I'm new to this forum, and while I normally pose my baking questions to family members, none of them seem to have the ability to help me.

I started baking bread a few months ago, and while I had some trouble in the beginning I was finally able to master a basic white loaf recipe from King Arthur Flour.  Maybe I'm taking too much of a leap here, but I am just not satisfied with the sweetness of that bread.  I want something fluffier, more like a sourdough.  After doing some research, I found this recipe for a no-knead bread which promised me that time would do all the work.  I blame myself for being lulled into a false sense of security here, because my first attempt was just awful.

The first rise has generally gone well.  After this, I turn the dough onto a well-floured surface and sprinkle it with a little more flour, then fold it over a couple of times.  I let it rest for 15 minutes, then put it back into the bowl with a towel saturated in cornmeal.

IT'S ALWAYS THE SECOND RISE THAT DEFEATS ME!!!  It never quite rises properly this second time, and then when I go to turn it into my heated ceramic pot, disaster strikes.  The dough clings to the towel like a spider monkey, and when it plops into the pot it does not look happy at all.  The loaf comes out flat and rubbery, but I don't want the bread to know it won, so I eat it anyway.

1. Could it be that the bowl I am allowing it to rise in is too small?

2. Could the pot I am cooking it in be too big?

3. Is there a possiblity that I let the first rise go too long?  I gave it the requisite 18 hours, but if I have class or something it could be a bit longer.

I'm at a loss here, and I could really use some suggestions.  I'm generally a pretty good baker, and I am confident in my baking skills - sometimes to the point of conceit.  But for a unicellular fungi, yeast has certainly mustered the strength to knock me off whatever horse I was riding on 3 months ago when I embarked on this journey. 

Defeatedly yours,

NoKnead in VT