No-Knead Bread

To make 1 smallish loaf

Necessary equipment:

Dutch oven or other cast-iron container with tight-fitting lid
Kitchen scale [7]
Large mixing bowl
Plastic wrap/tin foil
Parchment paper
Whisk
Large spoon
Non-stick spatula

Ingredients:

1 oz Sourdough starter
11.5 oz Lukewarm water
16 oz Bread flour [1]
0.35 oz Table salt
Nuts and seeds to suit (typically: sesame seeds, whole wheat kernels, oats, poppy seeds, coarse salt, etc.)

Instructions:

Mix starter and water together in mixing bowl with whisk
Add flour and salt
Stir with spoon until thoroughly mixed -- mixture will be wetter than typical bread dough [2]
Cover and let rest until risen to 2x original size (typically 24-72 hours) [3]
Pull and fold dough completely in bowl with spatula [4]
Put dough on parchment paper
Coat dough liberally with nuts and seeds [5]
Cut slit across dough (not required)
Cover dough with inverted bowl
Let dough rise to 2x its original size (typically 1-4 hours) [3]
Preheat oven to 500°F with cast iron container inside
Once dough is risen and oven is up to temperature, place dough inside cast iron container and replace lid
Immediately lower oven temperature to 440° F
Bake for 20-30 minutes [6]
Remove lid
Bake for additional 10-20 minutes until golden brown [6]
Remove bread from container and let cool for 1 hour
Share and enjoy!

Notes

[1] For a more-sour dough, make the bread with an 80% bread flour, 20% dark rye flour mix. Use a starter made/fed with the same mixture.

[2] Don't go beyond "thoroughly mixed" for the dough -- the goal is not to knead it here, just to make sure all the ingredients are mixed together.

[3] Really let the bread rise to twice its volume each time. It takes a while. The longer it rests, the more sour it will tend to be. Rising time depends on temperature, so rising in the fridge may make sense if you want more sour flavor.

[4] Pulling and folding completely means that you should go around the perimeter of the bowl 2-3 times, pulling the dough across the diameter of the circle with each stroke. Again, the goal is to move the dough a little bit, but not to knead it. This should take 30-60 seconds.

[5] The nut and seed mixture is up to you. Anything from none at all to a contiguous coat of poppy seeds to a cacophony of different seeds on top may be pleasing. Adding coarse salt adds a nice zing.

[6] The proportion of lid-on to lid-off time while baking determines the crust thickness. The more lid-off time, the thicker the crust. I started with 20:20 minutes, and have lately moved to 30:10 for a thinner crust.

[7] Measurements are in weight rather than volume (cups and tablespoons) because weight automatically accounts for relative moisture of ingredients, and assures repeatability.