Bake it on a cookie sheet. It will be more like the original that way than if baked in a loaf pan. Form the loaf, let it rise on a cookie sheet that's been sprinkled with cornmeal or flour, then bake.
Here is a suggestion from Rose Levy Beranbaum's The Bread Bible. If you don't have a baking stone, put a second cookie sheet upside-down on the oven rack while the oven preheats. Then put the sheet with the bread on there and bake it. Not the same as a stone, but it does give a little extra push from the bottom heat.

You won't get the same results panning the bread as using a stone. However, if the dough is really wet and loose, you'll still get an open (holey) texture to the crumb, but probably not as open as using a stone.

You'll need to slash the dough so the loaves don't shred or blow-out the side. Add steam to the oven in order to get that crunchy crust. You will want to bake the bread to at least 200-210-degrees F. (check with an instant read thermometer).

If you do pan the dough, you need to scale (weigh) your dough so you have the proper amount in the pan or you'll chance under- or over-proofing the dough.

--2+ pounds dough - 10x4-1/2-inch pan

--2 pounds dough - 9x5-inch pan

--1.5 pounds dough - 8-1/2x4-1/2-inch pan

--1 pound - 7-1/2x3-1/2-inch pan

Another choice would be to bake these "rustic" breads in a covered stone baker (La Cloche).

I like using these because they are "self-steaming" and I don't have to mess with a cast iron pan in the bottom of my oven and adding boiling hot water to it to add steam to the oven for maximum oven-spring and that crispy crust.

Covered stone bakers don't require as high a temperature as a stone - 400 to 450-degrees F - which may also be a plus for some people.

I have both the round and elongated versions of the covered stone bakers.

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: Sassafras Superstone La Cloche

Grainlady,

Your post helps me understand the principles behind Jim Leahy's (NY Times) no knead method which I have used a few times. It has the following in common with what you describe:

- wet, loose dough

- baking in a closed container (covered casserole)

Is the absence of kneading important to that method? Less gluten development maybe? Or is it done that way just for simplicity?

Jim

-

Or....fix yourself a cheap baking stone. Get plain, unglazed terracotta tiles from the home (Depot, Lowe's) store and line your bottom oven rack with them, usually two rows, three to four tiles on each row depending on how large your oven is. Line them up close together and touching. Be sure to leave an inch or two of clearance on the outer edges for air circulation. Leave them in there all the time if you want. Or, put them in before you heat up the oven to bake bread or pizza. If one cracks, it is easy and cheap to replace it.

Teresa

For the longest time I used a very large unglazed terra cotta flower pot saucer as a low cost baking stone. (I soaked it thoroughly, let it dry, and then seasoned it similarly to how I would cast iron in the oven a few times before I started using it.) It cost about $5, and was entirely satisfactory.

Recently I switched to the smooth side of a Lodge Logic cast iron griddle.

jimster -

Gluten is like a sponge and develops from the long soaking of the well-hydrated dough rather than the physical manipulation of mixing or kneading - and is just another method used in bread making.

As the experts say, "wetter is better" when you want those large holes in the crumb. It's a completely different method than when you make a panned loaf of sandwich bread where you want a close, almost cake-like crumb. Neither is right or wrong, just a choice.

A close, almost cake-like crumb (sandwich bread for instance) is beneficial for slicing and holding spreads (mayo, etc.) and wet ingredients on the surface, rather than dripping through the holes and falling apart when you pick it up and hold it in your hand.

A slightly-open crumb is best for toast. Those holes hold butter and jam so very well.

When you add your fat to a recipe (before or after gluten develops) will help determine whether you have a cake-like texture, or a more open texture, but that's another discussion....

For making English Muffins, a wet dough is what gives the crumb those lovely holes that aid and abet the retention of butter and marmalade we spread on them. I keep a bowl of water handy to dip my hands into while kneading in order to keep the dough well-hydrated for making English Muffins. I'd never add flour during kneading when making English Muffins or I'll miss achieving the characteristic holes.

There are recipes where you add crushed ice during kneading, it slowly melts to contribute to the hydration of the dough throughout kneading. (I've never tried it, just read about the technique.)

The less manipulation you do of the dough for an "Artisan" loaf, the more bubbles of gas there are to hold the dough open during the oven-spring and baking time. You don't deflate the risen dough by punching down as you would for other breads. Just simple folding and gentle handling to maintain the gas bubbles.

It's perfectly okay to knead dough for a few minutes, then cover it and allow it to sit for 10-15 minutes, then finish kneading. That rest allows the gluten to relax and absorb the moisture.

When I make bread by hand I do as much gluten-development in the bowl as possible while adding the dry ingredients to the wet. Add a little flour and beat the "dickens" out of the mixture. Most people fail to spend enough time mixing, and then have to spend a lot of time kneading. After I've mixed the dough with a Danish dough whisk about 500-beats, I'll take a rest for 10-15-minutes and let the long strands of gluten I've developed soak up the hydration before finishing it. I may have 800-1000-beats total during mixing - or until I can't beat it by hand any longer. That's another way to develop gluten. If hand-mixed dough is a shaggy mess when it's tossed out on the counter/board to knead, then there was a failure to do a good job mixing.

The lidded container used for baking holds steam in (generated from the dough itself); and the steam helps to slow top crusting, whether in the lidded container or steam added to an oven. If you mist the bread towards the end of baking, the moisture evaporates in the hot oven and dries the surface of the bread for that hard crust. For an even harder crust, you can mist it several times near the end of baking.

Free, hopefully useful, information: ;-)

-Using milk instead of water in a bread recipe will produce a softer crust.

-Baking breads at lower temperatures (325-350-degrees F) creates a thicker, chewier crust.

-Baking breads at higher temperatures (375-425-degrees F) produces a thinner, crispier crust.

Heck, there are even cold oven methods for baking bread - you don't preheat the oven at all.

It's all about choices....

-Grainlady

Jazmynsmom, Of course! That's brilliant. I have many types of griddles; I would only have to pick the shape or size. Thanks for the hot tip.

Grainlady,
I have a recipe for no-knead bread, that you let sit for 18 hours, then bake in a cast-iron dutch oven. That's a project I'm wanting to do as well. I love your knowledge about breads, flours and yeasts.

Jazmynsmom, that's a great tip! I have a griddle/grill!

jasdip - do you have one of the heavier dutch ovens - like Le Creuset. There is a recipe that was featured in the NY Times a couple of years ago that was a rustic loaf baked in a dutch oven.

The Le Creuset dutch oven may not be suitable for the NYT No-knead method. A blazing hot oven is required, which may damage the plastic knob on the lid.

I have used a stoneware casserole for a round loaf and, for a baguette, a stainless steel fish poacher.

Jim

Here is a link that might be useful: NYT No-knead Bread

Mine is an oval Kitchen-Aid Dutch Oven.
The pot and lid are oven-safe to 500 degrees.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchen Aid Oval Dutch Oven

Le Creuset sells metal replacement knobs for $10 for just this bread baking. Others have replaced the knobs with steel hardware from the hardware store. Yes LC pots are used for the Lahey/Bittman NYT no-knead bread.

That's good to know, westy. I don't have LeCreuset but my son does and he would like to make no-knead bread in it. I'll pass that info along to him. Thanks.

Jim

Jimster, OOOOh, let me clarify. LC has cast iron and a pottery/ceramic/something other than cast iron. The cast iron is used for no knead bread but I do not know if the other LC material is ok. I would like to know about the non cast iron material as the cast iron is so heavy for me. westy

Westy, on another forum, a member regularly makes her no-knead bread in her clay baker (preheated).

Thanks, Jasdip

I have been using paving tiles as a sub for baking stones for years.. so long that they are just plain ugly looking anymore.. lol But they work well...

I also have the terra cotta tiles from Home Depot for my baking stone. They pretty much live on the bottom shelf of the oven. Occationally they get food stains and look terrible, so I just replace them.

I can't quite bring myself to cook bread directly on something I can't wash with soap and water. My solution is to put the dough on a piece of parchment paper and slide that onto the stone. The effect is the same as far as I know. This works well for rustic boules and pizza crust.

Another bonus of these tiles is that you can wrap one in a dish towel and place it in the bottom of the bread basket to keep dinner rolls warm.

Awesome ideas here.
I have a cast-iron griddle, grill pan. A sheet of parchment on top, and I'll be good to go! Thanks!

The terra-cotta tiles sound fantastic as well. They'd be cleaner. :)