The Basic No-Knead Bread

Place the flour, salt and yeast in a bowl and whisk to combine. Add the water and, using a rubber spatula or hand, fold the mixture, scraping up dry flour from the bottom of the bowl until a shaggy ball forms (about 30–60 seconds). It should be sticky to the touch. (You may add 1–2 tablespoons more water if needed.) Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set in 72° F. to rise (no direct sunlight or drafts), until more than doubled in size and the surface is dotted with bubbles, between 12 and 18 hours. Lay a 12 x 18-inch piece of parchment paper in a 10-inch skillet and lightly dust it with flour. Or lightly dust a banneton. Transfer raised dough to a lightly floured surface. (It should cling to the bowl in long thin strands when it is ready.) The dough should be loose and very sticky. Knead lightly about 10 times. Using lightly floured hands or bowl scraper, lift the edges of the dough in toward the center, folding them on top of each other. Nudge and tuck in the edges to make a ball. Transfer the ball, seam side down, onto the prepared parchment paper or banneton. Lightly dust the top of the dough with flour. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm, draft-free place until it has doubled in size and does not readily spring back when poked with a finger, about 1–2 hours. About 30 minutes before the end of the second rise, preheat the oven to 475° F. with a covered cast-iron Dutch oven on the lowest rack position of the oven. Remove hot Dutch oven. Slice a 6-inch-long x ½-inch-deep slit along the top of the dough. Using the parchment paper to lift the dough, move it into the hot Dutch oven letting excess parchment hang over the top. Cover the pot and return it to the oven. Or, dump the banneton into a floured hot Dutch oven, slit the top, and return it to the oven. Reduce the heat to 450°F. and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and and continue to bake until the crust is a deep brown, about 20–30 minutes more, or until a thermometer registers 210° F. within. Using the parchment paper, carefully remove the baked bread onto a cooling rack to cool to room temperature, about 2 hours. Notes about start times: first mix start second rise bake ready to eat 4 pm 4 am–10 am 6 am–noon 9 am–3 pm 5 pm 5 am–11 am 7 am–1 pm 10 am–4 pm 6 pm 6 am–noon 8 am–2 pm 11 am–5 pm 7 pm 7 am–1 pm 9 am–3 pm noon–6 pm 8 pm 8 am–2 pm 10 am–4 pm 1 pm–7 pm 9 pm 9 am–3 pm 11 am–5 pm 2 pm–8 pm Makes one boule Lynn Bell