Since Jim Lahey and I first shared this innovation — the word “recipe” does not do the technique justice — in the New York Times in 2006, thousands of people have made it. For many, it was their first foray into bread baking, the one that showed that the process isn’t scary, although the end result is so good that experienced bakers too have tried and fallen in love with it.

This recipe came from Jim Lahey, the owner of Sullivan Street Bakery in New York City who created a way to make a spectacular loaf at home — with a crackling crust, open-holed crumb, light texture, and fantastic flavor — all with next to no hands-on time.

A wet dough and slow fermentation are the keys to success; almost by magic, they take the place of kneading. You’ll also notice the unique baking method — a heated covered pot — which creates essentially an oven within an oven to trap steam as the bread bakes. I’m not kidding when I say the results will blow your mind.

The only thing required is forethought. Ideally, you will start the dough about 24 hours before you plan to eat it; you can cut that to 12 and even 9 (see the first variation below), but you’ll be sacrificing some of the yeasty flavor and open crumb.