MSG Free Dutch Oven No-Knead Artisan Bread
There is something deeply satisfying about pulling a crackling, mahogany-crusted loaf out of a screaming-hot Dutch oven, especially when you know exactly what went into it. This recipe uses just four ingredients — bread flour, instant yeast, kosher salt, and warm water — which means there is zero guesswork about hidden additives or flavor enhancers sneaking into your bread. For anyone navigating a sensitivity to monosodium glutamate, store-bought artisan loaves can be a minefield of ambiguous "natural flavors" and yeast extracts, so baking your own is genuinely the cleanest path forward. The long, slow overnight fermentation does all the heavy lifting in place of kneading, developing a complex, tangy flavor and an open, chewy crumb that rivals anything from a bakery. Scoring the top before it goes into the pot lets the loaf bloom dramatically in the oven, giving you that gorgeous ear and blistered crust that makes a homemade loaf look almost too good to eat. Let it cool fully on a wire rack before slicing — the wait is hard, but the payoff is a perfectly set crumb that holds together beautifully for sandwiches, toast, or just torn apart at the table with good olive oil.
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Learn more →Ingredients
8 servings
- 3 cups bread flour, plus more for dusting
- ¼ tsp instant yeast
- 1 ½ tsp kosher salt
- 1 ½ cups warm water (about 110°f / 43°c)
Instructions
- 1
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the bread flour, instant yeast, and kosher salt. Pour in the warm water and stir with a wooden spoon or spatula until no dry flour remains and a shaggy, sticky dough forms — about 1 minute. The dough will look rough and uneven; that is correct.
- 2
Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap or a plate and let the dough rest at room temperature for 8–12 hours (overnight is ideal), until the surface is dotted with bubbles and the dough has roughly doubled in size.
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