Sourdough Bread Recipe
A beautiful loaf of sourdough bread
Basic Sourdough Bread Instructions For One Loaf
Note: This is a firmer type of dough, easier to work with for learning. Start on Friday morning to bake Sunday morning.
Day 1: This takes only 5 minutes. Take 75 g starter, put it in a glass or plastic container that will hold 2 L volume. (at least 1.5L) Mix in 375g water, then 375 g. flour. Take out 15 g (a fat tsp full) and put it in a clean jar. . (Note: if you started with 10 g starter, add an extra day to this procedure. Don’t fuss with taking out the 15 g starter as just mentioned here. It’s not going to mess up your dough) Let stand loosely covered 24 hours. You now have what is called a levain – an active sourdoughstarter.
Day 2: Refrigerate the keeper starter.
mix 1-2 T. melted fat or oil and 1 ½ tsp salt into your levain.
Work in 2 c. flour, (about 280 g) then let it sit, covered for at least 10 minutes to autolyze. This is a very important step. It lets the flour absorb the liquid fully. Knead til smooth. I use the French slap and fold method here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qzx7dxuvaCo It works really well. The dough will become tender and pliant. I find it takes about 10 minutes. The dough is ready when the surface is very smooth and all of it always comes off the counter. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel. Let rise til doubled, about 2 hours.
An alternative to kneading is to do a series of stretch-and-folds after the autolyze stage. the bread will have a more open crumb and lighter texture with this method, and if you have shoulder problems or joint issues in your hands, this is an excellent option. These instructions are from the Lee Valley website: https://www.leevalley.com/en-ca/discover/gardening/2020/september/how-to-make-sourdough
Do a Series of Four Stretch and Folds (90 minutes) - After the dough has rested for 30 minutes [a longer autolyze stage], you will do a series of four “stretch and folds”. To do the first stretch and fold, reach into the bowl of dough, scooping your fingers under the dough to really get a handle on it. Pull and stretch the dough up and out of the bowl as far as you can without it breaking. Lay the bottom half of the stretched dough back in the bottom of the bowl (if it has lifted out). Fold the top section of stretched dough over and on top of the bottom section of dough. Rotate the bowl 90º and repeat, continuing until all four quadrants of the dough have been stretched and folded. Scrape as much dough from your fingers as you can (which will be hard because it is so sticky). Cover the bowl with the tea towel and lid and return the dough to the oven with the light bulb on for 20 minutes. Repeat this process three more times, for a total of four stretch and folds done over 10 minutes with an additional 80 minutes of resting time.
About two hours later: Time for proofing your dough! (the final rise) Prepare your proofing basket (Banneton) by dusting with flour, or use any pan by lining it with parchment paper. I use an 8 -9 inch pie plate for proofing a round loaf, and a bread pan for a long loaf. (Let the parchment paper rise about 2 inches above the height of the pan if you are going to bake it in a dutch oven)
Flour your work surface, and using a dough scraper or spatula, scrape the dough onto the work surface. Clean your bowl as well as possible. The less dough you leave in it, the less trouble you have to wash it after. Don’t punch the dough down like with a yeast dough. Use a bit of oil or flour on your fingers as you work the dough. Shape the loaf to fit your pan by gently folding, rolling and patting it into shape, then smoothing it by folding the dough under itself at the sides.
Place your loaf into the prepared pan, cover with plastic wrap, or smooth a dusting of flour over the dough and cover with a cotton tea towel. Let rise at room temp for one hour, then place in the fridge overnight. If your sourdough is very active (your first rise almost doubled in 1 hr), put it in the fridge right away. Leave the bread in the fridge for 12 - 24 hours. Be aware that the longer the rise in the fridge, the tangier the bread will be. It takes at least 7 hours after making the dough to ferment the phytates so your body easily digests the wheat gluten. Ideal is 12 hours.
A curious thing is that if you eat this dough raw, it will not give you yeast-y burps like eating raw yeast dough. It really does digest very differently in the gut.
Baking Day For Your Sourdough Bread
Take the loaf out of the fridge and let stand at room temperature for about 2 hours. There are two methods for baking your bread:
Hot water method: Place a heavy baking tray on the lower rack in your oven. I use my roaster drip pan. Place the rack for your bread in the center. Preheat oven to 450 F
I do not use a proofing basket with this method – I use it for multiple loaves that I have proofed in the pan I am baking them in. Just before baking, fill a 1 L pouring container with cold water. Brush your loaves lightly with milk for a warm golden look, or leave as is for a rustic look after baking. Then take a very sharp knife and slash the breads, either one deep slash (1 cm) lengthwise, or 3 slashes at an angle.
Place the bread in the oven, close the oven door. Take the jug of water, open the oven door about half way and at arms-length carefully but quite quickly pour the water into the baking tray on the lower rack. Close the oven door and bake for 20 min, then take the water pan out of the oven and turn the oven down to 400F to finish baking – another 35 min. My loaf pans took 55 min in total.
2. Dutch oven method: used for ‘Artisan’ bread
This is the ideal method of baking a loaf of sourdough bread – or any bread for that matter! This method lets the bread bake in its own steam, giving a loftier rise to the bread while it is baking, and producing a wonderful golden crust.
You can use a dutch oven, heavy casserole dish or enamel roaster pan – it just needs to have a tight-fitting lid. Place your baking pan into the oven with the lid. Preheat the oven to 450F.
When the oven is hot, take the baking dish out of the oven and remove the cover.
If you used a proofing basket, tip the proofing basket over the hot dish, gently dumping the risen loaf into the pan. Don’t worry about the wrinkles, they will straighten out and go smooth as the bread bakes. Put the lid on the pan and back into the hot oven it goes.
If you have used parchment paper to line your container, you do not need to remove it. Just slash the top of the bread, using a very sharp knife. Slash the bread 1 cm deep. A round loaf can be done in an X or 3 parallel slashes. A long loaf can be done with one lengthwise slash or a few diagonal slashes. Lift the loaf into the hot pan with the parchment paper, (do not flip it upside down), cover with the lid, and put the whole thing into the oven.
Let your bread bake for 20 minutes. After this time, remove the lid on the dutch oven. Turn the heat down to 400 and continue baking for another 35 minutes.
Remove the bread from the oven and tip the bread out onto a cooling rack. Set the bread upright and let cool at least one hour before cutting into it. If you don’t wait, the bread will gummy. You’ll know what I mean if you don’t wait.
Love this bread!
Submitted by Maya Wenger
