SOURDOUGH BREAD
You can make delicious artisan sourdough bread at home with only water, flour, salt, and time. And practice! It is part science, part art, part mystery. There are as many approaches to sourdough as there are sourdough bakers, and I am always learning and evolving my technique. Through lots of reading and trial and error, this is the basic method that works for me. I love it because it produces fantastic bread with simple processes and minimal hands-on time. With this method, you can bake bread every day or once a week, all white bread flour or a mix of white and whole grain flours.
EQUIPMENT
Quart ball jar with lid, for starter.
Dutch oven with lid, for baking.
Parchment paper.
Razor (lame) or sharp serrated knife, for scoring.
Kitchen scale, for measuring (best to use weight!)
Small mixing bowl, about 8-9” diameter, for proofing (second rise).
Medium mixing bowl, for dough mixing and rise.
Large mixing bowl, if making two loaves at once.
Med/large cloth, to dampen and cover dough.
Small cloth, to flour and line proofing bowl.
Good, sharp, serrated bread knife. Be so careful cutting this super crusty bread!
Large plastic bag, to put bowl into for proofing in fridge.
STARTER
To feed starter: put 2 oz of starter in quart jar, “discard” any extra (save for crackers or waffles!). Thoroughly mix in 2 oz room temperature water and 2 oz all purpose flour. Cover loosely with jar lid or cloth and let sit at warm room temp (~70-80 degrees) until active: bubbly, doubled in volume, floats in water. Time for this will vary, from a couple hours to most of a day, depending on how healthy your unfed starter is as well as variables like room temp, time since last feeding, etc. Allow at least 4 hours as you get to know your starter and the variables. Note: there are a lot of different approaches to how much and when to feed starter. This is just one basic approach! It is considered “1:1:1” since it is the same ratio of all 3 components. I have also had success with 1:2:2, or not even measuring the starter just add equal parts water and flour.
If baking daily, feed starter daily and keep at room temp, covered loosely with lid or small cloth. If baking less often, keep starter in fridge (for maximum of 10 days between feedings), feed at room temperature once or twice to get starter nice and active before baking.
GENERAL NOTES
Temperature of room makes a big difference for time for starter to get active and dough rising time. If room temp cool, put covered bowl near wood stove to keep it cozy. Alternatively, create slightly warm environment (80-90 degrees) by preheating oven for 2-3 minutes, then turn off, then put covered bowl in oven for rise time. Don’t leave oven on, it is too easy to forget!!
Always cover dough with damp towel/cloth to prevent drying out.
Wash things like spoons right away because it gets really crusty. Soak bowls for easy washing once dough softens.
Get King Arthur bread flour in bulk at Bread Basket (50 lbs is usually about $20, +/-). You can look into their other bulk flours as well when you’re ready to experiment. I get a bunch and freeze half while I use the first half. And/or
Freezing: Sourdough is best consumed on the same day it is baked. To maximize freshness, cool completely and store at room temperature in a plastic bag for up to 1 day. Then slice and freeze, ready to pull individual slices out for toast as needed! (You can do this with leftovers, or slice up and freeze a whole loaf this way). If you want to bake ahead and save, cool loaf completely and freeze whole. Defrost on counter for a couple hours, then warm in 350 degree oven for 10 minutes or until crust is crisp. Another refreshing technique (whether it’s a day or two old at room temp, or frozen and thawed) is to briefly run water over the whole loaf and then bake at 350 till crisp.
For best slicing, especially if still a little warm, slice loaf in half then turn cut side down to slice perpendicular "half" slices. Much more stable this way, less likely to smash loaf.
RESOURCES
EVERYDAY SOURDOUGH BREAD
By Emilie Raffa, Clever Carrot / Artisan Sourdough Made Simple
INGREDIENTS
50 g (1⁄4 cup) bubbly, active starter
350 g (11⁄3 cups plus 2 tbsp) warm water
500 g (4 cups plus 2 tbsp) bread flour
14 g (11⁄2 tsp) fine sea salt
INSTRUCTIONS
MAKE THE DOUGH: In the evening, whisk the starter and water together in a large bowl with a fork. Add the flour and salt. Combine until a stiff dough forms, then finish mixing by hand to fully incorporate the our. The dough will feel dense and shaggy, and it will stick to your fingers as you go. Scrape as much as you can. Cover with a damp towel and let rest for 30 minutes. Store starter according to preference.
After the dough has rested, work the mass into a fairly smooth ball. To do this, grab a portion of the dough and fold it over, pressing your fingertips into the center. Repeat, working your way around the dough until it begins to tighten, about 15 seconds.
BULK RISE: Cover the bowl with a damp towel and let rise overnight at room temperature. This will take about 8 to 10 hours at 70°F (21°C). The dough is ready when it no longer looks dense and has doubled in size.
SHAPE: In the morning, coax the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. To shape it into a round, start at the top and fold the dough over toward the center. Turn the dough slightly and fold over the next section of dough. Repeat until you have come full circle. Flip the dough over and let rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile, line an 8-inch (20-cm) bowl with a towel and dust with flour. With floured hands, gently cup the dough and pull it toward you in a circular motion to tighten its shape. Using a bench scraper, place the dough into the bowl, seam side up.
SECOND RISE (proofing): For immediate bake: Cover the bowl with damp cloth and let rest for 30 minutes to 1 hour. The dough is ready when it looks puffy and has risen slightly but has not yet doubled in size. For delayed bake: Cover with plastic bag or wrap and refrigerate until ready to use, 6-12 hours. Proceed with step 6 when ready to bake.
Preheat your oven to 450°F (230°C). Cut a sheet of parchment paper to the size of your baking pot, leaving enough excess around the sides to remove the bread.
SCORE: Place the parchment over the dough and invert the bowl to release. Sprinkle the dough with flour and gently rub the surface with your hands. Using the tip of a small, serrated knife or a razor blade, score the dough. Use the parchment to transfer the dough to the baking pot.
BAKE: Bake the dough on the center rack for 20 minutes, covered. Remove the lid, and continue to bake for 30 minutes. Then, carefully remove the loaf from the pot and bake directly on the oven rack for the last 10 minutes to crisp the crust. When finished, transfer to a wire rack. Cool for 1 hour before slicing.
Sourdough is best consumed on the same day it is baked. To maximize freshness, cool completely and store at room temperature in a plastic bag for up to 1 day. Then slice and freeze, ready to pull individual slices out for toast as needed!
BAKING SCHEDULES
Cold proofing in the fridge really helps make bake time flexible. Dough can be in fridge from 1-12+ hours at this stage! Cold dough is much easier to score, especially for more complex patterns. Choose simple scoring patterns on short room-temp proofed loaves.
MORNING BAKE with long cold proofing
DAY 1
Morning: feed starter (~8am)*
Midday: make dough (~noon) – Steps 1-3
Late evening: shape dough, put in proofing bowl (~8-9pm) – Step 4
Overnight proof in fridge – Step 5
DAY 2
Morning: Bake – Steps 6-8
* you can get starter out the night before, feed, and let activate overnight. Then feed again in the morning if necessary before making dough (as described above). You can always do the “float test” and if your starter is active enough after the night feeding, just go ahead and make dough first thing in morning without having to feed again.
MORNING BAKE with short room temp proofing
DAY 1
Mid-afternoon: feed starter (~3-4pm)
Late evening: make dough (~7-8pm) – Steps 1-3
Overnight bulk rise
DAY 2
Early Morning: shape dough, put in proofing bowl – Step 4-5
30-60 min later, bake – Steps 6-8
AFTERNOON BAKE with long cold proofing
DAY 1
Mid-afternoon: feed starter (~3-4pm)
Late evening: make dough (~7-8pm) – Steps 1-3
Overnight bulk rise
DAY 2
Morning: shape dough, put in proofing bowl – Step 4
Proof in fridge till mid afternoon - Step 5
Mid-afternoon: Bake – Steps 6-8
OTHER RECIPES
“FAST” 1-DAY SOURDOUGH
Here's my one-day sourdough process, adapted from Brooklyn Sourdough's recipe. It takes a lot more starter and hands-on time, but is much shorter start-to-finish and yields a great loaf. To speed things up even more, especially if my kitchen is cool, I use a barely warm oven like a proofing drawer (turn on to 'warm' for a few min, then turn OFF), for both the starter and dough rising. I also frequently scale up to use 500g flour for slightly larger loaf.
INGREDIENTS
Makes one 750-g loaf
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100 g whole wheat flour
300 g bread flour
270 ml water
150-240* g mature starter
10-12** g salt
*Note: Original recipe calls for 240g, but I usually use 150-200 and it's still fine.
***I prefer a saltier dough. Add salt according to taste preference.
Feed starter in morning (even mid to late morning works). When your starter is fully mature, start the dough: in a large mixing bowl, mix 270 ml water, (up to) 240g active starter, and (up to) 12g salt. Add flours and mix thoroughly to form a sticky dough. Let sit, lightly covered, for 1 hour.
Wet your hands with water and perform a series of stretch and folds. Repeat the stretch and folds every 30 minutes 3 more times or so. Let sit, lightly covered, for 30 additional minutes. (Average total time for bulk fermentation: ~ 3 hours.)
Then pre-shape the loaf on a clean, lightly floured surface. Set aside for a bench rest of at least 10 minutes (up to 30 minutes). Give the dough its final shaping, and:
(1) to bake in a couple hours, turn out into banneton (either well floured with a 50/50 mix of rice and all-purpose flour or lined with a floured tea towel), lightly cover, and put into the fridge until ready to bake, then proceed with instructions below.
OR (2) to bake right away, preheat oven (see below) while dough resting, skip banneton all together (sacrilege, I know!!), transfer shaped loaf directly to parchment for scoring. Very simple score required, as dough is still wet and springs right open compared to cold-proofed dough.
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Turn the dough out onto a crumpled piece of parchment paper, dust with flour, and score.
Immediately place into Dutch oven, parchment paper and all, and put the lid on. Drop the oven temperature to 450 degrees F. Let cook, covered, for 25-30 minutes. Remove the lid. Bake 15-20 minutes more or until golden brown. Remove from oven and move to a cooling rack. Discard the parchment paper. Let cool at least an hour before cutting, if possible.
