PJ thank you so much for the wonderfully detailed instructions, they definitely take the intimidation factor out of bread baking. I tried a little experiment this week with no-knead, knead, and slow-rise bread. 1) No-knead (this recipe) I was surprised how easy and fast it was. The result was very tasty; the family ate one slice of bread each. 2) Knead (Baking with Julia p 81) This was about the same effort as above, but requires 10min of kneading in a machine The result, the family loved it. The bread was much lighter. My son (3yrs) ate 5 large rolls. 3) Slow-Rise (Baking with Julia p 113) This dough required a starter dough and “feedings” over two days. The result was heavenly: crunchy crust and light inside. Much better than any bakery around here. The kids did not like it as much, but it was the clear favorite of my husband and me. I found that kneading does make a big difference and the slow rise also gives the bread a wonderful taste and texture. I guess there are no short cuts when it comes to bread :0) Actually, I make very tasty no-knead bread with great texture - in my opinion! While hand-kneading develops gluten with physical effort, no-knead bread's long refrigeration develops gluten over time - without the physical input of hand-kneading. It's interesting to see how the bread's texture changes over the course of refrigeration for 1, 2, 3, or up to 8 or 9 days... The long refrigeration also develops bread's flavor wonderfully, due to the yeast's formation of lactic and organic acids - both flavor enhancers. Katrin, I'm glad you did those three experiments, so that you could try different methods and see the results, then choose your favorite. The wonderful thing about baking is there's no right or wrong - just preferences. And we're all free to choose our own. Thanks so much for sharing here - PJH

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