Easy Crusty Bread

Step 1: In a large bowl, mix 3 cups of flour, salt and yeast with a wire whisk. Pour in all the water and mix with a rubber spatula until it all completely mixed together. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit on counter for 12-18 hours. It will look rather runny and will be very sticky.

Step 2: Preheat oven to 450° F. Put a cast iron or heavy dutch oven/with lid in the oven as it preheating. Let it heat up for a good 25-30 minutes to give the dutch oven a chance to get very hot. Remove the dutch oven from the oven, leaving the lid on for the time being.

Step 3: Put quite a bit of the extra flour on clean work surface and flour your hands well. Pour the dough out on the floured work surface, sprinkle flour on top of the dough and work it into a ball. Continue to add flour to your hands to handle the dough, as it will be very sticky.

Step 4: With a paper towel covering a pot holder (so you don't get dough on pot holder), remove lid from dutch oven. Place dough ball in dutch oven, being very careful as it will be VERY HOT. Return lid, and bake 30 minutes. Remove lid and bake an additional 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and remove bread from pan with a skillet spatula and cool completely on a wire rack.

Step 5: As with all crusty bread, after it's stored in a plastic bag, it won't be crusty anymore, but it will crisp up when toasted.