Basic French Bread

Adopted from Baba À Louis Bakery Bread Book

• 2 lbs (~6.5 cups) white flour (higher gluten or bread flour is great too)
• 1.5 tsp dry yeast
• 3.5 tsp salt
• 2 cups + 2 Tb warm water

Mix salt into flour, mix yeast into water then mix wet into dry.
Knead until collected into a single dough blob, it won’t be smooth.
Put into large bowl and keep covered for 12 hrs at room temp.
Divide dough into two loaves on pan.
Cover with a pan sprinkled with water to make moist environment.
Keep in there for 3-4 hours.
Make slices on top of loaves to allow for expansion in the oven.
Preheat oven at 500, reduce to 450 when you put the loaves in.
Sprinkle water in the oven as you close it.
Check loaves at 15 mins, may need another 5.