Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

I tried both the other day! First page in my new blog -

http://idinearound.wordpress.com/

I didn't find a big difference between the two; I liked CI's 'bread sling' of parchment paper, and I think I will use that in the NYT Lahey/Bittman version. I have found that when I made the Lahey/Bittman bread in humid South Carolina once, it was a mess. Almost always the Lahey/Bittman is perfect. When it isn't I think I used the 1 5/8 cups of water instead of 1 1/2 cups plus a tablespoon or so.

No Knead bread is a metaphor for getting into heaven -- it's a lot easier than the high-priests say it is.
I've baked for years according to the rules (there are a lot if them, aren't there), then tried the Lahey method. Except that I kept eliminating steps. Now I do this:
Mix the flour (4 cups), water (2 cups) (cold), 1/4 c starter or 1/4 t instant yeast or 1/2 t Active yeast, 2 t salt. Do this between 3 pm to 8 pm - it will take about 5 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and leave it on the counter.
After anything from 10 to 20 hours, I use a rubber spatula to pull the sticky, holey mess off the sides of the bowl and push/pour it into a covered baking dish (with a shot of Pam to keep from sticking). I have both the clay and ceramic types - no difference. Don't fuss with it much, just get it in there. Put the cover on. Skip the floured cloth and shaping/resting stuff.
Put in a cold or hot oven. If cold, bake at 475 for 40 minutes, then 10 minutes with lid off at 400. Or leave the lid on and baking for 50 minutes/475 degree total. Cool on a rack.
The crust will be chewy and the interior more moist and chewy than store bread (but fully cooked) - that's the way I like it. Lots of holes.
I've used 1 c beer, replacing 1 c water, and added 1 c of 1/4 inch cheddar cheese cubes. Add when you first mix everything.
And I've added 1 c of the cheap parmesan cheese, 1 T of italian spices, 4 cloves of roasted garlic.
This system has lots of forgiveness. And it's soooo simple. I make two batches in the evening in different mixing bowls (ten minutes), then bake in the morning (about 50 minutes including cleanup).
I'm about to start with the Hertzberg method. This is fun finding the real basic to MAKING BREAD; lots of room to play and try to achieve different flavors by tweaking the approaches. And it's GREAT not having so many rules to follow :-)