The Best Crusty White Bread Loaf Recipe

Taken from Farmhouse Cookery...
I've followed a few different white bread recipes and I have to say that this is the best I've found so far. It takes a while - but all the best bakers say that the longer you leave the dough to prove the better your bread will be. This has three proving stages and you'll need to set aside an entire morning for it. The great thing about baking your own bread is that you can go off and do something else while it's growing! And don't use a breadmaker! Feel the gluten change under your own hands - the transformation is unmissable!

Ingredients for Two Loaves:
800g strong white flour
2 level teaspoons salt
15g lard (or butter/margarine)
7g fresh yeast (I use roughly half a 7g sachet of dried yeast)
450ml warm water (see my hot cross bun recipe for how I get the water to the right temperature)

Sieve the flour and salt on to a working surface or into a large mixing bowl, rub in the lard and make a well in the centre. Mix the yeasst to a smooth paste with 1 tablespoon of the water, stir into the rest of the water and pour into the well. Draw in the flour gradually, mixing vigorously to blend well.
Knead for 5 minutes or more (I knead for between 6-10 minutes. See below for a link to a good kneading method from the BBC website.) to make a stiff dough of an even, springy texture.
Shape into a ball, place in a warm, greased bowl, cover with greased polythene and stand in a warm place to rise for 2 hours. (I warm the oven to 50C and then switch it off before placing the dough inside.)
Turn out the dough on to a working surface and knock out the air bubbles. Knead again until smooth and springy, reshape into a ball, put back in the bowl, cover and put to rise again for 1 hour.
Divide the dough in half and mould each piece to fit a warmed and greased 2lb/900g loaf tin. Cover the tins with greased polythene and put in a warm place to rise for 40 minutes. (This time I put the tins back in the still-warm oven for about 20 minutes, then remove them and place them on the side while I preheat the oven to 225C.)
Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 45 minutes. (I never bake it for this long in my fan oven. You're looking for a crusty top and a hollow sounding bottom. I usually check after about 20 minutes.)
Instead of using tins, try shaping the dough yourself into two rustic loaves and baking them on baking sheets.