Crusty dutch oven bread

Ingredients

Directions

1. Put bread flour, then water, then salt in a stand mixer bowl. Sprinkle yeast over the surface and let it dissolve for five minutes.
2. Mix with paddle until mixed, then use dough hook and knead until smooth, about 10 minutes
3. Cover with bowl and let it rise for 30 to 45 minutes, until doubled. Dough has done rising when an indent from a finger pressed into it does not spring back.
4. Turn the dough onto a floured surface, and punch it down. Cover with a towel and rest 10 to 15 minutes.
5. Shape the dough into a round, smooth ball by pushing back-and-forth on the floured surface in a circular motion.
6. Put the dough onto parchment paper; the paper should be larger than the dough so that you can lift it into the dutch oven later.
7. Cover with a towel again and rise for the second time, for about an hour.
8. Grease a dutch oven, and place it in your oven. Pre-heat the oven with the dutch oven to 450 C.
9. Once the oven is pre-heated and the second rise is done, slice a shallow “X” into the top of the dough ball.
10. Take the dutch oven out and put it on a safe surface (cold stove, or on a trivet on the counter). Lift the parchment paper and dough, and transfer it into the hot dutch oven. Put the lid on it, and return it to the oven. It’s fine if some parchment paper sticks out of the lid.
11. Bake for 10 minutes at 450. Reduce the heat to 375 and bake another 20 minutes. Remove the lid, and bake it a further 25 to 30 minutes, until deep golden.