Mix up the dry stuff a bit before you add water just to get it all distributed. You don’t need to do any of that proofing business with the yeast. Just throw it in there.
Add water and mix dough around with your hands. It’ll be too wet to actually knead.
Cover dough with plastic wrap and let it sit for 16-20 hours. It way more than doubles in size. Probably triples or quadruples.
After rising, scoop the dough onto a table that’s been heavily floured.
Dust a clean dish towel with bran meal.
Sprinkle some more flour on the dough and sort of fold it over into a rough round shape.
Transfer this ball to the towel with the seam of the ball down on the towel.
Fold over the edges of the towel and let this rise for at least an hour. I know.
When you are thirty minutes out from baking, preheat your pot in a 500 degree oven without the lid on it.
When pot has been heating for 30 minutes, carefully remove and transfer dough to the pot. Flip it over so the seam is now UP in the pot. Put on the lid and cook for 30 minutes at 500 degrees. Then take off the lid (watch out for the escaping steam when you take the lid off). Bake for 15 more minutes to get a nice crust.
Let bread cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before slicing into it.