Staff of Life

No stories needed...just the facts. 4 ingredients. Simple directions. Be a hero!
Making and Storing the Dough In a mixer or in the a big plastic container, add the following in order:
3 cups lukewarm water (around 100 degrees) – a little warmer than body temp.
1 ½ TBSP granulated yeast – don’t worry if it doesn’t all dissolve but you can mix it a bit
1 ½ TBSP kosher salt (or other coarse salt)
6 ½ cups unsifted unbleached all-purpose flour (or bread flour) – measure each cup by scooping it and sweeping the top with the back of a knife to get a perfect, unsifted, unpacked cup of flour
Mix it all together (with a wooden spoon or in a mixer) – no kneading necessary. Put the wet dough into a plastic container (big enough for it to at least double in size). Cover it with a lid (not tight) and let it rise for about 2 hours. You can do it for 5 hours and it won’t harm the result. Put it in the fridge until you’re ready to bake. Baking Day
Grab a grapefruit-sized piece of dough (you can dust the top with flour and use a serrated knife – I used to do that now I just wet my hands and grab a hunk)
Stretch the surface around to the bottom on all four sides – the bottom will look like a collection of bunched ends (don’t worry, it’s ARTISAN) J
This should take about 30-60 seconds
Let the loaf rise on a baking tray or pizza peel for 40 minutes.
At 20 minutes, preheat the oven to 450 and put an empty broiler tray at the bottom of the oven.
Once preheated, dust the top of the loaf with flour and put some creative slashes in it using your serrated knife.
Pop it in the oven and put 1 cup of hot water in the bottom broiler pan and quickly close the oven door to trap the steam.
The recipe says bake for 30 minutes but I always do it for 35 and it comes out perfect.