Best Bread I Ever Made (So Far)

I wanted to bake my own bread for quite some time now. I go through phases like that. I start making my own yogurt. I experiment with making my own skin care products. I get obsessed with some sort of plant or animal. Most of the time, our relation stays superficial. I can tell you a lot about how to set up a fitness routine, but after a few months of consistently running three times a week, I just got tired of it. I took best care of my orchid for quite some time, now it doesn't exactly thrive. I am known to order books in the libary to learn something new, and once they arrive, I'm already interested in something else.
But bread baking and I, we entered into a different phase in our relationship. At least that is what I hope. I feel too old for this short affairs, I need something longer lasting.
I can't remember our first date, but I can certainly recall that our relationship did not have a completely smooth start. There were some hard loaves, too much whole grains, but we've come to a place where it just feels right.
This loaf feels right. He's doesn't raise false expectations with a sparkly exterior (although I think it looks really appealing), isn't all dressed up in fancy seeds or perfumed with garlic, butter, or herbs, but I'd say he is the right loaf to share the rest of your life with.



The Perfect Loaf

Notes: I combined a few techniques that I found on the internet. The recipe isn't mine, so I have to send you over to the original. You will need a heavy pot with a lid to bake the bread in. I don't have a Le Creuset pot, but use something made of clay (I guess). This method is more or less the Jim Lahey way of baking his bread, but I haven't checked the recipe since last spring, it is here. I remember that I found the resting time of the dough in his recipe to not go with my schedule and it just required to many resting times. This combined recipe requires little time to make the dough, only one resting time after the first rise and still makes the crust I loved of the Lahey bread.

Prepare the dough as it is outlined in the above link. (I have found that when I use their measurements, I have to use an additional cup water for the 6 1/2 cups of flour. Just try it with the 3 cups requested and let the pictures guide you to see whether you need to add more water.) After the longer first rise, let it rest in the refridgerator at least over night.
Take it out of the fridge, dust it with some flour and then cut off a piece of dough. I never measured it, but just used about 1/4 of the dough. Form into a ball and let it rest for about an hour. Preheat the oven and the pot you want to bake the bread in to 450°F/230°C. Once the oven is hot and the hour over, take out the pot, place the dough carefully in the pot, place the lid on and put in the oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes, and remove the lid after about 10 minutes.
Let the loaf cool down on a cooling rack before you slice into it. Enjoy!

Notes:
♥ You don't have to use any parchment paper here as long as the pot you bake the bread in is really hot when you put the dough in.
♥ You can also use part whole-wheat flour, I tried it with 1/2 and it worked out beautifully.
♥ This makes a great bread to eat with soups etc, but might be not to great for sandwiches, it has quite large holes.
♥ I also baked this bread in a cake spring form with a round baking tray as a lid, that worked out fine, too.