Artisan Style Dutch Oven Bread

Ingredients

• 3½ cups All-purpose flour
• 2 tsp Fine salt
• ½ tsp Instant dry yeast
• 1¾ cups Warm water, not hot

Method

1. Whisk the flour, salt, and yeast in a large bowl.
2. Add the warm water and mix until a shaggy dough forms. The water should be warm, not hot.
3. If the dough is too stiff to come together, add a little more water.
4. Cover the bowl and let it rise at room temperature 5–8 hours, until bubbly and well expanded.
5. Heat the oven to 425°F / 220°C. Put the empty Dutch oven, lid on, in the oven for 30 minutes.
6. Turn the dough out and gently knead it into a large ball.
7. Dust the ball with flour and cut 3 or 4 slits across the top.
8. If the Dutch oven is not cast iron, line it with parchment. Set the dough in the pot. The pot is very hot, so use care.
9. Cover and bake 30 minutes.
10. Remove the lid and bake 5–10 minutes more, until the top is browned.

Nutrition

Kitchen estimate only, not lab-verified. A plain wheat loaf. Slice size is the swing.

Guest diet / allergy swaps

Short kitchen notes for guests. A fuller gluten-free or dairy-free ingredient list, when we have one, is in the panels below.

• Low-sodium friendly

  Cut the salt to 1½ teaspoons. The loaf will taste milder, and the rise can be a little less lively. Do not skip salt entirely or the yeast flavor takes over. This is a kitchen note, not a low-sodium diet.

• Gluten-free style

  Use a gluten-free bread flour blend in place of the wheat flour. The rise and the crumb will not match this loaf. Results differ. Read the blend.

• No Dutch oven

  Bake on a preheated sheet pan and cover the loaf with a metal bowl or a second pan for steam. The crust will be lighter.