Recently Jim Lahey of Sullivan Street bakery came up with an idea that has taken home bakers to the extreme, baking in pots, forsaking time and method of the  traditional baker, perhaps even falling in line with the idea that living fast means baking fast? We live in a multimedia world that needs some slowing down even in food! I steadfastly was dead set against the gimmicky idea of “hey look do nothing and you get a better loaf, even a four year old can do it!”, and stayed the traditonalist, ok I lied I  was broken and gave into the hysteria! My mates down under in Oz and  others in the bread forum world chided my pig headed attitude and more out of curiosity I gave in on a whim! The method prescribed is a no knead, straight dough(yeast) and is pretty much idiot proof! Though I did use a levain, purist snob that I am, but followed the videos simple instructions, and voila!

Pot baking

Safe to say that there is a certain quality that makes the bread look like a commercial loaf, but I think that it lacks the feel of a bread that is baked on a hearth,that  needs kneading(no pun intended) and a long fermentation, as well the recipe wasn’t a sourdough one for obvious reasons. I guess I could try again if I wasn’t so biased just I think I would rather feel the dough, fold it, pre-shape and go through the  motions of real bread baking, a time honored tradition.But who am I to say or judge, try it you may like it?