Easiest 4 ingredient Country White Bread (Dutch Oven)

Pour the cool water into a 3- to 4-quart glass mixing bowl.

Add the salt and yeast and give it a quick stir to combine.

Add the flour. Stir until the dough forms a shaggy ball, scraping dry flour from the sides of the bowl. Tumble the dough to combine the moist flour with the dry flour.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, place on the counter, and proof for 8 to 24 hours.

After the long proof, spray an 8-inch proofing skillet with nonstick cooking spray.

"Degas, pull and stretch": stick the handle end of a plastic spoon into the dough and stir. The dough will form a sticky ball. Scrape the sides of the bowl to get the remainder of the dough into the sticky dough ball.

Roll the dough out of the bowl into the proofing skillet.

Place the proofing skillet in a warm, draft-free location, cover with a lint-free towel, and proof for 30 minutes.

Before the dough is fully proofed, move the oven rack to the lower third of the oven. Place the cast iron Dutch oven in the oven and preheat to 450°F.

When the dough has proofed and the oven has come to temperature, carefully remove the Dutch oven. Transfer the dough from the proofing skillet to the Dutch oven and shake gently to center.

Bake for 30 minutes with the lid on, then 3 to 15 minutes with the lid off, depending on how rustic/hard you like the crust.

Remove the Dutch oven from the oven, gently turn the loaf out onto a work surface, and place it on a cooling rack.