Sourdough Bread
*plan to start 2 days in advance. This gives you time to feed your starter, make the bread and then let it rise overnight so you can have fresh bread in the morning instead of late at night.
Ingredients:
70 grams Sourdough starter
245 grams Warm water
350 grams Flour
7 grams salt
17 grams hot water
*Recommendations of bakeware & kitchen tools:
It took me years of trying to get a good hard crusted bread with no success. I did all the tips and tricks with water in the oven etc… My lovely neighbor that gave me starter after my last move told me to get a cast iron baking dish and it finally did the trick. You will also want to make sure you have a kitchen scale, it is the best way to measure with baking sourdough and managing your starter. Here is the cast iron I use and the kitchen scale (that is also useful when I get serious about food portions).
Directions:
Feed your starter: The night before pull your starter from the fridge about an hour before you plan to feed it. Here is how to maintain and care for your starter. Feed your starter 12 hours before you plan to use it. The recipe calls for 70 grams of starter, and I always make sure to have some leftover to put back in the fridge. So a safe bet would be to feed/build a minimum of 40 grams of starter.
Start the dough: in the morning your starter should have bubbles in it. If it doesn’t, you should feed it again for another 12 hours. Combine 70 grams starter with 245 grams warm water, mix until combined. Add 350 grams flour (I use all-purpose flour, but you can use wheat, rye, bread flour, whatever you want…but don’t ask me about gluten-free options, that is not in my wheel house) and mix until you have a shaggy ball. Cover with a clean cloth and let rise in a warm place for 30 min. Let your bread rise somewhere that is around 85 °F. I generally start my bread in the morning and my house is cold. So I warm up my oven and let my bread rise in there where it’s warm.
Mix the salt & water: While you are letting your dough rise for the first time, mix the 7 grams of salt with 17 grams of hot water. Get it to mix as best you can and set aside.
Stretch and pull: This will be the most time and active part of the process. Don’t make plans to go anywhere for a few hours. As a work from home mom, I usually do this on a work day, and just bounce back and forth between taking care of my kiddo, working, and making bread. Haha, not a great tip for focused work, but we all do what we can.
(1 of 5) Dimple the middle of your shaggy dough ball and pour in your water & salt mixture. Pull and fold the sides of your dough up and over the water about 8 times until you have a slimy wet ball of dough. Cover and let rest for 25 min in a warm dry location.
Repeat 4 more times. Wet your hands so the dough doesn’t stick so much. Press down in the middle of the dough ball and pull up and over. Turning each time to pull from each side, about 8 times until the dough is less elastic and hard to pull. Rest 25 min between each pull. You will do this a total of 5 times
(5 of 5) On the 5th stretch and pull, let rest for 10 min before shaping.
Shape: Dust hands and dough with flour. Remove dough ball from bowl and shape into a ball by folding the edges loosely into the center back. Set on a clean floured surface and let rise for 20-30 min.
Final rise: Flour hands and shape into a ball again. Place dough ball into proofing basket. Cover and place in the fridge to rise over night. *You can also let dough rise in a warm dry place for 2-3 hours and then bake. I like to let it rise overnight so I can bake first thing in the morning. Otherwise it’s later in the day when the dough goes into the oven.
Bake: Pre heat oven to 500 °F WITH your cast iron in the oven. You don’t want to put a cold cast iron into a hot oven. Let them warm up together. Once preheated, remove cast iron and lid. Place dough ball into cast iron. Sprinkle with flour and score down the middle.
Cover and bake for 20 minutes
After 20 min, reduce temperature to 450 °F, remove cover and bake for an additional 15 min.
Remove from oven and let sit in cast iron for 5 min. Then transfer to a cooling wire rack. Wait at least 30 min to cut into bread.
Enjoy!
