The Perfect Rustic Loaf

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The Sponge (begin the night before)

1 cup water, chlorine-free
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached Special Bread Flour
2 tablespoons King Arthur Traditional Whole Wheat Flour
1 tablespoon yellow cornmeal
1 tablespoon semolina flour

The Dough
1 cup water, chlorine-free
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
3 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached Special Bread Flour

The next day (or about 8 hours later) stir down the sponge. Continue to make the dough. Program your machine for Manual or Dough, and press Start. As the dough begins to mix it should form first a soft mass, then eventually a soft ball that is not too stiff, but not sticky, either. Adjust with additional flour or water as necessary.

When the cycle is complete, remove the dough from the machine. (It can hang around for a bit -- you don't have to rush.) Cover with a tea towel and let rest for 30 minutes. (If you want to leave the dough all day, place it in a lightly greased bowl, cover the bowl, and refrigerate it. When you're ready to work with it, deflate if necessary, and allow to warm slightly before proceeding.)

After its rest period, deflate the dough gently and form it into a round ball, place the ball seam-side-down on a cornmeal-dusted baking sheet. Cover it lightly with a tea towel. Let it rise a second time until it's puffy and about 30% to 40% larger, about 1 hour. Don't let it rise too much, since it rises some more in the oven and, if it's overproofed initially, it'll collapse as it bakes.

Preheat the oven to 475°F. Make several 1/4- to 1/2-inch slashes or crosshatches in the loaf. If your dough deflates at this point, it means it rose too much. But even if it does topple a bit or deflate, generally the heat of the oven will help it spring back.

Using a clean plant mister, spritz the loaf with water. Spray some water into the oven, and place the bread on the lowest or the middle rack.

Spritz the oven walls every few minutes for the first 15 minutes of baking. Lower the heat to 425°F (this reduction in heat mimics the "falling oven" used by brick-oven bakers, and will give your bread an incredible crust), and continue to bake until well-browned, about 35 minutes.

The interior temperature of the bread should register 190°F on an instant-read thermometer. Remove the bread from the oven, and cool it on a wire rack before slicing. Store, cut side down, on a counter (do not cover). Yes, this really works; your bread will remain fresh but not soggy for several days. Yield: One large loaf, about 24 hearty servings.

Additional Notes: You may use 2 tablespoons pumpernickel, the grain French bakers traditionally add to enhance a bread's keeping qualities, in place of the whole wheat flour in the initial sponge.
For an even chewier bread with larger, more irregular holes, try increasing the amount of water in the dough's second stage by 1/4 to 1/2 cup. Add 1/4 cup initially, then take a look at the dough while it's in its second kneading cycle. Your goal is to create a dough which is very wet and slack, but which will still hold its shape when formed into a freeform loaf. Add additional water if it looks as though the dough can absorb it and still remain firm enough to be workable.
This bread is an ideal candidate for a linen-lined banneton, which will hold and shape it as it rises and, because of the moisture-drawing qualities of the linen, help produce a chewy crust. Try putting your risen loaf into the oven without slashing it first; it'll develop its own natural split, producing a more rustic-looking loaf.