Seems to work without it. I think I saw this in a Nigella Lawson recipe. Maybe it has to do with my yeast? I get it in bulk from my local co-op, and I want to say it's called "Active Dry Yeast," but I'm pretty sure I've tried this with the stuff in the package at least once or twice and it's been fine. Also, I don't know if this is relevant, but I'm going for a very sandwich-friendly loaf, so I'm not terribly worried about nice big holes or textured crust (if I were, I'd go the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes route, which produced something much more along those lines, at least for me).