Method
What you do
Make the dough- in a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt,
sugar and yeast together until mixed well. Stir in the water until a
chunky, thick, craggy dough forms. If it looks a little dry, add a
couple more tablespoons of water, you need just enough to bring it
together.
You will have a rough, quite open textured mixture as opposed to a
smooth dough, but this is fine.
Cut a sheet of baking parchment, pop onto your work surface,
brush with sunflower oil and scrape the dough onto it. Form it
into a rough round shape, cover with a clean, lightly oiled bowl
and leave for 12-18 hours.
Prepare to bake- When you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to
240c/220fan/gas 8. Choose a large dutch oven, Le Crusset, cast iron
pot with a lid, or a Pyrex casserole dish with a lid. Preheat in the
oven for about 30 minutes. At this point, the dough should be
aerated, puffy and quite loose, with lots of little bubbles in it.
Generously flour your work surface, and scrape the dough onto it.
Gently shape it into a ball with flour on the outside, set back onto
the parchment, cover with a clean cloth while your pot heats up.
BAKE: Remove the cloth from the dough and carefully lift the
dough and parchment together into the pan so the parchment
lines the bottom of the hot pan and pop the lid on- (PLEASE USE
PROTECTIVE GLOVES!) Bake for 30 minutes, then remove the
lid and bake another 25-30 minutes so the loaf forms nice golden
brown and crispy finish. Carefully remove the loaf, lift onto a
cooling rack, leave for 5 minutes, then reach for you favourite
Caste Dairies butter