Mix all together with a big spoon until you can’t use the spoon anymore then wet your hands and squeeze the dough through your hands for about 2 minutes moving the bowl round and round as you go.

All you are doing is combining the ingredients. The dough strength will come later in the folding process. Keep your hands wet. When finished cover it with plastic wrap and let it stand for 30 minutes.

Wet your hands now for the tuck and fold. Reach in and pull the dough over itself. Pull it up until it is about to break. Do these nine or ten times. Then do the slap and fold six or seven times You are trying to make the dough into a nice tight round ball.

After another 30 minutes repeat the folding as mentioned above. This will make the dough nice and robust. Wrap the bowl in plastic and leave it to ferment for one more hour.

After that hour the dough should look bubbly and alive and really buoyant.

(STEPS TO TAKE THE BREAD TO THE NEXT LEVEL)

Now shape the loaf by pulling and tucking three or four times. Then create tension by rotating and pulling the loaf across the board. Then grab opposing sides and do a criss-cross tuck repeating three or four times then flip it over. Then create tension again by pulling and turning the dough across the board.

Leave on the counter in a large bowl lined with a floured kitchen cloth for 30-50 minutes to rise.

Bake on method 1 if you want to divide the dough.
Or, bake on method 2 below for a huge boule loaf.

BAKING TIMES/ TEMPS

METHOD 1
Preheat Dutch Oven to 250°C for 30-40 minutes.
Bake at 250°C covered for 12min.
Remove cover and continue at 240°C for 8-12min.

METHOD 2
Preheat Dutch Oven to 250°C for 30-40 minutes.
Bake at 250°C covered for 18 minutes.
Remove cover and continue at 240°C for 25-30mins.