Whisk water, starter, salt together.

Mix in the Flour until well incorporated. Mixture should be very sticky and wet.

Cover with a damp towel and let sit 30 minutes to an hour.

Do four sets of stretch and folds 30 min apart, covering with the damp towel between sets.

After stretch and folds are done, cover with plastic wrap or a lid and place in the fridge overnight for a bulk ferment (8-12 hours, up to two days). The longer you ferment, the more sour flavor your bread will have and the easier it is for your body to digest.

When ready to bake, remove the dough from the fridge and shape on a lightly floured surface, building tension as you tuck the sides under. You can shape it cold or let it warm up on the counter first. Either way will work.

Place shaped loaf upside down (seem side up) into a bowl lined with a dry towel or a banneton basket and pinch the bottom of the dough together. Lightly cover with a dry towel and let it rise at room temp for about 2 hours for the final proof. If it is winter/cold you may need to let it rise longer, until you can poke it and the indent has a little bit of a delay in bouncing back.

When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 500 F with your dutch oven inside the oven (You want the inside of the dutch oven to be very hot).

Turn your loaf right side up onto a parchment paper, flour the top and score the bread with one deep cut and smaller decorative cuts.

Take the dutch oven out of the oven, using the parchment paper as a cradle for the dough, gently lower the loaf and the parchment paper into the preheated dutch oven.

Bake for 20 min at 500 with the lid on. Remove lid, lower the temp and bake at 450 F for 20 min.

Let cool before cutting for best results! (I alwasy cut the end slice off hot out of the oven!)