No Knead Bread

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This bread is very easy and incredibly good.
I recommend searching on NY Times for "No Knead Bread" and you can see a video and recipe if you're interested. I bought the book about it. You need a pot to bake this in - mine is not quite right because it is tapered and so it's hard to get the bread out of - but anything with a lid. Terracotta, glass, pottery, whatever. You preheat the pot first so that it's like an "oven within an oven". If you like reading about bread you can borrow my book haha.

3 cups (400g) bread flour (all purpose works)
1 1/4 tsp table salt
1/4 teaspoon instant, or active dry yeast
1 1/3 cups cool water
wheat bran, cornmeal or additional flour for dusting

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, salt and yeast. Add the water and, using a wooden spoon or your hand, mix until you have a wet sticky dough, about 30 seconds. Make sure it's really sticky to the touch, if not mix in another tablespoon or so of water (I found I needed a good 3 or more in addition, maybe because it's so dry out). Cover the bowl with a plate, tea towel or plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature, out of direct sunlight, until the surface is dotted with bubbles and the dough is more than doubled in size. This will take a minimum of 12 hours, and up to 18. The slow rise is key to flavour.

When the first fermentation is complete, generously dust a work surface (a wooden or plastic cutting
board is fine) with flour. Use a bowl scraper or rubber spatula to scrape the dough onto the board in one piece. hwne you begin to pull the dough away from the bowl, it will cling in long, thin strandes (this is the developed gluten) and it will be quite loose and sticky - do not add more flour. Use lightly floured hands or a bowl scraper or spatula to lift the edges of the dough in toward the center. Nudge and tuck in the edges of the dough to make it round.

Place a cotton or linen tea towel on your work surface and generously dust it with wheat bran or cornmeal or flour. Fold the ends of the towel loosely over the dough to cover it and place it in a warm, draft free spot to rise for 1 to 2 hours. The dough is ready when it is almost doubled. If you gently poke it with your finger, making an indentation about 1/4 inch deep, it should hold the impression. If it doesn't, let it rise another 15 minutes.

Half an hour before the end of the second rise, preheat the oven to 475 degrees with a rack in the lower third position, and place a covered 4.5 to 5.5 quart heavy pot in the centre of the rack.

Using pot holders, carefully remove the preheated pot from the oven and uncover it. Unfold the tea towel, lightly dust the dough with flour or bran, lift up the dough either on the towel or in your hand and quickly but gently invert it into the pot, seam side up. The pot is hot!

Cover the pot and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove lid and continue baking until the bread is a deeper colour, about 15 to 30 min more.

Let it cool completely before cutting into it - usually takes about an hour.

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