In a large bowl, add 1/4 cup warm water (not too hot). Sprinkle over the yeast and let it sit for 10 minutes, or until the yeast gets foamy. Don't stir it.
Once the yeast is foamy, add the remaining 2 3/4 cups of warm water. Add 3 cups of the flour. Stir with a wooden spoon until smooth, about 100 strokes. This is a liquidy batter called a 'sponge'. Cover with plastic wrap. You can let it sit at room temperature for 1 to 4 hours. The longer you let it sit, the better flavour the bread will have.
Once the sponge has sat for at least 1 hour, stir in the salt and oil. Add the flour, cup by cup, mixing well after each addition. Don`t add too much flour! Keep kneading for 10 minutes. The dough should be soft and elastic, with the texture of an earlobe. It should be barely sticky. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 2 hours at room temperature or until it doubles in size. I often make the dough up to this part the night before, and let the dough rise in the fridge overnight.
Once the dough has risen, gently knock it back it to deflate it. Put it back in the bowl and cover and let sit for another 1.5 hours.
Gently knead the dough again and divide into two pieces. Let rest for 15 minutes. After resting, flatten the dough into a rectangle and then roll it into a loaf shape. Pinch the seam to seal it. You can put the dough on a baking sheet or in loaf pans, seam side down. Let rise for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 400 F. Once the dough has risen, slash the top of the loaves with a sharp knife. Put the bread in the oven and bake 25 minutes. Then decrease the oven to 350 F and bake for another 20 minutes. The bottom of the loaf should sound hollow when knocked.
Once baked, remove from oven and let cool before slicing.
