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Beginner Sourdough Recipe: Step-by-Step Guide to Perfect Sourdough Bread

Perfect Sourdough Bread

Ingredients

Scale

Sourdough starter

  • 75 g white wheat flour
  • 75 g water
  • 1 tablespoon of mother sourdough starter

Dough

  • 400 g of white wheat flour
  • 290 g water at 30°C/86°F (72.5 % hydration of the dough)
  • 8 g salt
  • 150 g sourdough starter

Tools

  • a bowl for mixing the dough
  • dough spatula or bench knife for handling and cutting the dough
  • digital scale to measure the ingredients
  • bread rising basket (banneton)
  • dutch oven for baking (or baking stone)
  • blade or sharp knife for scoring the dough

Instructions

STARTER

  1. First, you will need an active and healthy mother sourdough starter.
  2. In the evening, mix 75 g of white wheat flour (bread flour) with 75 g of water and 1 tablespoon of your mother sourdough starter. You can use a smaller jar or a smaller bowl, whatever you prefer, however, if you use a glass jar, you will be able to see the starter’s activity better. In the morning, the volume of the starter should be doubled and there should be bubbles at the side and at the top.

DOUGH

  1. In the evening, also mix the dough, – but only flour (400 g) and water (280 g – leave 10 g for the morning when you will mix in the salt).
  2. In the morning, mix your starter into the dough and knead the dough well for couple of minutes. Next, leave it to rest for one hour before putting in the salt.
  3. After 1 hour has passed, add the salt and the remaining 10 g of water. Also, depending on the consistency of the dough, now it’s the time to add more water to the dough.
  4. Next, leave the dough for the bulk fermentation. In this period, the dough should get stronger, puffed, and airy and should also increase in the volume (appr. by 30-40%).
  5. During the bulk fermentation, you can also perform a series of stretch and fold (3-5 times in intevals of 30-45 minutes). This will help the dough to gain strength. To perform stretch and fold, grab the dough at one side, pull it up and fold it over itself. Repeat on four sides of the dough.
  6. At the end of the bulk fermentation the dough should feel puffed, strong and greasy to the touch and should have nice pleasant sweet smell. Undeveloped dough in the bulk fermentation could be one of the reasons for underproofed bread.

PRESHAPING, SHAPING and FINAL RISE

  1. Once the bulk fermentation is finished, take the dough to unfloured surface. Lightly dust it with flour, then take your bench knife or spatula and flip the dough upside down, so the floured side in on the bench now (or if you prefer – dust the bench and simply turn the dough out of the bowl).
  2. Using the bench knife, flip the dough over itself and use hand moves the shape it into round shape.
  3. If the dough was correctly fermented, then you will see small (or big) bubbles on the surface of the dough. Leave the dough to rest and relax for 10-15 minutes, the shaping will be easier then.
  4. In the meantime, prepare the rising basket. Cover it with a kitchen cloth and lightly dust it with flour (left photo below). Observe how the dough relaxes and spreads in ten minutes (right photo below).
  5. After ten minutes have passed, take your bench knife or spatula and carefully turn the dough upside down. Start shaping the bread by pulling the bottom part of the dough and folding it onto itself (right photo below).
  6. Next, pull the left and right side and fold them over as well. You can also continue folding left and right side to the top of the dough and folding in the next step gets easier.
  7. Fold the upper part of the dough towards the bottom, then use your hands or bench knife to roll the dough to create the tension on the surface (right photo below).
  8. Flip the dough into the rising basket smooth side down. Dust it with flour and then cover it with the rest of the cloth. Put the rising basket into the plastic bag to prevent the dough from drying out while rising. This step is especially important when your let your dough rise in the fridge.
  9. My dough needed 3 hours at the room temperature and 1 hour in the fridge to rise fully (right photo below). The reason I put the dough in the fridge is the fact that it is much easier to score the dough if it has been left in the fridge for some time.
  10. To check if the dough is ready to be put in the oven, gently press the dough and observe the reaction of the indent. If it fills up very quickly, then it’s not ready. The dough is ready, when the indent comes back slowly and when the volume is also increased.

BAKING

  1. At least 30 minutes before the dough is ready to be put in the oven, heat the oven along with the dough oven to the highest temperature.
  2. When it’s heated, transfer the dough into the Dutch oven. The easiest way to do it is to put a piece of parchment paper and the cutting board over the rising basket and then simply flip it.
  3. Score the dough using a blade, scissors or sharp knife. Cover the Dutch oven with a lid and transfer the Dutch oven to the oven. Bake for 20 minutes at 240°C (464°F), then take the lid off (right photo below) and bake for another 20-25 minutes (or until golden brown) at 230°C (464°F).
  4. When the bread is baked, take it out of the dutch oven and leave it on the cooling rack to cool down before cutting.

Notes

  • ALTERNATIVE: I sometimes skip the long overnight autolysis and instead I mix the dough in the morning and leave it in autolyse for an hour or hour and half. The best way is to experiment and to find out what suits your flour best.
  • Author: Natasha Krajnc