Beginner Sourdough Bread

Instructions

1. 01

   To a clear liquid measuring cup add 80 grams of starter, 80 grams of water and 80 grams of flour. Mix together. Cover and let sit at warm room temperature (78-80ºF) for about 3-4 hours until the mixture is bubbly, doubled in size and just about to fall. Once the levain has doubled in size and has reached it's peak height, it is ready to use.Note: If you have ripe, bubbly, active sourdough starter you want to use instead of making a levain, you can skip this step and substitute it for the levain in this recipe.

2. 02

   Mix Dough: Mix 230 grams of ripe levain, room temperature water, flour and salt in a bowl using a wooden spoon or dough whisk. The dough will look “shaggy” (rough, craggy, and a little bit lumpy) at first but mix until it forms a ball. Cover the bowl and let rest for 1 hour at 78-80ºF.

3. 03

   Stretch & Fold #1: After an hour, uncover the bowl and do a series of three "stretch and folds". To do this, pick up the underside of the dough and fold it on top of itself, turning the bowl after each fold and picking up a different section of the dough to fold and turn. An example of this folding technique is found here. Cover the bowl again and let it rest for another hour, keeping the dough at 78-80ºF.

4. 04

   Stretch & Fold #2: After an hour, uncover the bowl and repeat the series of three stretch and folds. Notice how the dough is coming together. It doesn’t feel shaggy anymore and is becoming more stretchy and cohesive. Cover the bowl again and let rest at a warm temperature 78-80ºF for one hour.

5. 05

   Stretch & Fold #3: Uncover the bowl and repeat the series of three stretch and folds. This is your final set of stretch and folds. Cover the dough and let rest for another hour or two, keeping the dough warm 78-80ºF.

6. 06

   At this point about 4-5 hours should have passed from the time you initially mixed the dough. The dough should have risen about 40%, have some scattered bubbles over the top of the dough, pull away from the sides and start to dome toward the center and feel more elastic. If it doesn't look that way, let it keep fermenting for another 30 minutes and check again. Check your dough temperature and make sure your dough is in the 78-80ºF range.

7. 07

   Cold Fermentation: Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a lid and put it in the refrigerator to rest overnight. The dough can stay in the refrigerator for 12 to 48 hours. See recipe notes for instructions on baking the same day.

8. 08

   Preheat the Oven: The next morning (or whenever you are ready to bake your bread), put a Dutch oven into your oven with the lid on and set the oven to 500ºF. Preheat the Dutch oven by leaving it in the oven for 30 minutes.

9. 09

   Shaping: Immediately after setting the dutch oven to preheat, pull out a piece of parchment paper. Take your dough out of the fridge. Dump dough on the counter and use your hands to shape the dough into a round ball, gently dragging the dough on the counter as you shape it into a ball. The dough should be fairly easy to work with because it is cold. Use wet hands if the dough is sticky. Place the dough ball on a piece of parchment paper.

10. 10

    Scoring: When your dutch oven has preheated for 30 minutes, score the top of your bread with a sharp knife with one or two slashes.Note: This dough is not meant for intricate scoring. A few simple slashes will suffice. If you want to make a loaf with intricate scoring, try my more advanced sourdough bread recipe.

11. 11

    Bake the Bread: Take the dutch oven out of the oven. Warning: This is a VERY HOT dutch oven. Keep those oven mitts on and be very careful not to burn yourself. Take the top off the dutch oven and place the dough and parchment paper into the dutch oven. Place the top back on the dutch oven and close the oven door. Immediately decrease the baking temperature to 450ºF and bake for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, take the top off the dutch oven and continue baking for 20 more minutes. The internal temperature should be 205ºF when finished baking.

12. 12

    Pull the bread out of the oven. Wait until cool to cut into it. Enjoy!