Ingredients
Scale
The Starter
- 4 oz. sourdough starter (100% hydration)
- 4 oz. of bread flour
- 4 oz. water
San Francisco Sourdough Ingredients
- 8 oz. water
- 12 oz. pre-fermented starter
- 16 oz. bread flour or wheat flour (you can also use grain flour, whole grain flour, or rye flour if you wish, depending on what was used in the starter)
- ½ tbsp. salt
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients for the pre-fermented starter in a medium bowl, and leave it to rest overnight, covered, at room temperature (80F).
- The next day, pour room-temperature water into the bowl of your stand mixer. Add the San Francisco starter and gently break it up with a wooden spoon, stirring until dissolved.
- Add 1 cup of bread flour and salt, mixing until everything is well combined.
- Place the dough hook attachment on the mixer and gradually add the remaining flour into the mixer bowl, until the dough starts to separate from the sides of the bowl.
- Knead the dough for 12 minutes on medium speed, then transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead the dough using your hands. You don’t have to knead so much during this step, as you are only attempting to gather the dough for the next step.
- Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover the dough with plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm place for 45 minutes.
- Remove the plastic cover and stretch the dough out, then fold it over itself. Grab the section of dough that is furthest away from you, stretch it up and out, then fold it back into the center of the dough.
- Rotate the bowl 90 degrees to the right, then grab the next portion of dough that is furthest away from you and repeat the stretch and fold exercise.
- Repeat this twice more, rotating the bowl each time, until you have stretched and folded every part of the dough.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise for another 45 minutes.
- Repeat the stretch and fold process, then cover and rise for 60 minutes.
- Place the expanded dough over a lightly floured portion of parchment paper, and carefully form the dough into a ball.
- Let the dough ball rise for 45 minutes.
- Shape the dough into a long loaf. Stretch the dough into a curved square shape. Lift the top two corners of the dough and fold them into the center of the dough. Lift the bottom corners of the dough and fold them up into the center, overlapping the previous edge.
- Bring the edges into the center, then turn the dough and carefully roll the dough into a log. Tuck the ends of the log underneath the dough so they’re out of sight. Ensure that the seam side is down.
- Let the dough proof for 1 hour, on parchment paper, at room temperature. The dough won’t double in size, instead, it will become puffier.
- Cover the dough with a dish towel and place the dough in the fridge overnight.
- Place a small metal baking tray on the bottom rack of the oven (this will help generate steam while you bake, and produce a loaf with a great chewy texture). Place a baking stone or pizza stone on the rack above it. You can skip this step and use a Dutch oven instead, depending on how you shaped your loaves.
- Remove the shaped loaf from the refrigerator, and preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Meanwhile, score your bread with a sharp knife or blade. Carefully transfer the dough with the parchment paper onto the baking stone. Toss a few ice cubes into the baking tray below, to create some steam. Bake the san Francisco sourdough bread for 10 minutes.
- Then reduce the oven temperature to 425 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for 35 minutes.
- Transfer the baked loaf onto a wire rack to cool completely for several hours before slicing.
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: bread
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Calories: 188 kcal
- Fat: 0 g
- Saturated Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 38 g
- Protein: 6 g
