No-Knead Artisan Bread

By Mom_s

Ingredients

• 3 cups lukewarm water
• 1 tablespoon granulated Quick yeast
• 1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons Kosher Salt
• 6 1/2 cups All-purpose Flour

Preparation

Step 1

1. In a 5-quart bowl or lidded Food Storage Container, dump in the water and add the yeast and salt.
2. Dump in the flour all at once and stir with a Danish Dough Whisk, which is a tool that makes the job even easier, but you can also use a long handled wooden spoon or even your stand mixer.
3. Stir until all of the flour is incorporated into the dough, it will be a rather wet, rough dough.
4. Put the lid on the container, but do not snap it shut. You want the gases from the yeast to escape.
5. Allow the dough to sit at room temperature for about 2 hours to rise. DO NOT PUNCH DOWN THE DOUGH!
6. The dough can be used right after the initial 2-hour rise, but it is much easier to handle when it is chilled.

Shape and bake the bread:

1. Dust surface of the dough with a little flour, just enough to prevent it from sticking to your hands when you reach in to pull a piece out.

2. Cut off a 1-pound piece of dough using kitchen shears and form it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom.
3. Allow the dough to rest on a pizza peel covered in cornmeal or parchment paper for about 60 minutes.
4. Preheat the oven to 450°F with a Baking Stone on the center rack, with a metal broiler tray on the bottom (never use a glass vessel for this or it will shatter).

5. Cut the loaf with 1/2-inch deep slashes using a serrated knife.
6. Slide the loaf onto the preheated stone and add a cup of hot water to the broiler tray. Bake the bread for 30-35 minutes or until it is a deep brown color.

7. Allow the loaf to cool on a rack before slicing.