No-Knead Bread: A Simple Method From King Arthur

No-knead bread needs little active work and no special equipment beyond an oven and a baking sheet or stone. This guide follows King Arthur Baking’s no-knead crusty white bread, which the company named its 2016 Recipe of the Year. It makes three or four loaves, with about 5 minutes of hands-on time and 5 hours 35 minutes in total. We have not baked it; check the original for the full recipe.

Ingredients

The recipe uses 900 g (7½ cups) unbleached all-purpose flour, 680 g (3 cups) lukewarm water, 18 g (1 tablespoon) table salt and 14 g (1½ tablespoons) instant or active dry yeast. The page says to measure flour by weight if you can, because the flour-to-water ratio matters. Lukewarm means about 105°F, and merely comfortably warm water is fine.

Mix and chill

• Combine everything in a large bowl or a 6-quart food-safe bucket and mix to a very sticky, rough dough. A stand mixer takes 30 to 60 seconds on medium; by hand, use a sturdy spoon or dough whisk.
• Let it rise at room temperature for about 2 hours, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours. It keeps up to about 7 days in the fridge, and you may skip the room-temperature rise and refrigerate right away.
• The dough will rise and then fall, which is normal. Longer chilling gives a tangier flavour, and the page says that after a week it tastes like sourdough.

Shape and rest

• Dust the dough with flour, grease your hands and pull off a 400 to 540 g piece, about the size of a large grapefruit.
• Shape it loosely into a ball or log, with no need for perfection. Place it on parchment or a greased sheet, dust with flour and cover.
• Rest about 60 minutes, or up to a couple of hours in a cool kitchen. The dough spreads more than it rises.

Bake

• Heat the oven to 450°F, with a baking stone on a middle rack if you have one.
• Put a shallow metal or cast iron pan, not glass, Pyrex or ceramic, on the lowest rack and have 1 cup of hot water ready.
• Slash the loaf two or three times, about ½ inch deep. It may deflate a little but will spring back in the oven.
• Put the loaf in, pour the hot water into the pan to make steam, and close the door quickly. Bake 25 to 35 minutes, until deep golden brown, then cool on a rack.

Variations and storage

• Bread flour: it gives a thicker crust and a less open crumb. King Arthur prefers all-purpose for texture, and says to add about 2 teaspoons of water per cup of bread flour.
• Whole wheat: up to half the flour can be whole wheat, with about 2 teaspoons of extra water per cup of it.
• Other uses: the dough can also be made into sandwich rolls or pizza crust. See our pizza dough basics for a related approach.
• Storage: keep leftover bread in a plastic bag at room temperature.

The page lists a 4.7 out of 5 rating from 1,463 reviews and was updated on February 3, 2026. It describes baking on a stone or pan with a water pan for steam; other methods, such as a covered Dutch oven, are not covered on that page. Ovens vary, so go by colour as well as time.

Sources

• King Arthur Baking: No-knead crusty white bread

Like our coverage? Add food.xplorely.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our stories in Top Stories.