There are so many no-knead bread recipes out there, but I will show you have to do it effectively with minimal effort and a great result. This is basically fool proof as long as your starter is nice and active.

If you do not have a starter or would like to learn more about keeping your starter active, then check out the sourdough bread page where I have plenty of videos in which I explain everything is detail.

Your starter is the foundation of every bake. Everything relies on it. Make sure you use good water when feeding and making your dough. Use good salt without additives and good unbleached flour. Feed your starter regularly and know exactly how long it takes to rise at a certain feeding ratio. Once you have this kind of relationship you will be able to bake any bread.

With that out of the way let us talk about this bread. I do not make no-knead bread very often. But when I do, I am always surprised how good result can be without adding the effort and messiness of kneading. The strength that can be built up in the dough by simply performing a few folds and a nice tight shaping is amazing. You would never know that this was not kneaded.

At 70% hydration, this dough is a little sticky, but still easy to handle and because of the water content we get nice bubbles in the crumb and a beautiful texture.

Good quality water is super important for your starter. I would suggest using bottled water or filtered water. Another great way to neutralize the chlorine in tap water is by pouring it into a jar and leaving it uncovered for 24 hours.

Make sure to watch my hands to see how I handle the dough to make it nice and tight.

Watch the video down below for detailed instructions.

Ingredients

For the leaven –

50g (1.75oz) strong white bread flour

50g (1.75oz) room temperature water if your kitchen is around 20-22C (68-71F)

10g  (0.35oz) active sourdough starter

*This is a 1:5:5 ratio and I know that my leaven will be ready in 10-12 hours. Keep in mind that every starter is different and yours may be more or less active than mine.

For the dough –

240g (8.5oz) strong white bread flour

50g (1.75oz) wholemeal flour

7g (0.25oz) sea salt

190g (6.7oz) water at around 26C (F) if your kitchen is around 20-22C (68-71F). This is quite a high temperature, but it is appropriate as we are not kneading this dough. The final dough temperature will in fact be lower because my flour is cooler.

*To learn more about dough temperature control click here.

Method

1. Make the leaven. Mix the flour, starter, and water. Stir well. Cover and leave to ferment for around 10-12 hours or until doubled in volume and bubbly.
2. In a bowl add the remaining water and salt. Stir to dissolve the salt. As we are not kneading, we need to make sure that all the ingredients are dispersed evenly throughout the dough as we mix them.
3. Add the leaven and wholemeal flour. Mix well once again. Add the remaining white flour. Mix this to a dough. Use your hands to mix it all well together.
4. Scrape the dough together, shape into a ball. *Desired dough temperature 25C (77F). If your dough is warmer, then it will ferment more rapidly. If it is cooler, then it will take longer. Adjust proofing time accordingly.
5. Cover & rest for 20 minutes.
6. Fold #1.
7. Rest for 20 minutes.
8. Fold #2.
9. Rest for 20 minutes.
10. Final fold.
11. Ferment for 3 hours or until almost doubled in volume.
12. Do a light pre-shape.
13. Rest the dough for 30 minutes.
14. Shape it tight using the stitching method. Place the loaf in a floured breadbasket.
15. Final proof 1.5 hours. During this time preheat your oven and baking vessel to 240C (F) fan off.
16. Place the loaf on your preheated pan and score it with a razor or a sharp knife.
17. Bake for 20 minutes with the lid on.
18. Remove the lid and bake for 15 minutes.

Let it cool down and enjoy!

Keep in mind that the conditions in each kitchen are different, so fermentation times may vary for you. It is up to the baker to control the bread and react accordingly.

Your oven may be different too, so your baking time may vary.

Pain au levain simply means ‘bread made with levain’ in French.

So, it is the simple, yet complex bread recipe that should be in anyone’s book. This is my go-to when I do not know what to bake. Or when I do not want to experiment. It just works. Always remember that every starter is different and the conditions in every kitchen are different so it may take longer or less time to ferment in your case.

A simple pain au levain is also the perfect sourdough bread for beginners. The relatively low hydration makes it easy to knead and easy to work with. It is a very forgiving dough. You can also cold proof it instead of baking it on the same day. Just pop it in the fridge around 1 – 2 hours after final shaping. If it is fermenting rather rapidly, then you can refrigerate it right after the final shape.

You can play around with different flours too. Use wholemeal flour instead of rye flour. You can use larger amount too. In that case just adjust the hydration because more wholemeal mean drier dough.

A healthy and active starter is the key for any bake. To learn more about keeping your starter active and building a leavain click here.

Watch the video down below for detailed instructions.

Ingredients

For the levain –

60g (2.1oz) strong white bread flour

10g (0.35oz) active sourdough starter

40g (1.4oz) water at around 21C (70F). My kitchen is 21C (70F) so I used room temperature water. If your kitchen is warmer, then you may want to reduce the water temperature or keep the levain in a cooler spot.

For the main dough –

310g (11oz) strong white bread flour

30g (1oz) rye flour

7g (0.25oz) salt

220g (7.75oz) water at around 5 – 6C (41-43F)

To learn more about dough temperature when using a preferment click here.

Method

1. Make the levain by mixing the water, sourdough starter & flour. Ferment for 10 – 12 hours. It should more than double in size and be nice and stretchy not runny!
2. Autolyse the remaining flour by mixing it with the remaining water. Sprinkle the salt over the dough, cover & leave to hydrate for 30 – 60 minutes.
3. Add the levain to the dough & knead for 5 – 6 minutes. Desired dough temperature 25 – 26C (77-79F). If your dough is cooler, then it may take longer. If it is warmer, then it may take less time.
4. Ferment for 1.5 hours.
5. Fold.
6. Ferment for 1.5 hours.
7. Shape into a loaf, place in a dusted bread basket smooth side down.
8. Ferment for 3 hours. During the final hour of fermentation preheat your oven and baking vessel to 230C (450F) fan off.
9. Score the dough & bake with the lid on for 25 minutes.
10. Remove the lid & continue baking for another 15 minutes.

Butterfly pea flowers grow in the wild in Asia. They are dried and used as tea. Supposedly it is healthy. I am more interested in the colour. So, when I saw these for sale when I was in Thailand I just had to buy some a bring it back.

But you do not have to go to Asia to get this tea. It is readily available online or in speciality supermarkets.

This sourdough bread looks amazing because of the blue swirl going through it. The tea does not have a strong flavour. If you would like flavour and colour, then I would suggest using blueberry or blackberry juice instead of the water.

Watch the video down below to see detailed instructions.

Ingredients

For the levain –

80g (2.8oz) strong white bread flour

80g (2.8oz) water at 20C (68F) if your kitchen is around 23 – 25C (73-77F). If it is cooler, then raise the temperature. And vice versa.

8g (0.3oz) sourdough starter

For the pea flower tea –

10g (0.35oz) butterfly pea flowers

150g (5.3oz) boiling water. Infuse the tea for around 10 minutes. Strain and keep 90g (3.2oz) for the dough.

For the white dough –

160g (5.6oz) strong white bread flour

90g (3.2oz) water at 20C (68F) if your kitchen is around 23 – 25C (73 – 77F). If it is cooler, then raise the temperature. And vice versa.

4g (0.15oz) salt

80g (2.8oz) levain

For the blue dough –

160g (5.6oz) strong white bread flour

90g (3.2oz) butterfly pea flower tea at 20C (68F) if your kitchen is around 23 – 25C (73 – 77F). If it is cooler, then raise the temperature. And vice versa.

4g (0.15oz) salt

80g (2.8oz) leavain

To learn more about dough temperature when using a preferment click here.

Method

1. Make the levain by mixing the flour, water, and sourdough starter. Ferment for 12 – 16 hours or until ready. You can make the tea at this point too. Both doughs are made the same way so I will write down the method once.
2. Add the water or tea to a bowl, also add the salt and mix to dissolve. Add the levain, mix.
3. Add the flour and mix until no dry flour left.
4. Knead the dough for around 5 – 7 minutes or until decent gluten development. Desired dough temperature 25 – 26C (77 – 79F). If your dough is warmer, then it may ferment more rapidly. If it is cooler, then it may take longer. Adjust the proofing times up or down accordingly.
5. Cover and proof for 2 hours.
6. Fold.
7. Proof for 2 hours.
8. Fold.
9. Proof for 2 hours.
10. Fold.
11. Rest for 30 minutes.
12. Stretch both dough pieces out and place one on top of the other. Shape the loaf. The more you stretch the dough out, the more you will have to roll it up when shaping and the thinner the swirl will be. You can control the design during shaping.
13. Final proof 2 hours or up to 18h in the fridge. During the final hour of fermentation pre-heat your oven to 240C (460F) no fan.
14. Score and bake with the lid on for 20 minutes.
15. Take the lid off and bake for another 20 minutes.

Cool down and enjoy!

This is the ultimate ciabatta. I think the picture says it all.

If you like your sourdough bread, then this should definitely be on your list. And if you have never handled high hydration dough, then this is the perfect bread to try for the first time. 

Ciabatta is a very simple bread to make. It may look like something that requires a lot of skill, but that could not be farther from the truth. Most other breads have to be preshaped, shaped and scored. Ciabatta does not require any of those individual steps as it is divided, shaped and scored at once right after bulk fermentation. This makes them practically fool proof.

Watch the video down below to see detailed instructions.

Ingredients

For the levain –

200g (7.05oz) strong white bread flour

200g (7.05oz) room temperature water at around 20 – 22C (68 – 71F). If your kitchen is warmer then lower the water temp by 1 – 2C (2 – 3F), if cooler, then vice versa.

20g (0.7oz) sourdough starter

For the main dough –

200g (7.05oz) strong white bread flour

110g (3.9oz) water at room temperature around 20-22C (68-71F). If your kitchen is warmer then lower the water temp by 1-2C (2-3F), if cooler then vice versa

8g (0.3oz) salt

15g (0.5oz) olive oil

To learn more about dough temperature control when using a preferment click here.

Method

1. Make the levain by mixing the water, flour, and sourdough starter. Ferment for 12 – 16 hours or until at least doubled in size and strong.
2. Once the levain is done add the rest of the flour and all but a couple of tablespoons of water and mix until well combined.
3. Autolyse the dough for 30 – 60 minutes. Dissolve the salt in the left-over water to make it easier to work into the dough.
4. Add the salted water and the oil to the dough and mix to combine.
5. Knead the dough using the stretch and fold method for around 10 minutes until good gluten development. Desired dough temperature 22 – 24C (72-75F). If your dough is warmer, then it may take less time to ferment. If it is cooler, then it may take longer. Adjust the proofing times accordingly.
6. Ferment for 45 minutes.
7. Fold #1.
8. Ferment for 45minutes.
9. Fold.
10. Ferment for 45 minutes.
11. Divide and place on to a well-floured couche or a thick tea towel.
12. Final proof 45 minutes. During the final proof pre-heat your oven and your baking vessel to 240C (460F) no fan. 
13. Invert the ciabattas and bake them for 15 – 17 minutes.

Cool down and enjoy with your favourite fillings.

Remember that every sourdough starter is different and the condition in every kitchen are different, so take the given fermentation times with a grain of salt as they may vary for you.

Sourdough focaccia is such an awesome bread. The crispy crust and soft pillowy interior make it perfect.

Rich with olive oil and enhanced with your favourite toppings. You need this bread in your life. This dough is quite wet and we want that because that will get us those big bubbles that everyone is chasing.

Ingredients

For the levain –

100g (3.5oz) strong white bread flour

100g (3.5oz) water at around 20C (68F). 

10g (0.35oz) sourdough starter

For the main dough –

150g (5.3oz) strong white bread flour

110g (3.9oz) water at around 20C (68F). 

5g (0.2oz) salt

40g (1.4oz) olive oil

Toppings of your choice

To learn more about dough temperature control when using a preferment click here.

Method

1. To make the levain mix the flour, water and starter and leave for 12 – 16 hours.
2. Add all but a couple of tablespoons of the remaining water. Use the rest to dissolve the salt in.
3. Add the flour and mix until no dry flour left and leave to autolyse for at least 1 hour.
4. After the autolyse add the salted water, mix, and knead using the stretch & fold method for around 10 – 15 minutes or 500 times if you want to count.
5. Proof for 30 minutes.
6. Fold #1.
7. Proof for 30 minutes.
8. Fold #2.
9. Proof for 30 minutes.
10. Fold #3.
11. Proof for 30 minutes.
12. Fold #4. Place the dough on your tray. At this point pre-heat your oven to 220C (430F) no fan and pre-heat your pan if using.
13. Final proof for 30 minutes.
14. Add your toppings and finish stretching the dough.
15. Bake for around 30 minutes.

Cool down and enjoy!