Dutch Oven Bread--reposted

Wow, smithalicious has sure been slow lately.  My excuses explanations are:
1.  When I do make something new, it doesn't turn out amazing.  Like tonight's dinner.  Baked french toast sticks.  Sounded yummy, looked yummy, tasted....ok
2.  You can't mess with the best. Most of the recipes I make are off of this here blog.  Like Montery Chicken and Potatoes and Jelly Roll Sugar Cookies and Lemon Chicken Pasta.  I could go on and on.
So I have this idea that I will try to follow through with.  Sometimes when you make a recipe a lot you find ways to tweak it a little so that it is easier and better.  Sometimes I might re-post a recipe just like it is so that we can re-highlight some of our favorites.

One of these recipes is Vera's Dutch Oven Bread.

I have wanted one a dutch oven like she uses in this recipe for a long time, but they are a little pricey.  I recently found one for half off so we splurged and got it!  We love this bread and it is so stinking easy!  But I am really lazy sometimes have really busy afternoons that require me to have dinner ready at a specific time without being being home much.  So I cut out a few steps to make it just a little easier without sacrificing any taste.  It only dirties one pan and a wooden spoon.  You can't ask for better than that!  Vera also includes an option for using cracked wheat, so make sure to check out her post, also!
Marie

6 CUPS BREAD FLOUR

1/2 TEASPOON YEAST (yes, teaspoon)

1 TABLESPOON SALT

2 1/2 CUPS WATER

2 TABLESPOON VINEGAR

Do NOT use a mixer. Just mix above ingredients together in your dutch oven with a large spoon until the dry flour is all folded in and then cover the bowl with plastic wrap or your lid and let it sit out on the counter for at least 12 hours. After it has sat for at least 12 hours, allow for another 3-4 hours before you would like to eat the bread so you can do the following:

Remove the dough from the dutch oven and knead the bread lightly by punching the dough down and fold it over a couple of times and then shape into a ball.

Grease your dutch oven and wipe off any dried dough that might be stuck to the pan, (You can see in the picture I skipped this step, I won't do that again, it was a pain to clean!) then place the dough back into the greased dutch oven.  Cover it with plastic wrap or your lid (I crack it open just a little) to keep the dough from drying out. Let the dough rise for about 2 hours (I have let it go for at least 3 hours).

Preheat your oven to 425-degrees.

 

Remove the plastic wrap or lid from the dutch oven; slightly score the top of the dough with a sharp knife.

Bake for 30 minutes, covered. This will force the steam from the dough to remain in the Dutch oven and create a thick, chewy sourdough crust.

 
Remove the lid and bake for about 15 minutes at 425 degrees. This will harden the crust and create a golden brown color.

Immediately remove from pot and cool on wire rack for one hour before cutting.