No Knead Four-Grain Pot Bread

This pot bread utilizes a combination four types of grains: cornmeal, rolled oats, rye flour and all-purpose or bread flour so it has a very interesting texture. It is a rustic, crisp-crusted pot bread, that has a light color and a subtle, grain taste that goes with most anything.

This Four-Grain Pot Boule is from Kneadlessly Simple by Nancy Baggett.

It is a very easy bread which requires no kneading, but takes a couple of days to make due to the longer fermentation time needed to develop the flavor and texture of the bread. Even though the entire process takes two days, don’t let that scare you…it just requires a little bit of planning to allow for the longer rising times. The dough is resting (fermenting) for most of that time.

I started the process yesterday and finished the loaf today.  I enjoyed making this bread. Nancy’s process is similar to the other no knead baking process, but she uses ice cubes which I find very interesting. My pot was a bit big for the bread, but it worked okay. I stuck a skewer in it to make sure it was done.

The loaf tastes good warm with butter but it cuts better when cooled.  I like the bits of grains speckled throughout the crumb.

If you want to maintain the crisp crust, store in a large bowl draped with a clean tea towel or in a heavy paper bag. Or store airtight in a plastic bag or foil. The crust is a little too crunchy for me so I plan to store it in a plastic bag so the crust will soften up a little.

Happy Baking!
Cathy