To knead or not to knead, that is the question [closed]

In order for dough to bake into nice bread, you must develop a gluten structure that can trap the gas the yeast release as they feed on the flour. You can do this in several ways:

• Mechanical action (kneading)
• Natural fermentation through yeast

There risks to overdoing it in both cases. If you overknead, see Are there any negative effects to kneading bread dough longer?

If you overferment (overproof) the dough, the yeast will break down the gluten structure completely and you will have a saggy/gloopy mess that can't contain the escaping gas. See this post.

Many doughs can't develop a good gluten structure without at least some mechanical action, so we typically use a combination. Allowing a natural fermentation (particularly with wild yeast or starter) allows for a more flavorful, easier to digest bread as well.

The difference in taste would not be attributed to kneading or not kneading, it would be because of the additional time that allows for more flavor development from the flour. You could slow proof a kneaded loaf of bread to achieve the same results. As far as gluten development you can read the answer to this Question.

No-knead bread works and can be very flavourful. Instead of relying on kneading to work the gluten, you rely on self-organising by increasing the hydration ratio to around 65-70%, you have a very gloopy dough. It takes time. So, there is a real risk of over-fermenting unless you let it rise at unusually low temperature. I have tried leaving a covered dough outdoors overnight (<10C) which worked well, and also in a warm room which ended up not so well (off-flavours and dense bread). This is well worth a read NY Times article

update:

I forgot to mention low dosage of yeast

Main differences: 65-70% hydration ratio, low yeast, ferment in a cool place.

There is a bakery in Lincolnshire in northern england that uses 24 hour fermentation

I have found 4 factors that are most important to a good bread -

1. water to flour ratio (hydration)
2. temperature at which you rest it
3. kneading of the bread
4. how long do you rest it

The recipe you are talking about says no kneading, it is definitely possible to get good bread without kneading but then the other 3 factors become really important.

You have a risk of gloopy dough will might lead to over fermentation and under cooked bread. 12hrs should be a good enough time but you have to make sure you dont use too much water and also make sure the place where you rest the bread is cold enough otherwise you will get dense and funky tasting bread.

Hope this helps! Cheers