Honestly, I didn’t want to jump on the sourdough band wagon at first. It was 2020 and everyone was making sourdough, I couldn’t just “follow a trend”. But then it happened. I was given some sourdough starter. And I gave it (I mean her) a name, Mildred. And sourdough became my personality.
Over the years, I’ve perfected my basic, no knead, dutch oven sourdough bread. Let me walk you through, step by step, how to make the best sourdough bread.
Preparation:
6-12 hours before you are ready to make your bread (depending on the temperature of your kitchen), feed your sourdough starter. If you need to speed up your sourdough starter, put your starter in the oven with the door closed and the light on.
Your stater is ready to use when it has doubled (or tripled) in size, is active and bubbly, and passes the float test.
Ingredients:
- 100 Grams Active Sourdough Starter
- 375 Grams Warm (but not hot) Water
- 500 Grams White Flour
- 10 Grams Salt
Method:
Add the warm water to a medium sized mixing bowl. Pour in the 100 grams of active sourdough starter. Note that if your starter is ready to use, it will float in the water. Using a dough whisk or spatula, mix the starter and water until combined.
Add the flour and the salt to the water and starter.
Mix until a shaggy dough is formed. Cover with a towel and let rest for 30-60 minutes.
Perform a set of stretch and folds to add structure to the the dough: Wet your hand to prevent the dough from sticking. Gently grab the dough from one side of the dough, stretch it upwards and pull to the other side of the dough. Continue this stretching and folding movement while turning the bowl and going in a circle around the dough until a ball is formed. Cover the dough and let it sit for another 30-60 minutes.
Perform another set of stretch and folds. Cover the dough securely with a damp tea towel and let it bulk ferment until doubled, 6-12 hours, depending on the temperature of your kitchen. In the winter, I let my dough bulk ferment in the oven with the door closed and the light on.
When the dough has doubled in size, prepare your banneton. Dust the banneton liberally with flour- I just use white all purpose flour and have never had any problems.
To give your boule structure, fold one edge of your dough two thirds over, fold the other edge over- as if you’re folding a letter. Your dough will now be a long rectangle; roll up the dough starting from the short edge into a ball. Move your boule to the prepared banneton, seams up. Pinch the edges of the dough to seal.
Dust the top and sides of the boule liberally with more flour.
Move the boule to a large plastic bag and seal (or cover well with two damp tea towels). Put the boule in the refrigerator and allow to long ferment for 12 hours or longer.
When you’re ready to bake your bread, put your dutch oven in the oven with the lid on. In the rack beneath the dutch oven, place a small baking sheet to absorb some of the heat and prevent the bottom from burning. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.
When the oven is preheated, place a sourdough sling or parchment paper over the banneton and turn the boule out. Using a bread lame, razor, or very sharp knife, score your sourdough. This is not purely aesthetic, at least one large score is needed for the gases to escape and the bread to rise properly.
Working quickly, take the dutch oven out of the oven and remove the lid. Place the boule in the dutch oven. Pour a few tablespoons of water into the dutch oven- be careful not to burn yourself on the steam. Quickly put the lid back on the dutch oven and place in the oven.
Bake at 500 degrees for 30 minutes.
Remove the lid. Reduce the heat to 475 degrees. Bake for 20 more minutes.
Allow the bread to cool for an hour before cutting.
No Fail Dutch Oven Sourdough Bread
Equipment
- 1 Dutch Oven with lid
- 1 Banneton
Ingredients
- 100 Grams Active Sourdough Starter
- 375 Grams Warm Water
- 500 Grams White Flour
- 10 Grams Salt
Instructions
- In a medium sized mixing bowl combine the sourdough starter and water. Whisk until combined.
- Add flour and salt, mix until a shaggy dough is formed. Cover and let sit for 30-60 minutes.
- Perform a set of stretch and folds. Cover and let sit for another 30-60 minutes.
- Perform a second set of stretch and folds. Cover well with a damp towel, allow to bulk ferment until doubled- 6-12 hours.
- When your dough is doubled, dust the inside of your banneton liberally with flour.
- Shape your dough: Fold the edge of the dough two thirds of the way over, fold the other edge of the dough over- as if you're folding a letter. Your dough will now be a rectangle, roll up the dough into a boule starting from the short edge.
- Move the dough to the prepared banneton, seams up. Pinch the seams closed. Sprinkle the top and sides of the dough liberally with flour.
- Place the banneton in a large plastic bag, or cover the dough with two damp tea towels. Move the dough to the fridge to long ferment for 12 hours or longer.
- When ready to bake, place your dutch oven in the oven with the lid on. Put a small cookie sheet on the rack under the dutch oven. Preheat to 500°
- When the oven is preheated, turn out the dough using a sourdough sling or parchment paper. Score the dough using a bread lame or sharp knife.
- Moving quickly, take the dutch oven out of the oven and remove the lid. Quickly move the dough to the dutch oven, and pour a couple of tablespoons of water into the dutch oven. Put the lid on and move the dutch oven to the oven.
- Bake for 30 minutes at 500℉ with the lid on.
- At the thirty minute mark, remove the lid and reduce the heat to 475°.
- Bake for 20 minutes at 475° with the lid off.
- Allow to cool for one hour before slicing.
