My Favorite Bread

Baked my favorite no-knead bread today - Pan co' Santi (Walnut Bread); a recipe from Jim Lahey's My Bread. I love this book (which I gave to my sister before starting my journey) and the bread it inspires. Walnut and other no-knead breads in this book take 12-18 hours for the first rise and about 2 hours for the second; with prep and rest time, plan on about 24 hours from start until your first taste.

The bread didn't rise as much as it did when I made it in Colorado; could be the altitude difference (6000' vs sea level) and/or the oven. I set the oven for 475 degrees but the thermometer I placed inside the oven only read about 430. Using the same King Arthur ingredients but using bottled water from a different source. The taste was good but a bigger rise would be better; will need to experiment.

The raisons give the bread a slight purple tinge.

Finished product before removing it from the very hot Emile Henry dutch oven.

Oat bran residue after removing bread; sprinkle bread with oat or wheat bran or corn meal to before wrapping in a towel for second rise.