My gosh, no matter what I do, I cant get my no knead bread to resemble any sort of shape. It just turns out to be a blob of dough. The only thing i can think to do is to punch it down and then reshape it immediately before putting it in the dutch oven after the second rise. Thanks for any help! I'm at my wits end--the results are delicious and pretty, but dont have a great shape!
it after the first rise and then gently but firmly shape it and let it proof in a rice floured basket until ready for the heat. I like to let mine final proof in the fridge overnight - but it is a SD. It might over proof if yeast.
You could try something like this video > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUwyeXCV8D8. I think it's pretty good though I definitely don't agree with her comment about knocking all the air out of it! You don't want to do that. But folding the dough into the middle, around and around, is a good start. I would probably do this, then turn it out onto a floured surface and tuck it a little more firmly into a ball, like Ken Forkish does here > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPdedk9gJLQ. The whole video is useful, but the actual shaping starts around the 2 minute mark.
The difference between a "blob" and a nicely-rounded lump of dough is the internal tension. This can be tricky to achieve with wet dough. When handling the dough, you need to work quickly enough that it doesn't stick too much to your hands, the bench or the bench scraper. You need to have flour in the right places, and not in the wrong places!
I like to use a bench scraper for pre-shaping, and use the fact of the dough wants to stick to the bench to my advantage. If there's flour on the bench it won't stick and the technique will not work. After a few seconds of pre-shaping with the bench scraper, the development of tension in the dough seems to make it less sticky.
The best demonstration of shaping I think is Chad Robertson's demo here at the 2:30 mark. His dexterity is astonishing. But Mac McConnell of SFBI breaks the technique down with a detailed explanation here.
I put my bread into proofing baskets and into my bread fridge at 42F for an hour or two. It stiffens the dough. I take it out when the oven temp has reached the desired level, put on my peel, slash and put in the oven immediately. After loading the loaves I steam with a heavy metal roasting pan which I put in the oven along with my stone during preheat. A cup of water or less on the hot pan generates nice steam for about 5 -6 minutes. Hope that might help.
Big Crusty
What flour are you using? I had the same problem until I changed to King Arthur flour.
Are you using the basic no knead recipe? 3 c flour, 1/2 t dry yeast, 1t salt, 1 & 1/2 c water.
When it's time to bake it, I use scrubber spatula to bring dough into floured surface. I flatten dough with my floured fingers, the fold it. Then I turn it seam side down, slightly shape into a ball. Lay it on parchment and then place in the hot cast iron pot (that's been preheated.
Mine were blob like until I changed to KA flour.