Vern's Basic No Knead White Bread

Mixing ingredients in a bowl (1 loaf)

4 cups white flour

2 tsp salt (or less for dietary purposes)

3/8 tsp dry yeast (a heaping 1/4 tsp works)

2+ cups of warm (100 deg) water (start with 2 cups and add about 1/4 to 1/2 cup more to make a sticky dough)

Proofing

Cover with a lid and wrap in a large bath towel.

Leave at room temperature for about 8 to 12 hours (even 16 hours).  Dough should rise to at least double its volume, have a lot of big bubbles, appear stringy and still be sticky.

"Punch" down or otherwise disturb the dough by transferring it into a foil pan as a round loaf.

Let rise again for an hour or so and then bake.

Baking

Preheat 10" dutch oven to 425 deg.

Place loaf/foil pan into dutch oven and cover.

Bake covered at 425 deg for 30 minutes.

Remove dutch oven lid.

Bake uncovered at 400 deg for another 15 minutes.

Remove loaf from dutch oven and foil pan and place on cooling rack.

Interior temp of the loaf should be about 195 deg and sound hollow when you thump the bottom.

Practical Points

I have (2) 10" dutch ovens and a cast iron griddle.  I take the top rack out of the kitchen oven and put the bottom rack as low as I can. I use the griddle under the dutch ovens they have legs that would otherwise tangle in the rack.  I usually bake two loaves at a time.  I believe you can use any covered oven-safe pot or casserole dish in lieu of the dutch ovens.

Baking with the lid on retains steam that forms a thicker crust.  Finishing with the lid off converts that to a crisp crust.

I usually mix a 2-loaf batch in a large bowl and do a little kneading in the bowl using a big spatula .  The batch often rises enough to blow the lid off and creep out during the 12-hour rise.  I then use the spatula to scrape the lid and sides of the bowl and to separate the dough into loaves for the second rise.  I use foil pans for this so I can transfer to the hot dutch ovens without disturbing the risen dough.  I try not to work the dough any more than that.

Using warm water accelerates the first rise. However water over 115 deg may kill the yeast.

If in the second rise the dough expands enough to spill over the edge of the foil pan, I lift and fold the bulging edges up and over onto the top of the loaf but otherwise try not to disturb the dough.  I put the foil pans on the lids of the mixing bowls and the bowls upside down over them for the second rise... also covered by the towel.  This keeps a humid environment so the dough doesn't dry out and keeps the towel off the sticky dough.  If I need a little heat to speed up the second rise, I place the loaves on the stove top, tented under the towel while preheating/baking in the oven.  Even after the second rise, the loaf is still sticky and fluid or jelly-like in consistency.

I reuse the foil pans my dinner comes in at Costa Vida.  When the rims are straightened out to make a deeper pan, they conform nicely to my 10" dutch ovens.  I put a round piece of parchment paper in the bottom of the pan and spray the sidewalls.  The loaves fall out of the foils quite easily after coaxing the sidewall off with a butter knife.  I can reuse the foil pans and parchment paper many times over.

I usually garnish a white-bread loaf with sesame seeds just before I put the loaves in the preheated dutch oven.  However, sometimes I sprinkle sesame on the parchment before placing the dough on it to get a little more flavor in the bottom crust and garnish the top at the beginning of the second rise hoping the seed will stick better.

A slow rise (12 hours/less yeast as opposed to 1 hour/more yeast) eliminates kneading and develops a little sourdough flavor.  To enhance the sourdough characteristic, I have substituted a tbsp or two of vinegar (usually with some milk) for water in the mix.  I've tried more but it retards the rise making a denser loaf.

The bread is always better toasted.

I started this baking adventure following the directions at "artisanbreadwithstev" on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/artisanbreadwithstev