Sourdough Bread: A Beginner's Guide
Directions
- 1Combine sourdough starter, water, and olive oil in a large bowl; mix with a fork.
- 2Add flour and salt; mix until stiff, then squish together with hands.
- 3Cover and let rest (autolyse) for 30-60 minutes.
- 4Work dough into a rough ball.
- 5Cover and let bulk rise in a warm spot (70-75°F) until almost doubled (3-12 hours).
- 6Optional: perform stretch and folds during bulk rise.
- 7Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface.
- 8Cut dough in half (for 2 loaves) or leave whole.
- 9Shape dough into a boule.
- 10Coat Dutch oven with cornmeal or line with parchment paper.
- 11Place dough in Dutch oven and let rise for 30-60 minutes.
- 12Preheat oven to 450°F.
- 13Score the dough.
- 14Bake with lid on at 400°F for 20 minutes.
- 15Remove lid and bake for another 40 minutes, or until golden brown (internal temp 205-210°F).
- 16Cool on a wire rack for at least 1 hour before slicing
Ingredients
- 150 g bubbly, active sourdough starter
- 250 g warm water, preferably filtered
- 25 g olive oil
- 500 g bread flour
- 10 g fine sea salt
- 0 fine ground cornmeal or parchment paper
Equipment
large bowlforkplastic wrapreusable wax wrapdamp kitchen toweldough tubDutch ovencornmeal or parchment paperbread lame, razor blade, sharp pairing knife, or small serrated steak knifewire rack
Tips
- For best results, weigh all ingredients using a digital kitchen scale.
- For a softer dough, increase water to 300-325g and use a cloth-lined bowl for the second rise.
- Use a 5 1/2 or 6 quart Dutch oven.
- This recipe was tested with King Arthur, Gold Medal, and Pillsbury Bread Flour.
- Optional: perform stretch and folds during bulk rise.
- Use cornmeal or parchment paper in the Dutch oven to prevent sticking.
- Optional: crack oven door during last 10 minutes of baking to crisp the crust.
- Optional: bake directly on rack for crispier crust after removing from pot at 20 minutes
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