No Knead Rustic Bread

DOUGH PREP: In a large mixing bowl add 3 cups all-purpose flour or bread flour. If all you have is bleached flour, then use it. If you have bread flour, use it.

Add 1/2 teaspoon instant yeast.
(Note: IF you do not have instant or Rapid-rise and you only have regular active dry yeast, THEN proof the yeast before you use it by mixing the yeast with 1/4 cup warm water. Let it set for 5 minutes then mix the yeast in with the water).

Add 1 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt to the flour. If you only have table salt, you may want to reduce the amount of salt by 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon. Stir the dry ingredients together.

Stir/whisk until a chunky, thick dough forms. Don’t over mix. If it needs a little more water, add a few more tablespoons, just enough to get it barely wet throughout. It’s not gonna look pretty but its ok. Cover the mixing bowl with plastic wrap and let it rest for 12-18 hours at room temperature. Overnight is ideal. Dont worry abt the time proofing. I Prepared my dough 8pm. Baked the next day, noon.

At this point, the dough should be big and puffy and pretty loose, with little bubbles in it. Gently scrape the dough out onto a well-floured surface. Note: the dough is super sticky, dont be tempted to add more flour. IMPORTANT: Do NOT Knead the dough. Just Flour your hand and gently smooth the dough. Gently form the sticky mass of dough into a round ball.

Look closely at the dough and you will be able to see a large air bubble in the lower right side of the dough. That’s good. We don’t want to knead out the large air holes. We are making artisan bread and want many large air holes.

BAKE: Remove the plastic from the dough. Lift the dough and parchment together into the pan so the parchment lines the bottom of the hot pan (be careful not to touch the pan since it’s very hot). Bake, covered, for 30 minutes. Remove the cover and bake another 10-15 minutes to get the exterior nice and golden brown and crispy. Done.

Alternatively, you can also try adding flavours to the bread.