MIX: The night before you plan on baking the bread, combine the water (see notes), yeast, flour, and salt in a large bowl. Stir together using a wooden spoon or a dough wand until the dough comes together without any flour pockets remaining. Loosely cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 12-18 hours at room temperature.

SHAPE: When you’re ready to bake the loaf, lightly flour a clean work surface and dump the dough out onto it. Turn the dough onto itself once or two times to smooth it out. If it’s very wet or tacky, you can add a small pinch of flour to help it, then shape it into a circular lump. Place on to a piece of parchment paper with the seam side down. Lightly flour the top of the dough ball, score the dough using a knife, and cover it with a bowl or plastic wrap and allow the dough to rest for 35-45 minutes. While the dough is resting, preheat the oven.

PREHEAT: Position a rack in the center of the oven (depending on the size, you may need to remove a rack to accommodate the dutch oven) and place a covered dutch oven on the rack. Preheat the oven to 450ºF with the empty dutch oven inside. Give the oven at least 30 minutes to heat if you don’t have an oven thermometer set up to where you can check the internal temperature. When the oven has preheated, carefully remove the dutch oven using oven mitts. Lift the lid, set aside, and carefully place the parchment paper (and the dough ball resting on it) inside the dutch oven.

BAKE: Cover with the lid, and using mitts, transfer it back into the oven. Bake the bread for 30 minutes. Then, remove the lid from the bread and continue to bake it for an additional 12-15 minutes or until the crust of the bread is golden (longer for a dark golden, and more crispy bread; less time for a light golden and softer center.) Remove from the oven, and carefully lift the parchment paper and place it on a wire cooling rack. Allow the bread to cool for at least 45-60 minutes before slicing!