no knead bread

I assume you are baking it in a covered dutch oven?

I bake mine at 500 degrees in a covered dutch oven for 25 minutes, then lower the temperature to 400 and cook uncovered for about 30 minutes more. I check the internal temperature and remove it when it hits 195-200 degrees.

I like my bread very crusty but not too hard. I have found these times produce the bread that I like. You can reduce the covered cooking time to make the bread less crusty.

You can also take a stick of butter and rub the top of the loaf after you take it out of the oven. This will soften it up also.

Roger