No Knead Bread

No Knead Bread

3 cups all purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
1/4 tsp instant yeast
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
cornmeal or wheat bran as needed

1. In a large bowl, combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
2. Dough is ready when it's surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.
3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotten towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
4. At least a half hour before dough is ready, heat over to 450 degrees. Put a 6-8 quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess but that is ok. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover wtih lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15-30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cook on a rack.
Yield: One 1 1/2 pound loaf.