Note: Make sure you feed starter a day before you plan on baking, leaving it on the counter for 8-12 hours until active and bubbly. Do not put starter in the fridge between feeding and forming your loaf. I usually feed starter in the morning, let it become active as it rests on the counter all day, form my loaves that night and bake the next morning. But you can certainly feed starter in the afternoon/evening and allow to activate overnight, form your loaves in the morning and bake in the evening. It's totally up to you!

Note: be sure to set your food scale back to zero between additions.

Place measured flour, salt, water and active starter in a large bowl and work with hands until you form a craggly ball (a rough ball). Cover bowl with a damp dishtowel and let rest for 20 minutes.

Place dough on a counter surface dusted with flour and knead for a couple of minutes minutes (no more than five minutes is needed). You can add a little flour as needed to prevent sticking. Form into a smooth ball. Dust bowl with flour, place dough back in bowl, dust dough lightly with flour. Cover bowl with wet dishtowel, place a plate on top and allow to rest on the counter for 12-18 hours. During this time the dough will rise and become bubbly. (If it's cold where you live, try to place dough in a warm area of the house. Cold temps can impact rising time) When your bread dough has doubled and looks nice and bubbly, it's go time!

Sprinkle counter with flour. Remove dough from bowl, form into a round loaf and place on a large sheet of parchment paper, set aside. Place a Dutch oven with lid on into the oven. Preheat oven and Dutch oven at 450 degrees for one hour.

After oven and dutch oven have preheated for an hour, sprinkle bread dough lightly with sea salt if desired (I love a good bite of salt with my bread!).Use a knife to slice the top of your bread dough (don't go too deep, just an inch or two), this allows steam to release. Have fun with it. You can slice three lines, a criss cross, or four diagonal lines and one across as pictured above.

Grab the sides of the parchment and lift bread dough into pre-heated Dutch oven. Place the lid back on and cook for 20 minutes, remove lid and cook for 20 more minutes. Total baking time is 40 minutes, crust should be golden and crispy. Remove from oven, place on a rack, and allow to cool a bit and enjoy!