Making homemade bread is one of my goals for 2018, but it looks like I actually accomplished it a few days early. Making anything with yeast used to seem really complicated to me, but after many years of absorbing Great British Bake Off, the idea has started to feel less foreign. I started with a bread recipe that is famous for being easy, and it definitely deserves its reputation. Even on the first try, it came out super crusty, done on the inside, and it tasted great. Ryan even declared this to be the best bread he’s ever had!

Ingredients

• 430 grams all purpose flour
• 1 gram instant yeast
• 8-16 grams Kosher salt (Note: 16 was overly salty for me)
• 345 grams water (110°)

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, yeast and salt. Add the water and stir with a spatula to combine. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set it in a warm place (70°) to rise for 12-18 hours.
2. After 12-18 hours, scrape the sides of the bowl to loosen the dough and then turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Gently fold the dough over itself 2-3 times. Place on a floured cotton dish towel and cover with a second towel. Return to the bowl. Set in a warm place to rise for 2 hours, until roughly doubled.
3. Preheat the oven to 450° one hour into the second rise. Place a dutch oven with its cover into the oven to preheat for the last 20 minutes of the second rise. (I also added a cup of water to protect my enamel dutch oven.)
4. Line the preheated dutch oven with a large sheet of parchment paper and flip the risen dough onto the parchment paper, seam side up. Cover and place in the oven for 30 minutes. Remove the cover and continue to bake for an additional 25 minutes. The internal temperature of the bread, especially near the bottom of the loaf, should be 209 - 210°. Cool on a baking rack for at least 3-5 minutes before slicing.