Bread doesn’t have to be hard to make, this is pretty foolproof as long as you use a cast iron dutch oven, 5 quart round dutch oven works best.
4 cups flour (plus extra flour for dusting)
2 cups water
½ teaspoon yeast (don't use instant yeast, you want this to rise slowly)
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoon olive, vegetable, or canola oil (for coating)
The day before:
Mix all of the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Add water
and incorporate by hand or with a wooden spoon or spatula for 30 seconds to 1
minute. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough
rest 12-18 hours at room temperature (approx. 65-72°F). I have gone as long as 24 hours resting with no problems.
Next day, at least 4 hours before you want to eat the bread:
Remove the dough from the bowl and fold once or twice. Let the dough rest 15 minutes on the work surface. Next, shape the dough into ball.
Coat medium bowl with olive oil and place the dough in the bowl. Make sure you oil the bowl or it will be difficult to tip into the dutch oven.
Cover the dough with a cotton towel and let rise 1-2 hours at room
temperature, until more than doubled in size. I usually let it rise for 2 hours and preheat the oven and dutch oven after 1 1/2 hours.
Preheat oven to 450°F. Place cast iron dutch oven with lid in
the oven at least 30 minutes prior to baking to preheat. Once the dough has
more than doubled in volume, remove the pot from the oven and tip the dough into
the pot. Cover with the lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove the lid and bake
15-20 minutes uncovered, until the loaf is nicely browned.
This is the hard part of the recipe. As good as it smells
when it comes out of the oven, do not cut into it for at least an hour! The
bread will still be baking after it comes out of the oven and if you cut it too
soon it will get gummy. Unless of course
you want to eat the whole loaf right away, which believe me you will want to
do!
