Lightly flour a work surface 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.
Shape dough into a ball
Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready
Pre-heat oven to 230C. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats.
Remove pot from oven put dough in seam side up
Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes