Simple Sourdough Bread

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Bread, Sourdough

A basic sourdough loaf recipe suitable for a beginner. All you need is flour, water, salt and a starter.

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 40 minutes
Total Time: 15 hours + 50 minutes
Yield: 1 loaf

Preparation

10 minutes

Cooking

40 minutes

Total

15 hours + 50 minutes*

Yield: 1 loaf

* includes proofing / resting time (if any)

Ingredients

300g high protein flour
60g levain
195g water
6g salt

Instructions

Prepare the levain
Using a glass jar, mix 30g starter, 30g water and 30g flour. Cover the jar with a lid and let it rise for 4-6 hours at room temperature. It works best when the starter has risen at least double or triple and is used at its peak, when there are lots of bubbles at its surface.
Mix the dough
In a large bowl, combine the levain and water before adding the flour and salt. Mix everything together using a dough whisk, dough scraper or wet hands until no dry flour bits remain. Let the dough rest for 20 minutes before kneading the dough into a round ball before transferring it to a container. Cover and let it rest for 20 minutes.
Bulk Fermentation : Stretch and folds
Over the next few hours, perform 3-4 sets of stretch and folds to strengthen the dough at 30-45 minutes timed intervals. With a dampened hand, grab the outer edge of the dough, carefully pull to stretch it out a little, and fold it in toward the center. Continue grabbing, pulling, and folding the dough until you’ve gone all the way around, about 3-4 times, more if needed. Flip the dough over, round the dough into a ball and let it rest before repeating the same process.
Preshape
Turn the dough into a lightly flour surface and gently shape the dough into a round (boule) or oval (batard). Let the dough rest for 20 minutes before performing final shaping.
Final Shape
Once the dough has rested, it is time to do the final shaping before placing the dough seam side up into a banneton basket sprinkled with rice flour.
Final Proofing
Cover the banneton basket with a cloth or a plastic bag and seal it shut with a rubber band. Place the basket in the refrigerator and let it proof overnight.
Score and Bake
The next day, preheat the Dutch oven to 220°C for 30 minutes. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and turnout the dough onto a piece of parchment paper or bread sling. Using a bread lame, sharp knife or blade, perform a slash across the middle of the bread at least ½ inch deep.
Using oven gloves, carefully remove the lid of the hot Dutch oven and place the dough into the Dutch oven. Bake the dough in Dutch oven with lid at 220°C for 25 minutes. After that, remove the lid and bake at 200°C for another 10-15 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 96-99°C.
Cooling and Storage
Remove the bread from the oven and transfer the bread to a wire rack and let it cool completely for about 3 hours before cutting into it.
Store the bread at room temperature for about 2-3 days. For longer term storage, slice up the bread or keep the whole loaf in the freezer by wrapping it up with cling wrap or parchment paper before placing it in a ziplock bag.

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Preparation

Cooking

Total

* includes proofing / resting time (if any)

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Ingredients

Instructions