In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add water and stir until blended; dough will be very sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let rest at 12 -18 hours at room temperature.

After 12-18 hours, the surface will be all covered with bubbles. Heavily flour your counter and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.

Using enough flour to keep dough from sticking to the counter or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape the dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel with flour. Place the dough seam side down on the towel and dust with more flour. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, it will be more than doubled in size.

About 20 minutes before dough is ready, heat your oven to 450°. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in the oven as it heats. Carefully remove pot from the oven.

Slide your hand under the towel and turn dough over into the pot. Shake pan once or twice to distribute the dough evenly. It will look like a hot mess, but that is OK. Cover the pan with a lid and bake 20-30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 minutes, until browned.

Dump bread out and cool on a cooking rack.