Ingredients
- 14 oz Cool water
- 1 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/4 tsp Dry yeast (instant or active dry)
- 3 1/2 cups Bread flour
Instructions
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 with plastic wrap and place in a warm, draft-free location to proof for 8 to 24 hours.
After the long proof, spray the bottom bread pan (8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inches or 9 x 5 inches) 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 bread pan.
Cover the bottom pan with the top pan, secure with binder clips, and place the covered pan in a warm, draft-free location to proof for 30 minutes.
Before the dough is fully proofed, move the oven rack to the lower third of the oven and preheat to 400°F.
When the dough has proofed and the oven has come to temperature, place the covered pan in the oven and bake for 40 minutes with the top on.
Remove the pan from the oven, remove the top, return it to the oven, and bake for an additional 3 to 15 minutes to finish the crust.
Remove from the oven, gently turn the loaf out onto a work surface, and place it on a cooling rack.
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