Crusty Bread Recipe – NO Dutch Oven-NO Sourdough!

You guys asked for this and I delivered! Once you make the dough, let it rest for half an hour and I like to do 2 sets of stretch and fold 30 minutes apart, then once you’re done your second session you let it rest about 20 minutes then form it into a “loaf” (you can also do it round) and place it on a lightly floured baking sheet, cover and let it rest an our or so or until doubled. This is when I like to preheat my oven (because mine usually takes an hour to rise) to 450 and I place one of the racks in the center of the oven and another right below it. Place a 9×13” baking pan (metal ) to the bottom rack and let that preheat as well (you want the oven and pan really nice and hot) when ready, lightly flour your bread, score nicely and place it on the middle rack of your oven and immediately add 2.5 cups of water of to the baking dish below and quickly close the door. Bake for 25 minutes, then remove the baking dish with the water and bake another 15/20 minutes or until deeply golden. Allow to cool a bit before slicing into it!

3.5 cups of all purpose flour
2 tsp of sugar
2 tsp of instant yeast
2 tsp of salt
1.5 cups of warm water