Sourdough Bread
Learn how to make the most tender and delicious sourdough bread!
Equipment
- 1 Mixing Bowl
- 1 Dough whisk
- 1 Kitchen Scale
- 1 Silicone bread sling
- 1 Dutch Oven
- 1 Tea Towel
- 1 Banneton basket
- 1 Sharp knife or bread lame
- 1 Spray bottle of water
Ingredients
- 500 g All-purpose flour
- 368 g Lukewarm water
- 125 g Sourdough starter
- 12 g Salt
Instructions
- Feed sourdough starter the night before you plan on making the bread, or at least 6 hours ahead of time.
- Once the starter is active and bubbly, measure the ingredients using your kitchen scale, and mix everything together very well using the dough whisk.
- Cover and let sit on the counter for two hours.
- Return to the dough and perform 2 coil folds, and then let sit for 30 minutes.
- Repeat the previous step 2 more times.
- Cover and let bulk ferment on the counter for 8-12 hours. The bulk fermentation is done when the dough is not very sticky, has large bubbles, and has doubled in size.
- Now it's time to shape the dough and put it into the banneton basket. Lay the tea towel in the basket and sprinkle lightly with flour. Place the dough seam side up in the basket, and cover with the rest of the tea towel.
- Place the dough in the fridge for 12-16 hours. Do the "poke test" to determine if the cold ferment is over. If you poke the dough, and it bounces back, it is not ready. If you poke the dough and it doesn't bounce back at all, it's overproofed. If you poke the dough and it slowly comes back, it's ready!
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
- While you are waiting for the oven to preheat, turn the dough out onto parchment paper or the dough sling.
- Using a sharp knife or bread lame, score the dough all the way across.
- Lift the loaf into the hot Dutch oven, and spray the top of the loaf with some water.
- Cover with the lid and set a timer for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes have passed, remove the lid of the Dutch oven, and set a timer for 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, remove the bread from the oven, and take out of the Dutch oven to cool.
- Don't slice into the bread until it has fully cooled, or it will become gummy.
- Once it has fully cooled, you can enjoy!
Notes
Sourdough Timeline:
8am: Feed sourdough starter.
11am: Mix ingredients together and cover to sit on the counter for 2 hours.
1pm: Do two sets of coil folds.
1:30pm: Return in 30 minutes and do two more sets of coil folds. Repeat this process two times.
2:30pm: Cover the dough for bulk fermentation. This can take 6-12 hours.
8:30pm: Shape the dough and start cold ferment.
8am: Preheat oven with Dutch oven inside. Prepare dough for baking while waiting for the oven to preheat.
8:30am: Place bread in the oven and set timer.
9:15am: Remove bread from oven and let cool completely. *This is just an example timeline, your timeline may look a little different based on the conditions of your kitchen. The temperature of your kitchen will affect the bulk fermenting time, along with other factors.
11am: Mix ingredients together and cover to sit on the counter for 2 hours.
1pm: Do two sets of coil folds.
1:30pm: Return in 30 minutes and do two more sets of coil folds. Repeat this process two times.
2:30pm: Cover the dough for bulk fermentation. This can take 6-12 hours.
8:30pm: Shape the dough and start cold ferment.
8am: Preheat oven with Dutch oven inside. Prepare dough for baking while waiting for the oven to preheat.
8:30am: Place bread in the oven and set timer.
9:15am: Remove bread from oven and let cool completely. *This is just an example timeline, your timeline may look a little different based on the conditions of your kitchen. The temperature of your kitchen will affect the bulk fermenting time, along with other factors.