NYT & Parchment Paper Tutorial

[JoeV]

No Knead Bread & Parchment Paper
By: Joe Valencic, Mentor, Ohio
​

I see this topic come up frequently, especially when someone is being challenged by handling this very loose dough. Some folks can understand a verbal description of using parchment paper, but some need to SEE what is being explained in order to fully understand. I’m a person who likes lots of pictures to make sure I’m doing things as described, and for those of you who are like me, here’s a short tutorial on working with parchment paper and no-knead bread dough.

I mainly work with round baking vessels for this bread, but I do own one La Cloche Oblong Clay Baker. Here are two of my many choices for baking vessels, and the proofing baskets I use for them. Notice how the baskets are similar in size to the baking dishes. This is important so that the proofed dough is not larger than its baking vessel.

I take a sheet of parchment paper and work it into the basket, being careful to fit it closely to the inside of the basket. Once I’m happy with the paper placement, I trim off the excess so that there is about 2” of paper left over the basket edge for lifting the proofed dough. I then spray a liberal coating of cooking spray on the parchment paper to prevent the dough from sticking to the paper. Shape the dough and then drop it in the basket and cover with plastic to rise for about 60 minutes.

Once the dough has risen and is ready for the oven, I like to ‘dress up’ my No-Knead bread with a good topping of 10-grain cereal. I take a spray bottle of water and wet the top of the dough so the grain will stick, then sprinkle a liberal amount of cereal on top of the loaf. You could also use wheat bran, oatmeal or other toppings that you enjoy.

You’re now ready to put the dough in the cooking vessel. Just lift the dough by the parchment paper edges and place the whole thing into your pot. Put on the cover and bake as usual. To save energy I like to bake two loaves at a time. The dissimilar shapes work very well for this, but I can also fit two round baking dishes in my oven. If doing this, make sure there is at least 1” between vessels and away from walls so the air can circulate around the pots in the oven.

When the bread is done remove the pan from the oven using long oven mitts. Don’t try to lift the bread by the parchment paper, because it will just fall apart in your hands.

Tip the bread out of the pan using the oven mitts and place on a wire rack to cool. For best results, allow bread to cool for at least two hours before cutting.
If you did it all correctly, you will be left with beautiful, delicious bread and a shell of parchment paper to throw away.

I hope this makes your No-Knead baking experience more enjoyable.

 

[babetoo]

have to admit i had a bit of trouble with the paper. thanks for the pictures.

babe

 

[lovergrill]

Excellent tutorial!
Thanks for taking all those great photos, it does make it so much easier to understand.
I can't wait to try it your technique.
I will call the bread a "Valencic Loaf"

 

[Dave Hutchins]

I have baked for a long time and never once thought of doing what you did.
Kudo's for the great set of pics. I am going to do this real soon

 

[Sedagive]

Outstanding post. Thanks!

 

[pacanis]

Yeah, that makes a lot more sense than setting your dough on a floured towel and flopping it into the cooking vessel.

Joe, do you preheat your cooking vessels?

 

[JoeV]

I have baked for a long time and never once thought of doing what you did.

Dave,

I'm a fly fisherman and fly tier, and we do these Step-by-Step photo tutorials all the time as a means of showing people what the fly should look like at each point in the tying process, and to use verbage with the picture to describe any intricate steps. I just applied it to my bread baking hobby.

I have to also say that I was inspired to do this after reading that LadyCook61 is deaf, and could not hear what was being said in the You-Tube video about French Bread, and the video did not have a subtitle for the hearing impaired. I thought about doing a video on parchment paper, but then realized I would have to learn some things in the video editting that I don't already know, and I just don't have time right now to play with it because my business is very busy. This was the next best thing to do for now.

Hopefully I can do more of these this winter when time allows. I believe they are really helpful for many people.

JoeV

 

[JoeV]

Yeah, that makes a lot more sense than setting your dough on a floured towel and flopping it into the cooking vessel.

Joe, do you preheat your cooking vessels?

I'm glad that helped. I used to do the floured towels, then went to plastic wrap lined towels, and I think this is the best way to accomplish what I'm after for handling the dough. There's nothing wrong with the other ways, and you don't have the expense of the parchment sheets, but I think this is just easier.

Yes, I preheat for at least 30 minutes. When I cover the dough for the second proofing, I set the timer on the microwave for 60 minutes, then set the timer on the stove for 30 minutes, which lets me know it's time to preheat the oven. If I don't have two timers going I get sidetracked and forget to preheat the over. It's the old walking and chewing gum thing for me.

JoeV

 

[pacanis]

I'm glad that helped. I used to do the floured towels, then went to plastic wrap lined towels, and I think this is the best way to accomplish what I'm after for handling the dough. There's nothing wrong with the other ways, and you don't have the expense of the parchment sheets, but I think this is just easier.

Yes, I preheat for at least 30 minutes. When I cover the dough for the second proofing, I set the timer on the microwave for 60 minutes, then set the timer on the stove for 30 minutes, which lets me know it's time to preheat the oven. If I don't have two timers going I get sidetracked and forget to preheat the over. It's the old walking and chewing gum thing for me.

JoeV

So you preheat the cooking vesssels, too, like the original NYT recipe calls for?

 

[JoeV]

Yep. I read recently where someone claims that you don't need to pre heat, but I need to look into that more. Right now I have to head out to the jobsite.

 

[Adillo303]

HI Joe - Great thread! I bake a loaf of NYT every week for DW's toast in the morning. With fall combing, I am looking to it for bread to go with Chile and fall soups. I have used parchment almost since I started, last winter. Someone her posted about parchment and said that they always had trouble getting it to "Behave" and lay in the pan well. they, probably in a fit of temper, crumbled it up in a ball, like they were going to throw it out. they then spread it out again and it was much easier to form. This has worked for me quite nicely. I also bale other breads - freeform and in loaf pans, depending on what I am going to use it for. I have a Fibrament stone that is always in my oven, all freeform is stone baked. Anyway, I have not sprayed the parchment with anything and it has never stuck. One time I was not thinking and baked in a cast iron Dutch Oven and put nothing in and the dough did not stick. Go figure. I really liked your tutorial and will keep reading. Thank You

AC

 

[pacanis]

Yep. I read recently where someone claims that you don't need to pre heat, but I need to look into that more. Right now I have to head out to the jobsite.

Thanks, Joe. I was wondering if you did because the two that you show aren't cast iron, so I wasn't sure if preheating them was necessary.

 

[Robt]

My wife started using the parchment paper thing. I was sure thankful because she cooks the No rise in a LaCruse' and I have had to clean it.

After getting totally bent at scrubbing all the brown stuff off by hand on day, it dawned on me that Easy-Off might work. Out to the porch I go with the pan and a spray can of Easy-Off and sprayed gasped at the fumes, left the sprayed pan for a couple hoiurs and hosed it down withsome gentle wiping and presto, Clean!

God, I hate the easyoff fumes, thanks for parchment.

 

[busyfingers]

I'm so glad you took the time to post all these great helps. The parchment idea is just a "super" idea and the pictures are such a good help. I will be able to visualize them as I prepare my bread. Thank you.

 

[JoeV]

My wife started using the parchment paper thing. I was sure thankful because she cooks the No rise in a LaCruse' and I have had to clean it.

After getting totally bent at scrubbing all the brown stuff off by hand on day, it dawned on me that Easy-Off might work. Out to the porch I go with the pan and a spray can of Easy-Off and sprayed gasped at the fumes, left the sprayed pan for a couple hoiurs and hosed it down withsome gentle wiping and presto, Clean!

God, I hate the easyoff fumes, thanks for parchment.

Is this a clay baking vessel? I Googled LaCruse' and could not find any reference to cooking vessels. If it is clay, what you did was to remove all the seasoning (all that brown stuff is also known as seasoning like a cast iron dutch oven), and have now impregnated the porous material with the chemicals in the EasyOff, and I'm pretty sure it's no longer suitable for cooking in. I sure hope I'm wrong, so someone please confirm my suspicions.

JoeV

 

[babetoo]

Is this a clay baking vessel? I Googled LaCruse' and could not find any reference to cooking vessels. If it is clay, what you did was to remove all the seasoning (all that brown stuff is also known as seasoning like a cast iron dutch oven), and have now impregnated the porous material with the chemicals in the EasyOff, and I'm pretty sure it's no longer suitable for cooking in. I sure hope I'm wrong, so someone please confirm my suspicions.

JoeV

i don't think i would use it anymore. though i do use oven cleaner on glass baking things . but they don't absorb anything.

babe

 

[lovergrill]

My wife started using the parchment paper thing. I was sure thankful because she cooks the No rise in a LaCruse' and I have had to clean it.

After getting totally bent at scrubbing all the brown stuff off by hand on day, it dawned on me that Easy-Off might work. Out to the porch I go with the pan and a spray can of Easy-Off and sprayed gasped at the fumes, left the sprayed pan for a couple hoiurs and hosed it down withsome gentle wiping and presto, Clean!

God, I hate the easyoff fumes, thanks for parchment.

Is this a clay baking vessel? I Googled LaCruse' and could not find any reference to cooking vessels. If it is clay, what you did was to remove all the seasoning (all that brown stuff is also known as seasoning like a cast iron dutch oven), and have now impregnated the porous material with the chemicals in the EasyOff, and I'm pretty sure it's no longer suitable for cooking in. I sure hope I'm wrong, so someone please confirm my suspicions.

JoeV

First I can find no info on LaCruse' are you sure it's not a Le Creuset ?
If it is a Le Creuset there should be no problem using the baking vessel again.
Wash it thoroughly with regular kitchen soap and hot water before it's next use.
Le Creuset are built like old fashioned bath tubs and can take anything a cook can dish out even Easy Off!
Althought personally I would not "Easy Off" it again

If it is some sort of clay or terracotta baking dish. I believe you can use it again as well.
They way Easy Off works is to convert fat into a soap and although Easy Off is very smelly, little, if any would have been absorbed and more importantly "bound" by the high temperature kiln fired clay in your dish.
Porosity and the ability to bind a chemical are two separate items.
If you want to be ultra cautious scrub the dish well with plenty of hot soapy water and give it an extra long soaking rinse. Let it dry completely. Then pre-heat the dish in your oven and do a nose test. If you detect any thing "off" in the odor of the heated dish toss it, other wise it should be safe to use again.
This of course is what I would do and is strictly my opinion only.

My apologies for wandering off topic.

 

[Robt]

Is this a clay baking vessel? I Googled LaCruse' and could not find any reference to cooking vessels. If it is clay, what you did was to remove all the seasoning (all that brown stuff is also known as seasoning like a cast iron dutch oven), and have now impregnated the porous material with the chemicals in the EasyOff, and I'm pretty sure it's no longer suitable for cooking in. I sure hope I'm wrong, so someone please confirm my suspicions.

No Joe, this is a misspelling by me. It should be Le Creuset, the colorful enameled cast iron cookware. Sorry for the confusion, I will proof read my own posts better in the future.

 

[JoeV]

Robert,

Thanks for clarifying the name. As lovergrill stated, it's probably no problem since this is an enameled cast iron, and should not absorb any chemicals or odors. I have an enameled cast iron dutch oven that I only use for baking NYT bread, and it looks like a war zone inside, Impossible to clean with conventional cleaners, but that does not bother me in the least. The nastier looking it gets just reminds me of how much good, homemade bread is headed to the table.

JoeV

 

[dave the baker]

Are we talking pre-heating both ovens and cooking vessels?