Baking "Turbo" No-Knead Bread
October 23, 2018 7:10 AM Subscribe
We've had 20 hour [previously], and 5½ hour [previously], but what would you say to 2½-hour no-knead bread? Steve Gamelin's technique leaves your hands clean; and through feedback from his viewers, he has tailored the process for people with limited motor control. His YouTube channel covers a variety of recipes, but you can get started with his Ultimate Introduction to No-Knead "Turbo" Bread YouTube video.
The recipe is called "turbo" because it mixes instant-rise yeast with warm water to hasten the reaction. Gamelin avoids elaborate mixers or other gadgets, doing all mixing and the first proof in a wide glass bowl. Ingredients are mixed wet first (to activate the yeast and aid mixing), stirred briefly with the handle of a wooden spoon, and occasionally tidied with a spatula.
The carefully-tested "hands-free" method demonstrated in later videos keeps your fingers clean, thanks to the use of the spoon handle like a dough hook to "de-gas, pull, and stretch" the risen dough. You decant into pre-greased bread tins, skillets, or Dutch ovens straight out of the glass mixing/proving bowl. Then you just heat up your oven and bake yourself a fresh loaf!
But don't wory, Maru: you just keep on kneading!
The recipe is called "turbo" because it mixes instant-rise yeast with warm water to hasten the reaction. Gamelin avoids elaborate mixers or other gadgets, doing all mixing and the first proof in a wide glass bowl. Ingredients are mixed wet first (to activate the yeast and aid mixing), stirred briefly with the handle of a wooden spoon, and occasionally tidied with a spatula.
The carefully-tested "hands-free" method demonstrated in later videos keeps your fingers clean, thanks to the use of the spoon handle like a dough hook to "de-gas, pull, and stretch" the risen dough. You decant into pre-greased bread tins, skillets, or Dutch ovens straight out of the glass mixing/proving bowl. Then you just heat up your oven and bake yourself a fresh loaf!
But don't wory, Maru: you just keep on kneading!
It's just a recipe for mediocre bread with a lame crumb/gluten development and not much flavor other than yeast and flour.
What's magic about the no-knead recipe isn't that it isn't kneaded, it's that the high hydration and time allow good gluten development without kneading, and the long slow rise allows all kinds of fun flavor development.
I mean as bread this fine I guess, but kind of what's the point.
posted by JPD at 7:23 AM on October 23, 2018 [10 favorites]
What's magic about the no-knead recipe isn't that it isn't kneaded, it's that the high hydration and time allow good gluten development without kneading, and the long slow rise allows all kinds of fun flavor development.
I mean as bread this fine I guess, but kind of what's the point.
posted by JPD at 7:23 AM on October 23, 2018 [10 favorites]
Well Gamelin also includes standard one-day rising recipes as well, but the key thing here is the hands-free method. Also a 2½ hour recipe is a good way for a beginner to work through the process and learn what mistakes are likely and how to work around them without taking weeks.
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 7:27 AM on October 23, 2018 [8 favorites]
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 7:27 AM on October 23, 2018 [8 favorites]
I mean as bread this fine I guess, but kind of what's the point.
This isn't how I make bread (even when I'm working quick, the dough is kneaded in the stand mixer or food processor or sometimes the dough cycle of the bread machine), but sometimes it's already noon and you just want to make some meatball sandwiches for dinner.
(This is the super-fluffy white loaf I made yesterday afternoon in about 3 hours. It was exactly what we needed.)
posted by uncleozzy at 7:32 AM on October 23, 2018 [9 favorites]
This isn't how I make bread (even when I'm working quick, the dough is kneaded in the stand mixer or food processor or sometimes the dough cycle of the bread machine), but sometimes it's already noon and you just want to make some meatball sandwiches for dinner.
(This is the super-fluffy white loaf I made yesterday afternoon in about 3 hours. It was exactly what we needed.)
posted by uncleozzy at 7:32 AM on October 23, 2018 [9 favorites]
Do you have any bread recipes that you would like to share, JPD? I like a good bread recipe.
And since I'm the one asking, here is my personal 2.5 hour recipe:
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
dash of salt
3/4 cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp active dry yeast
Enough olive oil to coat a cereal bowl
- Combine flour and salt in a mixing bowl.
- In a coffee mug combine warm water, sugar and yeast. Wait until you see bubbles form and then dump it into the flour mixture.
- Mix with a fork and then knead with one hand in the bowl (Note: I came up with this recipe when I'd just married and didn't want to take my wedding ring off because I thought I would lose it.)
- Put ball of dough in the oiled bowl.
- Let rise one 1 hour or until the dough has formed a nice dome in the bowl.
- Knead into a log and put into metal bread pan. Let rise another hour while the oven heats to 425F.
- Bake for 25 minutes
You can add a half cup of water to the yeast, water and sugar mixture for pizza dough if you need it.
posted by Alison at 7:33 AM on October 23, 2018 [7 favorites]
And since I'm the one asking, here is my personal 2.5 hour recipe:
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
dash of salt
3/4 cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp active dry yeast
Enough olive oil to coat a cereal bowl
- Combine flour and salt in a mixing bowl.
- In a coffee mug combine warm water, sugar and yeast. Wait until you see bubbles form and then dump it into the flour mixture.
- Mix with a fork and then knead with one hand in the bowl (Note: I came up with this recipe when I'd just married and didn't want to take my wedding ring off because I thought I would lose it.)
- Put ball of dough in the oiled bowl.
- Let rise one 1 hour or until the dough has formed a nice dome in the bowl.
- Knead into a log and put into metal bread pan. Let rise another hour while the oven heats to 425F.
- Bake for 25 minutes
You can add a half cup of water to the yeast, water and sugar mixture for pizza dough if you need it.
posted by Alison at 7:33 AM on October 23, 2018 [7 favorites]
Yeah, I would imagine that the point is showing a novice breadmaker or totally inexperienced but baking-curious first-timer that you can produce a decent, better than pre-sliced plastic-bag loaf of bread without delicate measurement, wrecking every cooking vessel and horizontal surface in your house, and investing 8 to 24 hours of your precious, busy life. It's introductory. It circumvents the anxiety cycle. It creates that early hit of accomplishment gratification that might keep people curious and on the track to doing more complicated, better baking.
posted by penduluum at 7:33 AM on October 23, 2018 [24 favorites]
posted by penduluum at 7:33 AM on October 23, 2018 [24 favorites]
I make pizza dough with half a kilo of flour, salt, baking powder, and a bottle of lager. It's ready immediately, and I've only just started trying Gamelin's "hands-free" tactics to cut down on the mess I always make in the kitchen doing that!
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 7:35 AM on October 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 7:35 AM on October 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
Turbo bread sounds a lot like this 2007 stupidly simple recipe (NYTlink)... I've always found it to be the easiest/fastest way to make bread on the regular.... it takes 5 hrs including bake time, but follows similar principles- mix ingredients, rise at room temp, slow rise in fridge and then bake. If you wait a day or two; the fridge bread develops deeper flavors; I've never managed to wait longer than 3 days. I've found it produces materially better results than no-knead bread, but it's not QUITE perfect compared to a bakery sourced loaf.
posted by larthegreat at 7:36 AM on October 23, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by larthegreat at 7:36 AM on October 23, 2018 [4 favorites]
This seems like a good place to shout-out to no knead pan pizza dough. It's remarkably good at recreating that trashy American pan pizza feeling where the edges of the dough are a bit friend in oil and the bulk of the crust is so spongy and generous.
I'm trying the no knead focaccia for the first time right now. Made the dough last night and it's already risen and bubbly, now trying to decide if I leave it at room temperature for another 12 hours and risk it becoming beery or stick it in the fridge for a few hours to slow it down.
posted by Nelson at 7:54 AM on October 23, 2018 [6 favorites]
I'm trying the no knead focaccia for the first time right now. Made the dough last night and it's already risen and bubbly, now trying to decide if I leave it at room temperature for another 12 hours and risk it becoming beery or stick it in the fridge for a few hours to slow it down.
posted by Nelson at 7:54 AM on October 23, 2018 [6 favorites]
I mean as bread this fine I guess, but kind of what's the point.
You know, it is comments like this that keep me from even trying to bake bread.
I have two jobs, and autistic pre teen. Bread recipies that are spread over multiple days (or even that require me to be home at three or four points over the same day) just don't work for me.
Guess I'll keep buying bread from the supermarket, because what's the point. /hamburger
posted by anastasiav at 8:15 AM on October 23, 2018 [20 favorites]
You know, it is comments like this that keep me from even trying to bake bread.
I have two jobs, and autistic pre teen. Bread recipies that are spread over multiple days (or even that require me to be home at three or four points over the same day) just don't work for me.
Guess I'll keep buying bread from the supermarket, because what's the point. /hamburger
posted by anastasiav at 8:15 AM on October 23, 2018 [20 favorites]
I mean as bread this fine I guess, but kind of what's the point.
...
From the OP: ...through feedback from his viewers, he has tailored the process for people with limited motor control.
If nothing else: This.
posted by Tomorrowful at 8:22 AM on October 23, 2018 [21 favorites]
...
From the OP: ...through feedback from his viewers, he has tailored the process for people with limited motor control.
If nothing else: This.
posted by Tomorrowful at 8:22 AM on October 23, 2018 [21 favorites]
My dad was an avid bread baker for years but he's in his 80s now and has significant mobility issues. I think he could probably manage Steve's method. I'm going to try talking him into it.
posted by helpthebear at 8:23 AM on October 23, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by helpthebear at 8:23 AM on October 23, 2018 [4 favorites]
I've watched a lot of Steve's videos now, and there's a certain Bob Ross quality to them. He's deliberate in his presentation of everything; and although he's not as metaphysical about it as Bob Ross was, the core message is accessibility. You don't need to worry about learning brush techniques, because you can follow along. There are no mistakes in our kitchen, just happy little loaves.
I've also watched him age over the years he's run that channel, and wonder if he didn't work on this method in anticipation of his own future abilities. I'm just happy that an eye to accessibility can help everyone who wants to keep a tidier worktop.
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 8:41 AM on October 23, 2018 [5 favorites]
I've also watched him age over the years he's run that channel, and wonder if he didn't work on this method in anticipation of his own future abilities. I'm just happy that an eye to accessibility can help everyone who wants to keep a tidier worktop.
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 8:41 AM on October 23, 2018 [5 favorites]
Metafilter: no mistakes in our kitchen, just happy little loaves.
posted by mightshould at 9:10 AM on October 23, 2018 [8 favorites]
posted by mightshould at 9:10 AM on October 23, 2018 [8 favorites]
The Bob Ross comparison came to me when watching the toaster oven video, where he combines two loaf tins with binder clips to make his "Poor Man's Dutch Oven".
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 9:15 AM on October 23, 2018
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 9:15 AM on October 23, 2018
I mean as bread this fine I guess, but kind of what's the point.
The point is that you've turned some water, flour, salt and yeast into bread using tools that you can find in any kitchen that's large enough to have an oven. The point (and, controversial opinion: we should embrace this, not pretend it away) is that it's not an artisan product, it's just bread.
And if it is just bread, then why not do it every day? Why not try to make a better loaf? Why not try to make a different loaf?
posted by wotsac at 9:27 AM on October 23, 2018 [9 favorites]
The point is that you've turned some water, flour, salt and yeast into bread using tools that you can find in any kitchen that's large enough to have an oven. The point (and, controversial opinion: we should embrace this, not pretend it away) is that it's not an artisan product, it's just bread.
And if it is just bread, then why not do it every day? Why not try to make a better loaf? Why not try to make a different loaf?
posted by wotsac at 9:27 AM on October 23, 2018 [9 favorites]
I mean as bread this fine I guess, but kind of what's the point.
I clicked just to see if anybody would post this comment. Sure enough!
If you didn't know where this was going to go when you posted it, you're not alone. I did this in an askme thread about those single-use Y-shaped dental flossers, and I had zero excuse, having shared a house for an entire year back in my dopey, self-absorbed 20s with someone who lost an arm to bone cancer.
posted by Don Pepino at 10:24 AM on October 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
I clicked just to see if anybody would post this comment. Sure enough!
If you didn't know where this was going to go when you posted it, you're not alone. I did this in an askme thread about those single-use Y-shaped dental flossers, and I had zero excuse, having shared a house for an entire year back in my dopey, self-absorbed 20s with someone who lost an arm to bone cancer.
posted by Don Pepino at 10:24 AM on October 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
Someone on MetaFilter linked this NoTime bread recipe, which reliably gets me a loaf of quite tasty bread with a nice crispy crust in about one hour from starting the mixer to pulling the bread from the oven. I would love to understand what’s going on in the microwave that makes a decent rise in 20 minutes rather than two hours.
posted by leahwrenn at 10:27 AM on October 23, 2018 [4 favorites]
posted by leahwrenn at 10:27 AM on October 23, 2018 [4 favorites]
I really enjoy the master recipe in Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. If you reuse the same mixing/storage vessel a few times, the bread develops a distinctive sour dough-like taste.
posted by slogger at 10:36 AM on October 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by slogger at 10:36 AM on October 23, 2018 [3 favorites]
I really enjoy the master recipe in Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. If you reuse the same mixing/storage vessel a few times, the bread develops a distinctive sour dough-like taste.
I've been a convert of that recipe since I realized "Baking doesn't have to be a whole thing...", and I can do 5-10 minutes of mixing up a batch, then it's 35 minutes to rise and 35 minutes to bake, and I've got badass freshly baked bread.
posted by mikelieman at 11:05 AM on October 23, 2018 [4 favorites]
I've been a convert of that recipe since I realized "Baking doesn't have to be a whole thing...", and I can do 5-10 minutes of mixing up a batch, then it's 35 minutes to rise and 35 minutes to bake, and I've got badass freshly baked bread.
posted by mikelieman at 11:05 AM on October 23, 2018 [4 favorites]
I find the whole no-knead bread arms race weirdly charming. Human ingenuity not deployed in service of something awful or exploitative. Go, humanity!
posted by praemunire at 11:13 AM on October 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by praemunire at 11:13 AM on October 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
I do Artisan Bread in 5 a couple of times each winter -- I don't usually have room in the fridge for a bucket of dough, but I do have a pantry that regularly gets down to 40-45 degrees in January and February. It is really nice to have such good bread -- a crust that sings! -- on the table with so little effort.
posted by uncleozzy at 11:14 AM on October 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by uncleozzy at 11:14 AM on October 23, 2018 [2 favorites]
a crust that sings!
No sweeter sound... tap. tap. tap. AHHHHH!...
posted by mikelieman at 12:06 PM on October 23, 2018
No sweeter sound... tap. tap. tap. AHHHHH!...
posted by mikelieman at 12:06 PM on October 23, 2018
I used to use the no-knead recipe from the ancient Cranks Kitchen vegetarian cookbook. It was similarly quick, so I'm not sure what new thing this dude brings to the table. Using warm water with the yeast is literally recommended on the package for a faster rise.
posted by scruss at 12:58 PM on October 23, 2018
posted by scruss at 12:58 PM on October 23, 2018
He's not claiming it's anything new by any stretch. It's the hands-free process that's the interesting development.
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 1:44 PM on October 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 1:44 PM on October 23, 2018 [1 favorite]
I really enjoy the master recipe in Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day.
I made one of their rye recipes that they posted to the Fresh Loaf back when they were promoting the book; it was almost inedibly salty. So salty, I queried if there was an error in the recipe posted, they claimed not. It was really not good, I thought.
posted by smoke at 6:12 PM on October 23, 2018
I made one of their rye recipes that they posted to the Fresh Loaf back when they were promoting the book; it was almost inedibly salty. So salty, I queried if there was an error in the recipe posted, they claimed not. It was really not good, I thought.
posted by smoke at 6:12 PM on October 23, 2018
I'm going to give that a try this weekend. I used to bake all the time (cakes,pies etc) but I never did bread. Looking forward to it.
Thanks for posting this.
posted by james33 at 6:25 AM on October 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
Thanks for posting this.
posted by james33 at 6:25 AM on October 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
My default home-made bread is similar to this -- high-hydration no-knead sourdough with a longer rise time (because sourdough). I eyeball most of the ingredients and guess the rise times. I usually do the second rise in the fridge overnight. So it takes longer, but with minimal intervention.
It usually ends up flatter than a professionally-made loaf (depending on how badly I misjudged the hydration; I avoid using a pan because it has a bad habit of collapsing in a pan if too wet), but it's still vastly better than cheap storebought bread.
When I want a loaf faster than that, I use baker's yeast with a similar but shorter process. It's not as nice, but sometimes the speed is more important. I usually experiment with herbs and other seasonings to make the yeast dough more interesting.
I once made this kind of bread using yeasty beer sludge from someone's beermaking process, and it was great (assuming you want to eat bread that tastes exactly, and I mean exactly like a strong beer).
posted by confluency at 8:13 AM on October 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
It usually ends up flatter than a professionally-made loaf (depending on how badly I misjudged the hydration; I avoid using a pan because it has a bad habit of collapsing in a pan if too wet), but it's still vastly better than cheap storebought bread.
When I want a loaf faster than that, I use baker's yeast with a similar but shorter process. It's not as nice, but sometimes the speed is more important. I usually experiment with herbs and other seasonings to make the yeast dough more interesting.
I once made this kind of bread using yeasty beer sludge from someone's beermaking process, and it was great (assuming you want to eat bread that tastes exactly, and I mean exactly like a strong beer).
posted by confluency at 8:13 AM on October 24, 2018 [1 favorite]
I just tried this technique with my 10yo, and it went well: even she didn't make a mess!
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 3:49 PM on October 27, 2018
posted by rum-soaked space hobo at 3:49 PM on October 27, 2018
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