No-Knead Bread Lab · Decision tree
Find your no-knead bread
Two questions sort all 136 recipes into 4 groups. Each question is about one of the ingredients recipes disagree on most, and splits the recipes in front of it at their own median, so each answer keeps about half of them. Every group ends with its median recipe in grams and the real recipes nearest it.
The questions
Question 1
More yeast than most, or less?
Very little yeast and 12 to 18 hours is the original method; faster versions use more yeast and a warmer rise.
All 136 recipes: median 0.4% of the flour weight, 1.5 g per 400 g of flour; middle half 0.2% to 1.2%; 6% use none.
Question 2
More water than most, or less?
A wet dough is what lets time do the kneading: gluten forms on its own over the long rest.
All 136 recipes: median 79% of the flour weight, 315 g per 400 g of flour; middle half 73% to 84%.
Asked within each answer to question 1, split at the median of the recipes that gave it.
The key
Read left to right: pick an answer to question 1, then one of the answers beside it for question 2, and so on to a group. Each cell gives the answer, its bound in grams per 100 g of flour, and how many recipes give it.
The 4 groups
Each median recipe is the median of every ingredient over the group's recipes, scaled to 400 g of flour, beside the typical loaf of all 136. Bold rows are the ingredients the questions asked about.
Group A · 32 recipes · 23% of all
More yeast and more water
Yeast over 0.4% and water over 79% of the flour weight.
| At 400 g flour | Group A | All |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 400 g | 400 g |
| Water | 345 gabout 1 1/2 cups | 315 g |
| Salt | 7 g | 8 g |
| Yeast | 5 g | 1.5 g |
| Fat | none | none |
Bake450°F (230°C) for about 30 minutes, the medians of the 28 recipes here that state a temperature and the 32 that state a time.
Nearest the middle of group A
Closest to the group's median on every ingredient at once.
- pain sans pétrissage · mesinspirationsculinaires.comyeast 1.1% · water 80%
- Pain sans pétrissage ou baguette magique · cuisineaz.comyeast 1.1% · water 80%
- No-Knead Bread (Boule) · thepioneerwoman.comyeast 1.7% · water 85%
- Easy No-Knead Sourdough Flavor Bread · kingarthurbaking.comyeast 0.9% · water 80%
- Everyday Artisan-Style Crusty Bread (No-Knead) · siftandsimmer.comyeast 1.6% · water 89%
Group B · 33 recipes · 24% of all
More yeast and less water
Yeast over 0.4% and water 79% or less of the flour weight.
| At 400 g flour | Group B | All |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 400 g | 400 g |
| Water | 300 gabout 1 1/4 cups | 315 g |
| Salt | 7 g | 8 g |
| Yeast | 6 g | 1.5 g |
| Fat | none | none |
Bake450°F (230°C) for about 30 minutes, the medians of the 25 recipes here that state a temperature and the 27 that state a time.
Nearest the middle of group B
Closest to the group's median on every ingredient at once.
- Pain sans pétrissage, version thermomix ! · ptitchef.comyeast 1.1% · water 74%
- No-Knead Crusty White Bread · kingarthurbaking.comyeast 1.6% · water 76%
- Kürbiskernbrot ohne Kneten · bettybossi.chyeast 1.4% · water 76%
- The Almost-No-Knead Baguette · kingarthurbaking.comyeast 1% · water 71%
- No knead bread · laurasbakery.nlyeast 0.7% · water 78%
Group C · 35 recipes · 25% of all
Less yeast and more water
Yeast 0.4% or less and water over 79% of the flour weight. 4 of the 35 use no yeast.
| At 400 g flour | Group C | All |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 400 g | 400 g |
| Water | 335 gabout 1 1/3 cups | 315 g |
| Salt | 8 g | 8 g |
| Yeast | 1 g | 1.5 g |
| Fat | none | none |
Bake450°F (230°C) for about 30 minutes, the medians of the 34 recipes here that state a temperature and the 35 that state a time.
Nearest the middle of group C
Closest to the group's median on every ingredient at once.
- Bauernbrot ohne Kneten · bettybossi.chyeast 0.2% · water 84%
- Pain paysan sans pétrissage · bettybossi.chyeast 0.2% · water 84%
- No-Knead Bread · loveandlemons.comyeast 0.2% · water 84%
- The Easiest No Knead Baguette Recipe · biggerbolderbaking.comyeast 0.2% · water 84%
- Mehrkornbrot ohne Kneten · bettybossi.chyeast 0.2% · water 82%
Group D · 36 recipes · 26% of all
Less yeast and less water
Yeast 0.4% or less and water 79% or less of the flour weight. 5 of the 36 use no yeast.
| At 400 g flour | Group D | All |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 400 g | 400 g |
| Water | 285 gabout 1 1/4 cups | 315 g |
| Salt | 8 g | 8 g |
| Yeast | 1 g | 1.5 g |
| Fat | none | none |
Bake450°F (230°C) for about 30 minutes, the medians of the 31 recipes here that state a temperature and the 33 that state a time.
Nearest the middle of group D
Closest to the group's median on every ingredient at once.
- Le pain sans pétrissage · chefsimon.comyeast 0.3% · water 70%
- Best No Knead Bread Recipe · acouplecooks.comyeast 0.4% · water 72%
- No Knead Bread aus dem gusseisernen Topf · kuechenchaotin.deyeast 0.4% · water 73%
- No knead Bread - Slow Baking - Brot ohne zu Kneten · marcelpaa.comyeast 0.2% · water 75%
- Pane senza impasto o no knead bread · chiarapassion.comyeast 0.1% · water 70%
How the questions are chosen
Each ingredient is ranked by how much recipes disagree on it: the width of the middle half of recipes (25th to 75th percentile) divided by the median, less 4% for each place it sits down this lab's list of ingredients, so the ones that define the dish win near ties. For no-knead bread the order is yeast (2.50) and water (0.14), and the first 2 are asked. Salt is never asked about: recipes differ on it mostly by brand and taste. Fat is left out because most recipes use none.
Every split is at the median of the recipes in front of it, rounded to the percentage shown. Recipes exactly at the median go to whichever side leaves the two halves more even. No answer may keep fewer than 5 recipes; a group that could not be split further says so.
The recipes listed under each group are the 5 nearest its median on every ingredient at once, each scaled by how much recipes vary on it. Every recipe page links to the original for the method.