Bread Bakin' in Wisconsin

Since we've moved to Madison and I've stopped working at Zingerman's Bakehouse, we've needed bread that can live up to our now higher standards. We hadn't bought pre-sliced, cheap sandwich bread since I started at the Bakehouse, and it was depressing to think that's what we were going to go back to. So I found a very simple recipe for a round of bread. It requires no kneading but about 20 hours from start to finish. This recipe is one of Mark Bittman's, adapted from a New York bakery.

3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 5/8 cups water

Combine all dry ingredients in bowl. Add water. Mix with hand. Dough will be sticky, shaggy, not much like dough. Cover with plastic wrap. Let sit 12-18 hours. (I've gone 15-18 hours so far; the dough should have bubbles all over the top.) Fold the dough twice. Let sit 15 minutes in bowl, loosely covered. Shape dough into a ball. Place seam side down on a well-floured dishtowel (cotton but not terry cloth). Sprinkle a little flour on top of the dough, cover with another dishtowel. Let sit for 2 hours. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees for at least 1/2 hour, along with the baking dish. The baking dish should be a 6-8 quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex, or ceramic). Use the towels to transfer the dough into the pot, seam side down. Don't worry if it doesn't yet look perfect, it will even out while baking. Bake for 30 minutes with the cover on; remove the cover and bake for an additional 15-30 minutes (though I've noticed I've only needed to bake it for another 5-10 minutes) until it becomes a nice caramelized brown color.

Here's a video to watch to help make sense of it all:


And here's a picture of me with one of my loaves: