Making Bread On A Boat

This bread recipe has a secret ingredient – an instant-pot. I am not a tidy baker so several years ago I went looking for a no-knead bread recipe for making it on the boat. There are lots out there but the majority of those recipes require 12-24 hours to rise. That is a little difficult to plan around on land, never mind when moving the boat along. Google came to my rescue and produced this wonder.

No knead instat-pot bread

• 3 ½ cups bread (used all purpose) flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
• 1 ¼ teaspoons white sugar
• 1 ½ cups warm water (110 to 115 degrees F/43 to 46 degrees C)
• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

• parchment paper
• cooking spray
• 3-quart instat pot
• 3-quart dutch oven

1. Place flour and salt into a bowl.
2. Combine yeast and sugar in a medium bowl; add water (105-110 degrees F) and stir once. Let stand until yeast has bloomed and bubbled up slightly, about 5 minutes.
3. Lightly coat  a large square of parchment paper with oil. 
4. Add oil to water and yeast
5. Add the yeast mixture and oil to the flour mixture, and stir until incorporated and a shaggy, slightly sticky dough is formed. Add water if dough is too dry. Put dough on the parchment paper, put the whole thing into the instant pot. Close and lock the lid; seal vent. Select Yogurt function, normal pressure; set timer for 4 hours. Dough might be ready a bit earlier or take a bit longer
6. Dough is ready when it has doubled in size and has tiny bubbles on the surface.
7. Form into a ball. Then return dough to sheet of parchment and cover with a bowl. Allow to rest until slightly risen, 30 to 40 minutes while oven comes to temperature
8. Place Dutch oven with a lid in the oven, and preheat to 425 degrees F (check the temperature as this seems high 400 might be better) for 30 minutes.
9. Carefully remove Dutch oven from the oven. Cut slits in loaf top and sprinkle with spices or sesame seeds or flour if desired. Transfer dough into pot using parchment. Cover and return to the oven. Bake for 30 minutes. Uncover, and bake until golden brown and crusty, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer loaf to a cooling rack; let cool completely before slicing.

The Instant-pot is also used to cook potatoes, perfect pasta and rice, hard boil eggs, make yogurt and sour cream. Fulling the boat rule that everything aboard must have more than one use.