Before diving into this recipe there are a few assumptions, the main one being you have an active sourdough starter. Do the float test to see if it is ready before making the levain.
This is also fairly straightforward and what I would classify as easy to medium for those who already bake bread.
Check the link for my sourdough starter recipe fermented 14 days and used in this recipe:
Day 1 Evening:
Make a levain the night before planning to bake bread
NB: The levain and the starter are both preferments but the starter or ‘Mother’ is maintained and kept for long periods (potentially forever) and the levain uses a small portion of the Mother and is used in its entirety the next day.
More info here from Kitchn if you want to read about preferments:
https://www.thekitchn.com/what-the-difference-between-sourdough-starter-250218
2 generous tablespoons of sourdough starter
75 g bread flour
75 g warm water
Mix together well, cover and place in a warm place for 8-12 hours. I made this in the fall and my house is generally cool so I placed it in the oven with the light on which helps maintain a temperature of about 70 degrees F.
Day 2 the Bake:
525 g warm water
700 g flour (I used 500 All-Purpose and 200 bread flour)
15 g salt (about 1 tablespoon)
Method:
1 – In a separate small bowl mix 50 g water with the salt, stir to dissolve and set aside. This will be added later to the dough.
2 – Add the remaining 475 g warm water to the levain and break it up with your fingers or spatula.
3 – In a large bowl measure out the flour, add the levain mixture and mix with a spatula until you get a shaggy, rough dough about 5 minutes.
4 – Cover with a clean tea towel and let rest 30 – 45 minutes.
5 – Add the dissolved salt and gently mix in using your fingers. Be gentle with your sourdough bread there is no need (knead??!) to punch or be aggressive with the dough; it will love you more in the end trust me.
6 – Cover and let rest in a warm place for about 1 hour (I placed mine in the oven with the light on).
7 – Now start the stretch and fold process. The dough should look quite fluffy and moist, it will not be like other bread doughs. Go around the edge of the inside of the bowl in sections and gently pick up a portion of the dough, stretching upwards and towards you so you are placing it on top of the dough in the middle of the bowl. Go around and do this in 4 or 5 sections until you come back to the first spot. This stretching and folding will give you the nice holes so characteristic of the inside of sourdough.
I did this every 30 – 45 minutes for a total of about 4 hours. You can do it longer if you have the time.
I found Kitchn explains it in a great video here, along with the overall process of making sourdough:
https://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-sourdough-bread-224367
8 – Flour the counter and gently turn out the dough. It should be a big fluffy poof of dough. No punching!
This is a generous recipe and I made two large loaves and thus divided the dough into two equal parts.
Let rest a few minutes.
9 – Flour a couche or parchment paper on a baking sheet (so it can be moved) or banneton bowl, whatever you are using to proof. I did not have banneton bowls but could have easily lined a bowl with a floured tea towel which I will do next time. Instead I used a couche which worked fine. There are dozens of choices on Amazon if you are searching for supplies.
NB: Ensure your surfaces are well floured – very well-floured. You do not want the dough to stick when you are read to place into the baking vessels.
10 – Shape your loaves, fold in quarters, flip over and place on the couche or in the bowl you are using to rise the dough.
11 – Cover with a tea towel and let rise in a warm place at least 3 hours.
This can also be placed in the fridge for another 12-hour slow rise but I did not do this for this bake.
The loaves should be nice and poofy and will spread out rather than a vertical rise typical of other doughs.
12 – Preheat the oven to 475 F (some say 500 but I stick with 475) and place whatever you are using to bake the bread inside the oven during preheat – I used a Dutch oven for one loaf and a baking stone for the other. I actually used a stone pie plate which worked well to keep a little bit of the form rather than a flat baking stone. These need to be piping hot when placing the dough – I left these in for about 20 minutes to heat up.
NB: obvious comment but if proofing bread in the oven remember to take it out before preheating
13 – Since I used a stone, I also had ready a spray bottle with water to mist the oven, as well as some ice to place in a pie plate on the rack below the stone.
14 – Remove the Dutch oven and / or stone and gently place each loaf in / on. Take extra caution as these are hot!
15 – For the dough on the stone, spray some mist on top before placing in the oven. For the Dutch oven, just put the lid on, the Dutch oven will do the work with the steam.
16 – Spray mist into the oven above the stone, place the ice in the pan in the rack below and close the door.
17 – Leave it for 20 minutes do NOT open the Dutch oven. You can spray mist again a few times but do not touch the lid of the Dutch oven.
18 – Remove the lid of the Dutch oven after 20 minutes. There should be a decent oven spring.
19 – Reduce the heat to 450 F and bake another 15 minutes for the stone and 20 minutes for the Dutch oven. The extra 5 minutes for the Dutch oven may or may not be necessary depending on the heat of your oven; I wanted the crust darker so I left it in a few more minutes.
20 – Remove the loaves and cool on a wire rack. Let them cool for a decent time before cutting into them. I waited about 20 minutes before cutting into the loaf baked in the Dutch oven. Fabulous. Very pleased with the turnout of both loaves.
The crust is quite well developed and very crunchy and the crumb has the holes exactly as I envisioned.
The sourdough taste is distinct although it could be further defined. The starter could be aged longer and / or longer and / or cold proofing.
Overall I am quite pleased with this and it tastes great!
Bon appetit!
