Artesian Bread

Ingredients

• 3 cups lukewarm water
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons granulated yeast
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons salt
• 6 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour (I used 1/2 all purpose 1/2 bread flour)
• (cornmeal for pizza peel - optional)

Instructions

1. In very large bowl, add your flour, yeast and salt. Pour in water and stir until combined, just a few minutes.
2. Cover your bowl with foil or greased plastic wrap for 2-5 hours.
3. Divide dough into 3 loaves (I did 1 big 1) with a knife. Cover each loaf with flour and form into a ball.
4. Lay onto baking sheet with silicone baking mat or onto pizza stone sprinkled with cornmeal. Let dough rise for about 30 minutes or so. (I used dutch oven)
5. With sharp knife, slash the top of each loaf into 3 lines or a criss-cross pattern. (This helps let out some steam in the dough. If you don't slash your bread, it will most likely make it's own tear while cooking.
6. Preheat oven to 450 degrees and add a small pan or dish filled with 1 cup of water on lower rack for water bath. Bake for 30-35 minutes.
7. Place on baking rack to cool!

Notes