COOKING BREAD IN DUTCH OVEN RECIPES

Steps:

• In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 1/2 cups/345 grams water and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
• 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 work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, 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 dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is OK. Shake pan once or twice if 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.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine flour, active dry yeast, and salt
• Add the water, and mix until all ingredients are perfectly combined and they form a ball.
• Transfer to a greased bowl and cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap and a moistened kitchen towel
• Let the dough rise in a draft-free place for 18 to 24 hrs. After the 18 to 24 hrs, the dough will look like this:
• preheat the oven to 450F and put a dutch oven inside the oven while it preheats. Baking the bread in a preheated dish makes it crunchy
• Turn dough into a floured surface
• Gently gather the dough into a ball
• Carefully place the dough into a preheated dutch oven and bake, covered for 30 minutes. Remove cover and bake for 15 mins more. Remove from the oven and cool in a rack.