Well, the Dutch oven heats the bread at a very high temperature, which gives it that nice rise. While at the same time, because we use the lid, it creates steam inside the pan. This steam settles on top of the bread, which then, bakes into a nice hard crust. Alternatively, you can bake this without a Dutch oven directly on a pizza stone, and place a bowl of water at the back in the oven. This will give you a good crust, but the bread does spread giving you a shorter loaf similar to my no-knead beer bread.