This is a great bread for the wood oven as it is cooked within a heavey pot so the temprature is easier to control, other breads need a bit more knowlage of how your ovens heat works.

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Ingredients:

• 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting. You may use white, whole wheat or a combination of the two.
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• Flour for dusting

Method:

1. 1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in water.


2. 2. Add the flour and salt, stirring until blended. The dough will be quite sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rest for 12 to 18 hours, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.


3. 3. After the18 hours the surface of the dough should be bubbly. Place dough on lightly floured work surface. Sprinkle a small amount of flour over the dough and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let it rest for about 15 minutes.


4. 4. Using just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to the work surface or to your fingers, gently shape it into a ball.


5. 5. Generously coat a clean dish towel with flour. Put the seam side of the dough down on the towel and dust with more flour. Cover with another towel and let rise for about 1 to 2 hours. When it’s ready, the dough will have doubled in size and will not easily spring back when poked with a finger.


6. 6. At least 20 minutes before the dough is ready, heat a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in the wood oven. When the dough is ready, carefully remove the pot from the oven and lift off the lid. Slide your hand under the towel and turn the dough over into the pot, seam side up. Give the pan a firm shake help distribute the dough evenly.


7. 7. Cover and bake for 30 to 40 minutes depending on where in the oven you place the dough, i find just inside the dough keeps the pot around the 300C mark. Remove the lid and bake another 15 to 20 minutes, until the loaf is beautifully browned. Remove the bread from the Dutch oven and let it cool on a rack for at least 1 hour before slicing or like I do cut a crust off within 10 minutes and slaver it with butter and eat.

As with all cooking in a wood oven it is trial and error as the heat is different in every oven, my first few tries I put the pot to far in to the oven and either ended up with a black ball or a solid lump of dough as the heat had put a crust on it while the lid was on and then sealed all the moisture inside.

I also like to add things to the bread at step 3 when you fold it, I like to add sun-dried tomatoes, roasted pumpkin, onion or cheese. I do find that if we only have sun-dried tomatoes in oil, it is best to add them while making the dough.