Basic Bread - the recipe and basic process

First - why are there two columns?
The reason is that most home bakers use cup measures.  Most bakers use scales.
Sometimes recipes for home baker make big quantities because the smallest quantity needs to fit in a common teaspoon.  Using the scale, not only can small quantities be measured fairly easily, but a recipe can be doubled or halved very easily.  And, there is the benefit that you can measure into your mixing bowl - rather than require a separate measuring tool and more things to clean up.

• Kosher salt takes up more space than table salt (due to the flakes and the space between them).  This doesn't matter with a scale - 8 grams is 8 grams.  But, if you are using a tsp measure - more table salt will fit into the teaspoon than will Kosher salt.  Therefore the measurement is Kosher salt specific. 

Yeast - it must be 'good yeast'.  If you bought it yesterday - s/b no problem.  If you bought it a year ago for that pizza you made - you might want to 'prove the yeast'.  Do this by taking a portion of water from the recipe, add a pinch of sugar and the yeast and stir.  If you get a frothy head on the water - you are good to go (simply add this to the mix when it is time for the water).  If no frothy head - you need to get some new yeast.

• Yeast is a living bacteria in a suspended state in that little envelope.  But, it has a shelf life and while it will hold for many days in the refrigerator, it doesn't last forever.  Without living yeast, your bread will not rise.  Grandma used to always 'prove her yeast' before using it in any recipe - because it was not totally reliable.  I go through about a half pound of yeast a month - and I never prove the yeast.  I just add it to the dry ingredients.  And, I keep the unused yeast in the pantry at room temp - while some people say that refrigeration is needed.

Back to the Recipe
Place the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl - and mix them together
Add the water (I drizzle it all around the flour) and, using the handle end of a serving spoon (wooden spoon would be great), mix the ingredients into a ragged mess.  The only rule is that you need to incorporate all the dry ingredients into thee ragged pieces.

For the recipe above - place the ragged mess into a container that is at least 4 qts in size.  A lid is good - but even a lightly dampened towel placed over the top is good.  We are going to leave the dough in the container for 10 hours or so and the cover is to keep moisture inside and prevent a skin from forming on the top of the dough.

Let it sit in the container for 10 hours or so (up to 20 hours).  If you are the curious type - take a look every 2 hours and you will see it changing, as the yeast comes to life and starts to consume the sugars in the flour and release CO2.

Planning
While the dough is working quietly, you need to make a decision:  What are you going to do with it in the oven?  Your choices?  Well, consider

1. a loaf pan - if this is your choice, you need to match the amount of dough to the size of the pan.   A 1.75 pound hunk of dough will fit nicely in a 9x4" loaf pan.  You should get a nice crown (the arch over the top) and be good.   The pans I give out in class are mini loaf pans and I put .5 pound of dough in them.  
2. a dutch oven - the revelation in 2008 was that dough placed in a dutch oven where the steam was locked into the baking pan did a great job of emulating the steam in a professional baker's oven.  Removing the cover for the last 10 minutes of baking allows the top to crisp up.  The key is to either have a dutch oven that is sized right for your dough size - or to 'stretch' the outer skin of the dough as illustrated in the video in the link in the next paragraph.   
3. free form - this method is shown in this video. https://youtu.be/g_c53AYZMGM   But, rather than a pizza peel, use a baking pan.   I don't use corn meal as it gets all over the oven. A baking pan with a little parchment paper or some cooking spray should be good.  As you can see from the video, this approach can give a beautiful result with no loaf pans.  
4. Not an option for a beginner, but what I do generally, is form my dough and place it in a bannetton for the final rise, after which the dough is gently dumped onto a piece of parchment paper, slashed and set onto a preheated baking stone in the oven.  Here's a photo of dough rising in the bannetton.  This happens to be my Dark Hunter bread (with cocoa and molasses for color).  These doughs are fully risen and ready for the oven.  
   

Make your decision and make sure you are prepared.  The next step is fairly short - but it culminates in shaping the dough for baking - whether in a loaf pan, dutch oven or free form on a baking sheet.

10 Hours Later
First, uncover the container and note the change that has occurred without your intervention.  The yeast came alive, started eating the sugars available in the moist flour and the yeast multiplied and let out CO2 which stretched the wet flour and the gluten strands were formed and the gas was captured.  The whole dough became aerated and fluffy - while it seems much more wet than it was when you left it 10 hours ago.  Your dough is alive.

Using my basic approach (there is an alternative approach below), dump this glob of goo onto a floured surface.  Use a scraper or spatula to scrape as much of the dough from the bottom of the container as possible.   With floured hands, sprinkle a little more flour on top of your dough - and then press it down and fold it over.  Add a sprinkling of flour if necessary to keep it from sticking to your hands.  Stretch it to the right and left - and then fold it back into the middle.  Turn it 90º and stretch it to the right and left - and then fold it back into the middle.  Let it rest for 10 minutes (sprinkle a little flour on the top and place a cotton towel on top so it can rest undisturbed).  After 10 minutes - do the stretch and fold again. Rest again.  You will not need to do it again - but if you want to stretch and fold one more time (for practice) go ahead.  This takes the place of kneading which, as you saw in the video - is completely unnecessary - but, all sources say that over kneading by hand is almost impossible.

Next, you will shape it and place it in your baking container - if you have selected one - or place it on the baking pan for for its final rise - where it should double in size.

Shaping
- for a baking pan, flatten the dough (it will still be springy) into a rectangle about half as wide as the baking pans longest measure and 3 times as tall as the narrow side.  Fold the bottom quarter (longwise) into the middle from the bottom and again from the top.  Then fold the bottom onto the top and press into a log that approximates the long measure of the pan.  Set it in the pan - seam side down.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a cotton towel - ideally sprayed with cooking oil.  Some people place the pan in a plastic bag.

- for a dutch oven.  Make your ball (as in the video) and stretch the outer part to make a skin (as in the video) to be set in a pre heated 450º oven and dutch oven after rising.  For rising, I place the dough in a bowl lined with parchment paper (so I have a cradle with which to lift the dough from the bowl to place it in the hot dutch oven).  You can spray your bowl with cooking spray and then, with your hands, lift and gently drop the dough into the hot dutch oven.  Cover and place the dutch oven back into the oven.

- for free form, form as in the video. Place on undimmed baking sheet to rise (and lightly cover with plastic sprayed with cooking oil - giving room to expand)

Baking
it will take about an hour to double in size.  Shorter on a hot summer day and longer on a cool fall afternoon.  The yeast works faster in warmer conditions.

After about a half hour - unless using the dutch oven approach, pre heat the oven to 500º - and let it hold there.  When ready to place the loaf pan or the baking pan (free form) into the oven, drop the temp to 450º

Bake for 30 minutes on the lower half of the oven and then take a look.  If all is well, turn the loaf or pan 180º for another 10 minutes.  You will want the bread to be about 200º internal temp to remove.

Cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting (it is still cooking while not the cooling rack - and the crust is holding in the heat while the inside is finishing).  Some people say to wait until ti is totally cool - but I think that bread from the oven that melts butter is worth taking the risk that it is not fully cooked.