No Knead Dutch Oven Bread (Rosemary Bread) Recipe - The Cookie Rookie® (2024)

FAQs

Why is my homemade no-knead bread so dense? ›

Why is my bread dense: Usually bread will be too dense when there is too much flour. Keep in mind this dough will be pretty sticky, do not add more flour than specified. Other factors that come into play are humidity and age of flour. Little yeast, long rise, sticky dough are keys to a good, light loaf.

take its interior temperature with an instant-read thermometer. A finished loaf will register 205°F at its center. As you can see, this one has a few degrees to go. You might remember reading that a perfectly baked loaf of bread should be 190°F at the center.

Classic no-knead bread (made with ¼ tsp instant yeast and 2¾ cups of flour) often tastes flat and dull. That lack of flavor comes from the yeast outpacing enzymes and consuming too many of the available sugars in the dough.

Add Sugar

Adding sugar weakens the gluten structure, absorbs water, and eventually makes the bread lighter and softer. As a result, sugar improves the bread's taste, structure and texture. Yeast also eats up sugar to produce carbon dioxide, which raises the dough and makes bread fluffy.

My method for baking bread dough in a Dutch oven: Preheat your home oven to 450°F (230°C) with a Dutch oven inside for 30 to 45 minutes.

If the dough isn't mixed or kneaded to full development (e.g., full windowpane), adding in sets of stretch and folds during bulk fermentation will help continue its progress toward a firmer, more cohesive dough that's able to trap gas and hold its shape all the way to bake time.

Yeast was killed, either by something too hot/cold or by direct contact with salt at the beginning (or, maybe the yeast is old and therefore dead); the dough wouldn't rise.

No-knead bread gets its power from a long, slow rise at room temperature. Mix up the dough in the morning and let it sit for at least six hours before shaping and rising for one hour more. The bread bakes for 30 minutes covered and 15 minutes uncovered in the Dutch oven.

Yeast bread will come out heavy and dense if you don't give the yeast enough time to grow and multiply, giving off the CO2 gas that makes bread light and airy.

What makes a loaf of homemade bread doughy on the inside while others have a nice texture and crumb? It hasn't cooked long enough. If there is not enough time for high heat to penetrate to the middle then it will be uncooked there. That's why it's important to use the right temperature for the right amount of time.

What are the pros and cons of no-knead bread? ›

No-knead (Passive): In this mix-to-combine, long-fermented method, time is used to maximum effect for developing both flavor and strength. Pros: Dough develops flavor during extended fermentation. Easy. Cons: Uncontrolled fermentation may cause variable impacts to crumb structure and flavor.

You do not have to use parchment paper, but I like using it. Don't stop baking if the bread does not come out perfect the first time… like I said it could be many different things to affect it. If you going to make a larger bread, add 6 cups of flour, 1 tablespoon Salt and enough liquid to make it wet enough.

“If the dough has risen too long, it's going to feel fragile and might even collapse as you poke it,” says Maggie. If this is the case, there's a chance you can save your dough by giving it a quick re-shape. Learn more about this fix in our blog on saving overproofed dough.

Too much extra flour worked into the dough while folding and/or shaping can cause dense bread. Over mixing can cause a dense loaf by the weakening and breakdown of the gluten (not likely to happen if you fold dough or hand knead). The flour you used is a whole grain with coarse bits of bran and grain in it.

Getting the amount of flour right is vital due to the high flour ratio to the other bread ingredients. Measuring one or two tablespoons too much per cup (easy to do) can cause your bread to be dense.