Instructions

Place dry ingredients in bowl, add water and mix until a dough forms. (If you are using active dry yeast, dissolve in 1 tablespoon water, first) Turn out onto a lightly floured board and knead for 5 to 10 minutes, adding a little more flour as needed, to keep dough from sticking to everything.

We use the dough function in our bread machine to do this work.

Place dough into oiled casserole dish and place that in a clean plastic bag, such as a garbage bag. Twist tie the top and place in refrigerator for 12 to 24 hours. This step is unnecessary, but it does change the flavor slightly.

Remove dish from refrigerator and allow it to reach room temperature before proceeding (1 - 2 hours). At this time, dough should be visibly risen.
If it's not, wait longer.

Preheat oven to 500°F. Place an old aluminum pan on the bottom rack and your baking rack on the next level up.

Remove dough from bag and casserole and place on floured board, turning once to coat. Do NOT knead. Using a sharp utensil (bench knife or razor), cut into two pieces, lengthwise. Take a hold of the two ends and twist them (as if you are wringing out a towel) twice. Place on baking tray or cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

To bake, place cookie sheet in oven, pull bottom rack with old pan out and pour about 2 cups of water into it. Bake about ten minutes. Turn oven down to 450°F after that and bake for 25 to 30 more minutes. Remove from oven and cool for 1 hour.

We bake this bread directly on an oven stone. If you do that, the stone needs a good preheat.

Yield: Makes 2 loaves