A couple things I would to take note before attempting this recipe. You could easily spend half a day doing this because there’s a lot of in between waiting time. Be super patient because it’ll be worth it when you hear your bread cracking after it’s baked. (Read: ASMR vibes) If you’re looking for a light and airy texture for bread, do not use this recipe. The texture of the bread is dense because of all the gluten in it. Nevertheless, it’s extremely delicious especially after you’ve toasted and slather butter and jam all over a slice. I’m not entirely sure of its shelf life too because I could easily consume the whole loaf in 3 days. (I love bread!)

Ingredients

• 3 cups All-Purpose Flour
• 1 tsp Salt
• ¼ tsp Yeast
• 1 ½ cup Hot Water (Temperature of the water should not exceed 55°C)

1. Combine and mix the flour, salt, and yeast into a large bowl.
2. Add in the hot water into the bowl and mix. The water used should not be boiling hot. You should get one big lump of dough. You don’t have to knead the dough but make sure all the ingredients are well combined.
3. Use cling wrap to cover the dough and set it aside to allow it to proof for 3 hours. Be sure not to leave it in a warm place. You could leave it on the kitchen countertop. Other recipes for bread might take 12-24 hours for proofing as they use cold water. This much faster method is sped up with the use of hot water. 

4. After 3 hours, you will see your dough has risen. Transfer your dough from the bowl to a well-floured surface. You might want to use a bench scraper for this because the dough can be very sticky.
5. On the floured surface, just work your dough by shaping into a roughly round ball. Again, you don’t need to work your dough too much.
6. When you’re done, transfer the dough to a bowl that has been lined with baking paper and cover it with a towel on top. The parchment paper would allow you to easily transfer the dough to the dutch oven later on. Allow your dough to rest as you heat up your oven. 

7. Preheat your oven to 220°C with the dutch oven inside. I preheated my oven for about 40-60 minutes because I wanted to make sure that my dutch oven was as hot as it can be. You could use a thermometer to make sure your oven is at 220°C. Also, instead of a cast-iron pot or le Creuset pot, I used a pyrex dish with a lid as my dutch oven. If you’re using any pot with a lid, make sure that it’s heatproof.  
8. When you’re oven has reached 220°C, transfer your dough with the baking paper into the dutch oven and cover with the lid. You should allow it to bake for about 20-30 minutes. 

9. After 20-30 minutes, remove the lid of the dutch oven and baking paper. Continue baking your bread to your desired bread “brownness”. This should take no more than 10 minutes. 
10. When your bread is ready, remove from the oven. Remember to allow it to cool to room temperature before enjoying your freshly baked homemade bread!