The Pinewood Kitchen

Why I Bake Bread Every Sunday Morning

There is a particular meditation in folding dough. You feel it shift under your hands as the gluten develops. The kitchen warms with the smell of flour and yeast. By the time the loaves come out of the oven, the whole house smells like a bakery, and the rest of the day feels less complicated.

I started baking bread during the lockdown, like everyone else. Most people stopped after a few months. I kept going because Sunday mornings without bread baking started to feel wrong. I am not a great baker — my crusts are sometimes too dark, my crumb sometimes too dense — but I am a regular one.

This is my no-knead recipe. It takes almost no skill and produces a respectable loaf. The trick is letting the dough do the work overnight while you sleep.

Ingredients

• 3 cups bread flour
• 1.5 cups room-temperature water
• 1 teaspoon instant yeast
• 1.5 teaspoons fine sea salt

Method

Mix everything in a large bowl with a wooden spoon until no dry flour remains. The dough will look shaggy and unattractive. That is correct. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave it on the counter for twelve to eighteen hours. The next morning, the dough should have doubled and be covered in small bubbles.

Turn it out onto a floured surface, fold it over itself a few times, and shape it into a rough ball. Let it rest while the oven preheats to 450°F with a dutch oven inside. When everything is hot, drop the dough into the dutch oven, score the top with a knife, cover, and bake for thirty minutes. Remove the lid and bake another fifteen minutes for a deep golden crust.

Let it cool for at least thirty minutes before cutting. I know it is hard. Wait anyway. The crumb sets as it cools.

Notes from my kitchen

Bread flour matters here — all-purpose works but the structure is noticeably softer. Get the King Arthur bread flour if you can find it.

The dutch oven creates steam, which is what gives the crust its crackle. If you do not have one, a covered cast iron pot or even a heavy pot with a tight-fitting lid will work.