Jim Lahey's No-Knead Bread

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Instructions

1. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, yeast, and salt. Add the water and mix with a spoon or your hand until you have a shaggy, sticky dough. It will be a little sticky.
2. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a towel and set it aside to rest at warm room temperature (but not in direct sunlight) for at least 12 hours and preferably about 18 hours, and even longer in wintertime. You’ll know the dough is ready because its surface will be dotted with bubbles.
3. Flour your work surface. Turn the dough onto the surface in one boule. The dough will cling to the bowl in long, thread-like strands and it will be quite loose and sticky. This is exactly what you want. Do not add more flour. Instead use lightly floured hands to gently and quickly lift the edges of the dough in toward the center, effectively folding the dough over onto itself. Nudge and tuck in the edges of the dough to make it round. That’s it. Don’t knead the dough.
4. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran, or cornmeal. Place the dough, seam side down, on the towel and dust the surface with a little more flour, bran, or cornmeal. Cover the dough with another cotton towel and let it rise for about 2 hours. When it’s ready, the dough will be double in size and will hold the impression of your fingertip when you poke it lightly, making an indentation. If the dough readily springs back when you poke it, let it rise for another 15 minutes.
5. An additional method can use parchment paper between the top towel and the loaf. This will facilitate turning it over directly into the pot in the next step.
6. A half hour before the dough is done with its second rise, preheat the oven to 450°F (232°C). Adjust the oven rack to the lower third position and place a 6- to 8-quart Dutch Oven in the oven as it heats.
7. When the dough is done with its second rise, carefully remove the pot from the oven and uncover it. Also, uncover the dough. Lift up the dough and quickly but gently turn it over into the pot, seam side up, being very careful not to touch the pot. Cover the pot with its lid and bake for 30 minutes.
8. Remove the lid and bake until the loaf is beautifully browned to a deep chestnut color, 15 to 30 minutes more. Use a heatproof spatula or pot holders to carefully lift the bread out of the pot and place it on a wire rack. Don’t slice or tear into it until it has cooled, which usually takes at least an hour.
9. Most breads are finished baking at about 190°. Breads enriched with butter, eggs, or milk are finished when the internal temperature is closer to 200°. You can use an internal thermometer to check for doneness. However, King Arthur Flour suggests that, "some breads — baguettes, for instance — need to reach a higher internal temperature to be fully baked. And some bakers argue that large, dense/hearty whole grain rounds should be baked to an internal temperature of 205°F to 210°F, in order to ensure they're completely baked at the center."