Almost No-Knead Bread

Recipe paraphrased from a recipe in Cooks Illustrated

This recipe comes out best made in an enameled cast-iron dutch oven with a
lid that fits tightly. It can also be made in a regular cast-iron dutch
oven or a heavy stockpot.
Use a mild flavored beer like Budweiser or a mild flavor non-alcoholic
beer.
The bread is best the day it's baked. It can be wrapped in foil and stored
in a cool dry place for 2-days.
This recipe makes one large, round loaf of bread.

3 cups of unbleached, all purpose flour (15-oz). Plus more flour to
dust work surface.
1/4 tsp instant or rapid-rise yeast
1-1/2 tsp regular table salt
3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp water at room temperature (7-oz)
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp mild-flavored beer (3 oz)
1 Tbsp distilled white vinegar

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, yeast and salt. Now add the
water, beer and vinegar. Fold batter using a rubber spatula. Scrape
the dry ingredients from the bowl bottom and continue folding until a
ragged ball of dough forms. Cover bowl with some plastic wrap. Allow
to sit at room temperature for 8 to 18 hours.

In a 10-inch skillet, place a 12 x 18 inch piece of parchment
paper. Spray parchment
paper with nonstick cooking spray. Take the bowl of dough and turn out
onto a lightly
floured work surface. Knead dough 10 to 15 times. Pull edges of dough
from edges into
the center to form a ball of dough. Place the dough with the seam side
down, into the parchment lined skillet. Spray dough with nonstick
cooking spray. Cover the dough
loosely with a piece of plastic wrap. Allow to rise at room
temperature until the dough is doubled in size, about 2-hours. The
dough should not easily spring back when poked.

Place a 6 to 8 quart, heavy bottom, dutch oven with lid, on lowest
oven rack. Preheat the oven at 500-F for 1/2 hour. Lightly dust top of
dough with flour and then make single 6-inch long, 1/2 inch deep cut
on the top of the dough with a sharp knife or razor blade. Take
preheated dutch oven from from the 500-F oven and remove lid. Using
edges of parchment paper, pick up dough from frying pan and place into
dutch oven. Allow extra parchment paper to hang out of dutch oven and
cover dough with lid. Return covered dutch oven to oven and turn
temperture down to 425-F. Bake bread covered for 30-minutes. Remove
lid and continue baking until bread is deep brown and an instant read
thermometer, inserted in loaf center, reads 210-F. This may take 20 to
30 minutes after removing cover. When done, remove bread from dutch
oven and cool on wire rack for 2-hours, until bread reaches room
temperature.

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