

I hope that it doesn't have to be said that I would let a kid get anywhere NEAR smoking-hot cast iron.

Trying different recipes, I think the mixes are the best bet--GF breads are chemistry, not artistry. Still, I'd like to try one such mix with the cast-iron dutch oven... of course, being meticulous to make sure it's clean first. Worst comes to worst, I waste a mix. However, I don't have much confidence for the experiment, for many reasons: you're supposed to proof the GF bread in the pan you bake it in (I don't think the gluten-less structure is strong enough to stand being poured from one thing to another), which eliminates pre-heating the cast iron. Also, the GF batters are way looser than this recipe, even when made with the 1-5/8 cup water; I suspect that covering it might make it gooey. And whatever it is that creates the GF crust seems rather development than regular bread crust formation.

Missed this question first time around, but.... Not speaking definitively, but I don't think it'll work. The no-knead technique substitutes time for kneading to develop the gluten. Celiac-OK breads don't have gluten that needs development--they use other "stiffeners" like xanthum gum and the like. I don't think it would even develop any additional flavor, or not to a significant degree. As such, though yeast-based GF breads do need rising time, there's no point in letting them sit around for eighteen hours--they just need to rise until doubled, then baked. My sister and my niece both have celiac-sprue, so I've had my share of experience making GF breads. It's more chemistry then artistry.

I went nuts trying to find a 7 quart cast iron Dutch oven, as per the 6-8 quart recommendation in the article. After the first batch, I realized it was much too big and picked up one of the easily-available 5-quart ones I'd passed by time after time while looking for the 7-quart. I wouldn't go bigger than the 5. Finally saw the video--there's NO WAY Jim Lahey was using something between 6 and 8 quarts; I'm not sure his were even 5.

So you didn't even bake it??? Wet doughs may be messy and tricky to work with, but they can make very good bread. Still, many (including me) have dropped the water measure to 1.5 cups (to the 3 cups flour). And I don't use a floured towel underneath the dough (for 2nd rise) anymore: I use a flexible cutting board, flour the top, and cover it with the towel. When its ready for the dutch oven, I just take off the towel, pick up the cutting board, and flip it into the oven. Also: for folding, I use a dough blade to scoop it over itself. Overall, there's really very little handling involved. Tips, if you don't know them already: make sure your hands are well-floured when you do handle the dough and use your fingertips when you can, not your whole hand (especially when dumping the dough out of the bowl after first rise). And a "well-floured surfaces" means a well-floured surface.

Ah, one more thing I meant to add: I'm going to drop back to 1.25 tsp salt; I find 1.5 too salty for my taste, and it interferes with my sensory enjoyment of the loaf--to be, when things taste salty, I'm not sure I can tell much else. That said... don't know if it's exactly the flavor that made the difference, but so far, I liked the WW better. First, the saltiness seemed less apparent, and second, the loaf had less of the gumminess. Still, I've only cut a piece or two from the new loaf, so I'll have to give it more thought.

Well, I'm on loaf #4 (first attempt described way above). In short: loaf #1 was as per the printed recipe: 1-5/8 cup water and baked in a 7 quart Lodge Dutch oven I had a dickens of a time finding (printed recipe said 6-8 quart). Result: OK. Not as much oven spring as I'd like, and "gummier" inside than i think optimal. Probably cut into it too soon. #2: dropped down to 1-1/2 cups water and picked up a much more easily available Lodge 5Q. 1.5 tsp salt. Nicer shape, inside less gummy, still wanted to work on it. #3: almost the same steps as #2, but substituted about 1/3 cup whole wheat for an equal amount of the bread flour. Result had a more complex taste (no surprise) and the texture was nicer: though I added another splash of water (guess the WW soaked it up). Baked it to an internal temp of 207 degrees. #4, just finished this evening. 1.5 cups of water, 2.5 cups bread flour, 0.5 cups semolina. 1.5 tsp salt. Cooked to 207-208 F and... inside still a little gummier than I'd really like. Could definitely have left it in for a little longer--bottom was almost about to burn but not in any real danger quite yet. Though the smaller container definitely seems the way to go, I'm not getting as much oven spring as I'd like; I'll have to pay better attention to proofing. In all cases, it's 18 hours first rise, shape, then 2 hours and bake.

Hello, all. I recently finished making a batch via the published recipe, and I am at least intrigued enough to try again. I used the 1-5/8 cup of water, as indicated in the published recipe; coupled with the flour being spooned & leveled rather than scooped, and I had a WET dough. So wet, that the well-floured cotten towel was damp by the time I removed the dough after the short second proof; trying to unstick the dough (batter) wasn't so much fun. I baked it in a 7-quart Lodge Dutch oven, purchased specifically for this purpose; the printed recipe called for a container between 6-8 quarts, so I thought this would fit the bill. Unfortunately, the diameter of the item (12") was, I think, much too big and didn't do much to help the spring--the final product was somewhat flat (though not really much more so than some of the pics I've seen in this thread). I'm tempted to pick up a 5-quart Dutch oven to compare, but I don't know that smaller diameter is enough to make a difference (10 inches rather than 12). I finally saw the video days after I made the bread, and what they used seemed much smaller than what I had. Was the one they featured maybe 8-9 inches across? 30 minutes covered, about 20 uncovered. I didn't wait very long to cut in (15 minutes? Not sure I recall). The interior was nice and full of holes, but disappointingly damp--damp to the point where it seemed not properly done. Maybe the outside could have been further browned, but the crust was otherwise crunchy thick. I'm thinking I'll make it again with the 1.5 cups of water this time and see what that does to the dampness. Nice flavor, though, it not mind breaking.