Kefir Bread Recipe (No Yeast, No Kneading) (2024)

FAQs

Can dough rise without kneading? ›

This is a process called passive gluten development, and it's the magic behind many no-knead doughs.” That's why most no-knead recipes include a long, slow rise — the dough needs time to fully allow the gluten to develop.

Mix flour, baking powder, and salt together in a bowl; stir in milk and olive oil until a soft dough forms. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead 10 times. Shape dough into a ball; cover with an inverted bowl and let sit for 10 minutes.

Fermenting bread without yeast is a traditional method of making bread rise using natural fermentation instead of commercial yeast. This process involves capturing wild yeast and bacteria from the environment to create a sourdough starter, which is then used to leaven the bread dough.

Vinegar – I use my homemade apple cider vinegar but any vinegar will do, it helps create a better texture in no-knead bread recipes.

No-knead bread is a method of bread baking that uses a very long fermentation (rising) time instead of kneading to form the gluten strands that give the bread its texture. It is characterized by a low yeast content and a very wet dough.

A failure to knead dough (unless you're working with a no-knead recipe) can lead to: Poor gluten development: When you don't knead bread, the gluten won't form properly. This can result in a lack of elasticity and strength, meaning your final product is likely to come out of the oven dense and heavy.

Pioneers used both corn meal and wheat flours for bread. They baked bread in cast iron bake kettles set in the coals of the open hearth. Pearlash, eggs, saleratus, an early chemical leavening preceding baking soda, and home-created yeast starters were used to leaven bread.

Unleavened bread is any of a wide variety of breads which are prepared without using rising agents such as yeast. They already appeared in prehistoric times. Unleavened breads are generally flat breads; however, not all flat breads are unleavened.

Unleavened bread, or bread without yeast, is a typical Jewish food, the name derives from the Greek azymos (without yeast) which in Jewish becomes mazzah, and it is the symbol of the Passover that recalls the Exodus from Egypt: it was the bread of the fugitives because it was quickly prepared by the fleeing Jews.

If you want to successfully substitute the yeast called for in a recipe, you just need to swap in the right amount of baking soda and acid to make the dough rise. You can use lemon juice, buttermilk, or milk combined with an equal part of vinegar as your acid. Add all the ingredients according to the recipe.

Which flour is best for fermentation? ›

Whole wheat and rye flours provide more nutrients for your starter and ferment more actively, but working with rye flour makes starter maintenance easier than whole wheat. Rye provides increased fiber and nutrients similar to whole wheat flour, but because of its lower gluten amount it's much easier to stir.

Instead of using yeast to make the bread rise, quick breads rely on other leavening agents like baking soda and baking powder to get height. "Quick breads, like banana bread, zucchini bread, and cornbread are delicious and easy alternatives to yeast-based bread and can satisfy cravings in a pinch," says Tyler Lee.

Apple cider vinegar, on the other hand, is an acidic liquid and does not have the leavening properties needed to make dough rise. It won't contribute the same gas and fermentation process that yeast provides.

You can also use plain white (distilled) vinegar, but you might need to add a splash of lemon juice for flavor, since distilled vinegar doesn't have much flavor of its own apart from acidity.

The purpose of kneading any dough is to develop gluten, and incorporate micro bubbles into the mass of the dough which will inflate during proofing and baking. The more a dough is kneaded, the tighter and more regular a baked loaf's crumb will become. Sandwich breads are kneaded more.

Your no knead bread will not rise if: You add no yeast or starter containing wild yeast. You yeast is dead or your wild yeast starter is not sufficiently viable. You add waaaaay too much salt to your dough.

Sometimes, that agitation isn't required: In no-knead breads, the gluten development is achieved with hydration and rest, proving you don't always need to knead. You can tell your gluten has been properly developed when it comes time to shape your dough.

These dry patches won't stretch during rising to develop an elastic dough, resulting in a dense, squat loaf – not something you want! For best results, use a non-porous, tight fitting cover such as a saucepan lid, bowl cover or even a sheet pan laid on top of the bowl, weighted down with something.