No Knead Artisan Crusty Bread

Don't judge the book by its cover. Well, in this case.. don't judge the bread by its beautiful crust. 

I have been looking at no knead bread recipes for days and secretly salivating looking at all the crusty breads. There are so many varieties, all with different flavours and calling out for me "Make me, eat me!!". Whats more they are no knead!!?? What are you waiting for?? Oh.. I need a pot, yeah that's why. 

So I had chosen this recipe from Simply So Good and it requires some sort of an oven proof pot/ dutch oven/ etc. in order to bake this bread. And all I have is the normal baking tins, which I don't think is suitable because there is no lid and I'm not sure how to cover it with foil so that the steam stays within. 

Then I found this cheap and oven proof enamelled cast iron pot. Immediately I grabbed it although the size is pretty small, not 5 quarts for sure (which is required by the recipe). And I'm also not sure what the knob made of, whether it will be oven proof. 

To be safe, I removed the knob and stuck the hole with aluminium foil so that the steam won't come out. Everything went well, the bread rise beautifully. Yeast had done its job (pat on yeast back). 

Happily put the pot into the oven to reheat. To my horror, the pot couldn't fit in!!! Are you kidding me? This is already a very small pot and still, the lid is hitting the top heating rod. Can't even go in. 

The show baking must go on. So I smartly place the pot to the lowest rack and let it reheat for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, I placed the bread into the pot, covered the lid and let it baked for 30 minutes. 30 minutes later, opened the lid, placed the pot to middle rack for the crust to brown. 

It looks so beautiful when it is done as you can see. 

Here comes the don't judge the bread by its crust part. When I sliced the bread, the inside was undercooked! Sigh. I was so disappointed. How can it be??

Then I remember my lousy oven, the culprit. Seriously, invest in a good and reputable brands if you can afford. Otherwise, you may have to deal with many of this heartbreaking moments. I forgot that my oven only has a maximum temperature of 180C, although the dial is showing 250C. The temperature required for this recipe is 450F. So logically, I should bake longer. No wonder my bread is undercooked.

I believe if I got the time and temperature right, the bread will turn out fantastic. See all the holes? And the gluten is well developed. I will try this again soon, for sure! 

Nevertheless, it's good for photography. Hubby said the bread is good, very chewy. He finished half of the loaf I think. Weird taste he has.