Artisan Master Recipe

Directions

1. 1
   In a bowl or container, stir salt and yeast into water until dissolved.
2. 2
   Stir in flour until uniformly moist.
3. 3
   Let dough rise loosely covered, until it collapses, (about 2 hours).
4. 4
   Rrfrigerate at least 3 hours, or preferably overnight (this allows the dough to develop flavor).
5. 5
   Remove from refrigerator.
6. 6
   Sprinkle dough with flour.
7. 7
   Cut off a grapefruit-size piece about 1 lb.
8. 8
   Gently stretch the sides of the dough around to the bottom, to form a ball that's smooth on top.
9. 9
   place a sheet of floured parchment paper onto a pizza pan or upside-down cookie sheet.
10. 10
    Sprinkle dough with flour and rest on top of parchment until almost doubled in size (up to about an hour).
11. 11
    Prepare the oven, place a baking stone on middle rack, and an empty broiler pan on bottom rack (If you don't have a stone, double a cookie sheet and place it in the oven) Turn oven on to 450F
12. 12
    When oven reaches temperature, dust the loaf and use a knife to score a cross or lines across the top, abupt 1/4-inch deep.
13. 13
    Slide the loaf, still on the parchmnt directly onto the baking stone.
14. 14
    The parchemnt paper will slip right off after baking.
15. 15
    Pour 1 cup of hot water into broiling pan beneath .
16. 16
    Bake 20 minutes or until a deep brown.
17. 17
    Cool completely on a rack before cutting.