Ingredients
- 3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
- 1/4 tsp instant yeast
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed
How to Make It
In a large mixing bowl combing flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until well blended. The dough will be shaggy, sticky and very wet looking. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18-20, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees. The microvwave is a nice warm and out of the way place to let this rise happen.
Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.
Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to your work surface and fingers, gently and quickly shape the dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton dishtowel with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another dishtowel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready the dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
At least a half-hour before the dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6 to 8 quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel or ceramic) in the oven as it heats. When the dough is ready, carefully remove your pot from the oven. Slide your hand under the dishtowel and turn dough over into the pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is just fine. Shake the pot once or twice if the dough is unevenly distributed.; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack. Wait one hour to cut as this makes for a lighter crumb.
