Making your dough: Warm the water slightly: it should feel just a little warmer than body temperature. About 100°F, warm water will rise and go to the right point for storage in about 2 hours. You can use cold tap water and get an identical final result; then the first rising will take 3 or even 4 hours. That won't be too great a difference as you will only be doing this once per stored batch.(Do not use hot water. It will kill the yeast.

Add yeast and salt to the water in a 5 quart bowl or, preferably in a week sealable lidded not airtight plastic food container or food grade bucket. Don't worry about getting it all to dissolve.

Mix in the flour, kneading is unnecessary: add all of the flour at once. Do not pack the flour when measuring, it will compress and be inaccurate. Mix the flour and water/yeast mixture together until everything is uniformly moist without dry patches.

Allow to rise: set the container aside and allow the mixture to rise at room temperature until it begins to collapse or at lease flattens on top; approximately 2 to 4 hours then refrigerate. You now have enough dough pre-made for 4 - 1 pound loaf's.

When ready to bake, dust the top of your dough with flour, reach in and take out a grapefruit size handful of dough, cutting it off, forming it into the shape of a ball, set it onto a pizza peel, which has been covered with a thin layer of cornmeal. The cornmeal will allow the dough to slide off of the pizza peel and into the oven easily, let the ball of dough rest for 40 minutes. It will rise during this period.

20 minutes before baking, put a baking stone into the oven on the middle rack and preheat the oven to 450°F. Place in empty broiler tray, for holding water, on the shelf below the baking stone.

After the loaf has risen, and before you place it into the preheated oven. Dust the top lightly with flour and cut 3 to 4 - 1/4 inch deep slashes in the top of the ball of dough this will allow the loaf to expand during baking. Be creative you’re slashes can form, a tic-tac-toe, a clamshell or whatever you like.

You are now ready to bake, measure 1 cup of water and set it aside. Open your oven carefully, and with a flick of the wrist slide the loaf off of the pizza peel and onto the baking stone, set down the pizza peel picked up the cup of water and quickly pour it into the baking pan. Immediately close the oven and bake for 30 minutes. The water actually steams bread. The baking stone, gives it a crispy crust and the result is heavenly.

Remove the loaf from the oven and enjoy.

Note: when making your loaf. You can use a variation of mixing a little bit of olive oil , and calamata olives for an olive loaf. Its beautiful. Or, some of your favorite fresh herbs, like Rosemary for an herb loaf, sunflower seeds for a seed loaf etc. I think you get the picture.

You can also once you get good at this shape the same dough into a baguette or flatten it slightly and fold and sun-dried tomatoes. Or possibly apricots and brush the top before baking with egg yolk for a shiny, beautiful centerpiece loaf. There are many variations that you can do once you've made your dough.

E-mail me for more suggestions. It is almost unlimited. - Charles