Comments on: No Knead Bread Baking Method

By: Al

Al — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 17:01:14 +0000

Darn you Breadtopia. Since I started making KNB and following your recipes I am totally addicted to the stuff and have gained five pounds. Thanks a lot.

By: Wil

Wil — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 15:28:24 +0000

Hi Vajra,

Thanks for the compliment. Wow, you must have gone back deep into the thread to find that. I still use 1/2 cup of Kefir in my bread making. It sounds like you are getting good results using just Kefir as your starter. Maybe you can catch us up on the proofing times and characteristics of your bread using just Kefir.

Wil

By: Vajra

Vajra — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 04:29:38 +0000

Wil, Your sourdough cranberry bread is gorgeous! I wish I’d had luck with sourdough starter, but after several failed attempts, I just use kefir as we discussed earlier. As I type this, I have another loaf of nk whole wheat bread in the oven.

I don’t remember if I touted this before, but the Emile Henry Flame Top Dutch Oven is da bomb. Entirely made of clay, it goes into a 500℉ without a care, and it is much lighter than any cast iron pot. I also purchased a stainless steel handle for my Le Creuset pots, just “in case.” But despite assurances from Le Creuset I wouldn’t heat them at 500℉.

By: Toad

Toad — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:15:19 +0000

Thanks to those who’ve tried to discover why the French baker made the claims she did re bad health consequences of no-knead bread consumption. FYI, it’s ‘la vache’ (feminine noun) so cannot be ‘du vache’ (‘du’ being the combination of ‘de’ + ‘le’ with ‘le’ being the definite article of a masculine noun). Also, when the French say their equivalent of “It’s cow s…” they omit the cow altogether and simply say “C’est de la m…”.

By: Breadtopia

Breadtopia — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:06:16 +0000

Click here to translate C’est merde du vache. Thanks Mark!

By: April

April — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:31:27 +0000

Mark

I never laughed so hard in all my life!

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 14:14:40 +0000

Re: health benefits of kneading: C’est merde du vache!

By: April

April — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:59:57 +0000

Wow…. I imagine that the physical process of kneading the dough has health benefits to the person doing the kneading.

For what it is worth, I have read on this site of health benefits of sourdough vs commercial yeast breads regarding the way the body absorbs carbs and sugars benefiting diabetics. I have no doubt there is some theory regarding the knead/no-knead claim, although the baker might just be deterring customers from home baking for obvious reasons.

A scientific explanation of molecules binding at an atomic level in hand kneaded bread would be interesting reading but isn’t going to stop me from making NKB.

By: Marianne

Marianne — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:59:42 +0000

Hi Toad,
I am not expert on that, but if you search through this site for the link to the Julia Child episode where she has a guest do a kneading demonstration, you will quickly understand how seariously the French take their bread making. The woman on the episode says she has to work/knead her dough 800 times (yes 800). She also mentions something about French law stating that you have to let the freshly baked bread sit a certain length of time before cutting into it. So I am not surprised that you got that reaction.
I have not heard anything negative about the no-knead method. I will watch for other member comments. Could be just another “French Law”.
Marianne

By: Toad

Toad — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:47:35 +0000

I DO NOT want to open a can of worms but have a question about kneading vs. no-kneading re health. This morning I bought artisan bread from an organic, well-known and highly respected bakery here in France. I mentioned to the baker that the loaves were a friend’s birthday present, and that I would have made her bread myself but hadn’t planned enough in advance and ran out of time. She was surprised I make bread myself and we got talking. I mentioned experimenting with the no-knead method and she launched into a scientific explanation of the reasons why one must ABSOLUTELY knead a min. of 20 to 30 minutes to develop the gluten (in the only safe health-wise way it can be done), otherwise there are acids? enzymes? that remain in the no-knead bread that when consumed prevent our instestines from functioning correctly and then toxins enter our blood stream, etc. etc. (This was all in French and other customers began arriving, so we got interrupted and I was surprised anyway so can’t quote her and left a little confused and now would like confirmation or rebuttals regarding her claims–and internet searches have got me no where so far…) Thanks in advance for any informed responses!