Looks yummy!

Very beautiful loaf!
I have yet to try the "no knead" type breads.
I'm a classic style girl. (Tight crumb)

I like that!
Once of the reasons I don't make biscuits or bread is because you have to knead it.

hmmmm..
MMMmmmmm!

His keys are time and temp. There's a Saturday White, assuming people work M-F and might have time to bake on Sat. But then he also explains how to adjust the timing to do it during the work week. He suggests starting with that one or another, but this is kind of the next in line. It ferments longer, so more complexity. Even without butter, there's almost a buttery taste to it, but I think it's more to do with the consistency that I expect this texture bread to be buttery or be eaten with butter, so my mind tricks me (does that make sense?). I was most impressed.

I told MIL they could have the second loaf, but since they went on a day trip, I wouldn't be surprised if DH eats it all before they get any.

All the recipes make two loaves. Some he says you can take the second half and make pizza or focaccia. This one, he said you can make (what I take to be) a pan pizza, which isn't our fave.

So now I'm making pizza dough. :)

As long as you don't mind getting your hands dirty, and CEF, I know you don't, this stuff is easy. The toughest part is being a slave to the timer.

Looks great! I've been baking bread pretty much since my nose cleared my mothers countertop. It's an incredibly satisfying task. Yours looks great. I do have a hint or two for you but take or leave as you wish, you're already getting a good loaf.
You shouldn't need convection for this type of bread. You do need a good hot oven. They way these loaves work is you're creating an oven within an oven. You need a good cast iron pan and it looks like that is what you've got there. However the pan has a glass lid. You'll get better results with a cast iron lid. Glass is not going to hold and throw heat the way cast iron would.
I haven't read your recipe but get the oven nice and hot and put your pan (with lid) into the hot oven for at least thirty minutes before you add the dough to the pan. It's not a bad idea to put the pan in the cold oven, just be sure to leave it in there for the full thirty minutes after it comes up to heat.
Good luck, you may regret this foray though. Once you begin baking bread it is very hard to eat the store bought stuff!

Oh, it looks delicious! I really want to try making bread. My sister's son is Celiac, she makes GF bread all the time. I need to get off my butt and just do it!

I'm off the next 5 days, maybe I'll try it.

Thanks for the tips Christine. The recipes in the book are designed to be baked in a 4qt, I happen to have a 5 qt (this one) 6 qt (cast iron w/cast iron lid) and 7.25 qt (Le Creuset. I hate to buy another one, but I think I'll buy a 4qt. Then I can bake two at once, one taller, one wider. Since the recipes all make two loaves (for the 4 qt, 5 just doesn't get as tall) I thought about trying more of the dough in the 6qt. I may try that before I buy a 4qt.

The BS takes quite a while to heat. The recipe called for an hour/hour and a quarter to proof. I put the dutch oven in pretty much when I turned the oven on after I set the bread to proof.

I read some things today online where people cut parchment for the bottom. Do you?

I did really enjoy it. I've made dough for pizza. DH is heating up the Big Green Egg. We may have pizza at midnight. I liked making the pizza dough because I liked dividing it and rolling more balls. :)

The pizza dough is the Same Day Pizza Dough recipe.

I use a 4qt. recipe and double it sometimes. I bake that in my 7.25 oval Crueset, that comes out great. I also do small rolls in the big Crueset. When you double you can make one large oval loaf or form two round balls. They'll press together into one as they cook but they'll have a seam so you can separate them and wrap and freeze one while you eat the other.

Hmmm, my Le Creuset is round, probably wouldn't be as pretty, but could work. Do you keep temp the same and how does time go with all in one?

Oh, my. That looks so good! I've been wanting to try making bread. Maybe I should try this recipe. Of course, I don't have your new kitchen to make sure it turns out!

Pizza was good. I probably would have liked it better in the oven or on the gas grill. The first one we did was Margarita and it was pretty smokey. The mozzarella was really wet and it was pretty soggy, but very tasty.

We were using recipes and techniques from two different books.The Forkish bread book, where I got the dough recipe said don't use cornmeal on the peel, etc. Just use the same flour as you used in the dough. I probably didn't put enough because it was sticky. The Mozza book, I think that's what he was looking at, suggested cornmeal. We used it on the second, pepperoni pizza and it was better. And we both liked what it added too.

DH said he wasn't thrilled with the dough on the first pizza, but he liked it better with the second. It's a simple recipe. The dough recipe in the Mozza book is a LOT more complex. He said he want's to try that next time. I may let him make that one. :)

Easiest pizza dough recipe. Can be made and used in 20-30 minutes or let to a slow rise in the fridge over night or a few hours. I usually make two bowls at the same time before I start frying the sausage, making the sauce and grate the cheese. It rises under a towel for an hour or so while I get the other stuff done.
1c warm water
Fork full of honey or 1/2 T sugar
2 1/4t yeast
Mix with the fork and let set a few minutes till foamy.
Pour in about 3 T of Olive Oil and one teaspoon of salt. Mix with the fork well.
Stir in 3 c flour. Finish with hands to get a smooth dough. Not to much kneading needed.

Works as a thin crust, thick, "pie", calzone, bread sticks. Grilled or baked.
425 for thick and pie, 450 for thin.

Cal - that looks really good! I will have to give it a try.
I have a 4,5 LC oval.
Are the recipes on line?

Terri - thanks for the pizza dough recipe as well

Mine was from the book. There are lots of similar (and different) recipes at the link below.

The bread I made was overnight, so there was VERY little yeast, it was the time that made it grow. There was a little more water too (to feed it, I'd say).

The pizza recipe was same day. So you bloom the yeast, it takes more yeast and less water.

The bucket method is similar to the one in the No Knead Crusty White. The dutch oven cooking is similar to the Absolutely No Kneed Crusty Chewy Bread.

There are a lots here I want to try.

Here is a link that might be useful: KA Flour No-Knead

See Terri, that's why I like the book...it's VERY specific. I don't know what warm water is. :) I do know what 90-95ÃÂ water is.

And I'm always confused re: different yeasts.

I've got a few packets of Fleischmann's Active Dry Yeast that I picked up before we got (or maybe before I read) the book. Then in the book he mentions Saf Instant Yeast (or maybe he didn't mention the brand and a friend did). Anyway, I got that and have used that so far.

What yeast do you use?

I do keep the temperature the same when I'm doing a large loaf, I just add five-ten minutes to the covered cooking time. When I'm doing rolls I cut the covered cooking time by about five minutes. The uncovered time doesn't vary, they all seem to brown up nicely in about 15 minutes. I'd keep an eye out the first few times though as ovens vary.

Red Star Active Dry from Costco in the 2lb package. One package last me about a year.
Being that you are a math girl, I understand your need for specifics. I'm a "feel" and "eyeball" girl.
I've also been baking many years.

I am glad to read you are baking bread though. There is just something so satisfying to doing it.

I use semolina on the pizza peel. It has a higher burn point than corn meal so it stands up to pizza oven temp better.

Your bread looks gorgeous cal quail!

Looks like the recipe is after Jim Lahey's Sullivan St. Bread baked in the Le Creuset published in the NYT in 2006. That was much discussed here on a few past threads.

I've been baking bread for a scary long time and have done everything from cheese to sourdough. To me, these the no-knead is the easiest and best because it teaches pretty much what you need to know about how bread dough works.

Would be interesting to compare the recipes. I'm linking the NYT video and recipe below.

If anyone wants a nice pizza dough, let me know. I do mine in the Cuisinart and then throw it into a plastic bag. It gets an overnight rise in the fridge and can left 2 nights until you're ready to bake. It also made good ciabatta.

Here is a link that might be useful: NYT Sullivan St bakery bread

This is a step up from the Lahey ny times article (that was seminal at the time). Lahey really gave me the confidence for this type of bread but Forkish has given me a full picture of the technique and I love his accuracy. Forkish's is a book that I have really learned from - not just a bunch of recipes like a lot of cookbooks. I love this book! Can't wait until my kitchen is done and I can continue my bread making journey!

Here's someone doing the bread I did.

Here is a link that might be useful: someone baking bread on their blog