2019 … try a different version that takes much less time here.
3 cups flour
1 1/3 tsp salt (1 3/4 tsp kosher salt)
1/3 tsp dry yeast
1 3/4 cups water, 110°
Flour combination that I like:
145 gr whole wheat flour
55 gr ground oats
200 gr unbleached white flour, or bread flour
Mix all ingredients together to form a shaggy dough. Cover the bowl and let rise in a warm place for 12-18 hours.
After 12-18 hours, place a heavy pot (2.5 quart size), with lid, into the oven. Preheat to 425° F.
Prepare your work surface with a generous amount of flour. This dough is VERY sticky, and you don’t want to completely deflate it. Carefully (with a floured spatula) turn the dough out onto your floured work surface. Fold, like a letter, into thirds. Then, as if to fold into thirds the other way, roll the dough into a ball, then turn seam down on the floured surface.
Cover the dough with a generous dusting of flour, then with a clean kitchen towel until the oven finishes pre-heating.
When the oven is fully heated, CAREFULLY remove the pot and take off the lid. Add a circle of parchment paper to the bottom of the pan to keep the crust from getting too dark. Carefully scoop up the ball of dough and put it, SEAM SIDE UP, into the pot. Replace the HOT lid and put the HOT pot into the oven. Bake for 30 minutes with the lid on, then remove the lid and continue baking until the loaf is golden brown: another 14-15 minutes.
When the loaf is done, do not cut into it for at least 30 minutes.
Note: original recipe calls for a hotter oven (450) but in my pan, the bread ended up with a blackened bottom crust.
For a sandwich-loaf:Use 1/2 tsp yeast. Bake in a well-greased pan (line with parchment paper) for 30 minutes at 380°. Test with thermometer to 208°. 2023