I highly recommend checking Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day’s blog post for tips on baking with a dutch oven. There is a lot of useful information in the comments. You can find that here.  There is lots of useful information about frequently asked questions here. Also, make sure your dutch oven does not have a plastic knob – these cannot stand temperatures above 450 degrees and your kitchen will *stink* [believe me, I learned from experience]. There are replacement knobs you can purchase, or else you can rig up a knob [again, the above mentioned post goes into detail of all that]. This bread can be made without a dutch oven, but again, check the site for information on that.  This recipe can be cut in half to make a smaller batch.

**The dutch oven I personally use is smaller than typical dutch oven. On the website, the authors of the book used a 7 1/4 quart dutch oven for a 1 1/2 pound piece of dough. I put a one pound piece in mine. You many have to adjust cooking times according to the size of your dutch oven – see links in the above italics for help**

3 cups water, lukewarm
1 1/2 tablespoons yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
6 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour

In a 5 quart plastic container or bowl [preferably a resealable plastic container], mix yeast and salt into 3 cups lukewarm water [about 100 degrees]. Stir in flour, mixing until there are no dry patches. Dough will be quite loose. Cover, but not with an airtight lid. Let dough rise at room temperature for 2 hours.

Bake at this point or refrigerate, covered, for as long as two weeks [It's best to let dough refrigerate at least three hours - it is less sticky and easier to work with. Also, more flavor will develop if it sits longer].  When ready to bake, sprinkle a little flour on the dough and cut off a grapefruit-size piece with serrated knife [about 1 pound]. Sprinkle flour on work surface and lightly knead dough 5-6 times to form a ball, adding flour as needed so it won’t stick to your hands. Put dough on a piece of parchment paper, and let rest 40 minutes. Refrigerate the rest of the dough.

About 30 minutes before baking, adjust oven rack to the upper middle position and place the Dutch oven (with lid on) on the rack, and heat oven to 500 degrees. Lightly flour top of dough and, using razor blade or sharp knife, make one 6-inch-long, 1/2-inch-deep slit along top of dough. Carefully remove pot from oven and remove lid. Pick up dough by lifting parchment overhang and lower into pot (let any excess parchment hang over pot edge). Cover pot and place in oven. Bake covered for 25 minutes. Lower oven temperature to 450, remove lid and continue to bake until loaf is deep brown and/or instant-read thermometer inserted into center registers 210 degrees, 12 to 15 minutes longer. Carefully remove bread from pot; transfer to wire rack and cool to room temperature, about 2 hours.