In a large glass bowl add the water, sprinkle the yeast on top of the water. Let it sit for 2-3 minutes until the yeast blooms and the water turns cloudy. (See photo)

Add 3 cups of the flour on top of the water and sprinkle the salt on top of the flour. (You never want to let the salt and yeast mix directly, it could kill the yeast).

Stir with a wooden spoon until fully combined. The dough will be super sticky when combined. Place a large plate that is big enough to fully cover the top of the bowl on top.

First Rise- Leave the dough in a warm place and let it rise for 12 hours or more.

For steps 5-8, DO NOT USE FLOUR. The dough will be extremely sticky, but it will be workable with your fingers. Remember to be gentle with the dough, being too rough or working the dough too much will make the air bubbles pop and the bread might turn out dense.

When the first rise time has elapsed, carefully peel the plate off the top of the dough. The dough will likely have attached to the plate. If there is a lot of dough on the back of the plate, rub it in a circular motion to remove it and place the extra dough in the bowl.

Second Rise- Now, using your fingers only, peel the dough away from the sides of the bowl first. Wiggle your fingers under one side of the dough, pull up slightly and fold it into the center. Work around the bowl in this same fashion until the dough resembles a rough round loaf. Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap and let sit for 1 hour.

Third Rise- Repeat step 7 and let the dough rise loosely covered for another hour.

Shaping and Fourth Rise- The dough is now ready to shape! Place a large piece of parchment paper on your work surface and dust generously with flour. Very gently turn the dough onto the parchment paper and gather into a loaf form. Do this by pulling up the sides of the dough to the middle of the loaf and pinch together. Use extra flour as needed, but be careful not to destroy the fermentation bubbles in the dough.

Gently roll the dough over on the parchment paper so the “seam” side of the loaf is on the bottom.

Once your dough is shaped into a loaf. Pick up the loaf by the sides of the parchment paper and place in a large bowl or colander to begin the last rise. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise for one more hour.

For this recipe, the dutch oven (or whatever dish you are using) needs to be preheated before the bread is baked. To do this, place your dutch oven (empty) into the cold oven and let the oven preheat to 425°F, after oven has preheated, leave it for 15 extra minutes.

Carefully remove the heated dutch oven from the oven. Remove the plastic wrap from the top of the dough, and using the sides of the parchment paper, lift up the loaf of bread and place it into the dutch oven. Cover with the lid and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes has elapsed, remove the lid and bake the bread for an additional 20-25 minutes. Until the crust is a deep golden brown color.

Remove the bread from the oven and very carefully use the parchment paper to transfer the loaf to a cooling rack. Slide the parchment paper out from underneath the bread and let the bread cool. Keep in mind that parchment paper becomes dry when it is baked, and it will rip or tear easier. Make sure that your cooling rack is close by when making the transfer of the loaf to the cooling rack.