Master Recipe from The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking:
3 cups (1 1/2 pounds) lukewarm water (you can use cold water, but it will take the dough longer to rise. Just don’t use hot water or you may kill the yeast)
1 tablespoon granulated yeast ( you can use any kind of yeast including: instant, “quick,” rapid rise, bread machine, active dry, or fresh cake yeast*. We’ve always tested with Red Star Yeast and they have a new premium product called PLATINUM, which has worked beautifully in our recipes. You can also decrease the amount of yeast in the recipe by following the directions here. Or you can bake with a sour dough starter, see instructions here.)
*If you use cake yeast you will need 1.3 ounces.
1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons Morton Kosher Salt (adjust to suit your taste or eliminate it all together. Find more information here)
6 1/2 cups (2-pounds) all-purpose flour (we’ve always tested our recipes with Gold Medal flour. If you use a higher protein flour check here)
Mix until moistened. Cover and allow to raise for 2 hours then refrigerate. Do not punch down!
Baking Day: Form a softball size loaf and allow to rest on parchment paper for 40 minutes. Dust with flour and score. Bake on center rack with a baking stone 450 degrees (slide in on parchment paper). Pour 1 cup of water in broiler pan beneath the stone. Remove parchement paper at 20-25 minutes. Bake for total of 30-35 minutes. Done Temp 205-210 degrees.