Sourdough Recipe

Basic Sourdough Bread Recipe

Ingredients

• 475 g All-purpose flour (3 1/2 cups)

• 100 g starter, active and bubbly (1/2 cup)

• 325 g water (1 1/3 cups)

• 10 g salt (2 teaspoons)

Instructions

1. Feed a sourdough starter 4-12 hours before starting the dough, ensuring it is active and bubbly.

2. Combine warm water, active starter, salt, and flour with a wooden spoon or even just your hands in a large mixing bowl.

3. Cover with plastic wrap or a lid and allow to rest for 30 minutes for the water to hydrate the flour.

Stretch And Fold

1. Grab the edge of the dough and pull up stretching it out as you pull upwards. This may be difficult and you may need to kind of bounce the dough to get it to stretch. Place dough that is in your hands back into the center of the dough ball in the bowl. Turn the bowl about a quarter turn and complete another stretch and fold. Repeat two more times. This is considered one round.

2. Thirty minutes later, complete another round of stretch and folds. Cover and allow the dough to rest another 30 minutes.

3. Complete one last stretch and fold round.

4. Cover with a lid, damp towel, or plastic wrap. Let the dough bulk ferment in a warm place until it has doubled in size. This could be anywhere from 6-12 hours depending on the temperature of your kitchen and how active your starter was. Be careful not to let it over ferment.

Shape

1. Place the dough on a clean work surface that has been lightly dusted with flour. Fold the dough onto itself and roll up. Then shape into a ball by gently spinning it toward you.

2. Optional - Let the dough sit out for 15-20 minutes uncovered. This prevents the dough from sticking to the tea towel during the overnight rise.

3. Turn over and shape. I do this by folding the two sides over to meet in the middle, pinch together and then repeat on the other two sides. This creates surface tension which helps give it more oven spring (a good rise).

4. Transfer to a floured banneton or bowl with a floured tea towel seam side up.

5. Cover with plastic or place in a plastic bag and tie the ends. Let the dough rest for 12-15 hours in the refrigerator. You can also let the bread rise at room temperature for 3-4 hours. I like using the longer rise time in the refrigerator because it is easier to score and feel like the oven spring is better.

Bake

1. Preheat a dutch oven to 500 degrees.

2. Remove dough from the fridge right before baking. Place dough on a piece of parchment paper.

3. Dust with flour, if desired, and score with lame or razor blade. I like to do one large score (called an expansion score) and then a cute design for the other score.

4. Carefully, transfer the piece of parchment paper with the dough into the hot dutch oven. Careful not to burn your fingers.

5. Place the lid back on and place the dutch oven into the hot oven. Bake for 20 minutes.

6. Remove the lid with oven mitts, turn the oven temperature down to 475, and bake an additional 15-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Notes

• You will need a very active sourdough starter that passes the float test.

• The dough may seem dry when it is first coming together. Resist adding more water. Use wet hands during the stretching and folding if the dough is too sticky.

• The amount of time it takes for your dough to double can be determined by many environmental factors, such as the temperature in your home, the maturity of your starter, and the hydration status of the loaf.

• The most accurate way to create consistent results is by using a kitchen scale. I've included both gram measurements and cup measurements in the recipe

If you would like a flavored loaf, then add inclusions. Inclusions should not add up to more than 20% of your total flour weight. Be careful to choose your ingredients wisely. Natural sugar (found in fruits, veggies, etc.) will feed the yeasts in your sourdough starter, which will speed up the fermentation process and make your loaf more tangy and chewy. When you're using fresh fruits and vegetables that release water into your dough, it can be hard to know how much water you should use. We recommend starting with a dough that has around 65% hydration. This will give you a good base for adding other things like peaches, oranges, mangoes, etc. You can then adjust the amount of water in your recipe accordingly. You can also add fresh fruits during folding or just before shaping the dough. This will reduce the amount of water they release into the dough. If you’re adding roasted nuts to your sourdough dough, the salt content may become too much to handle. That’s because nuts are naturally salty on their own—and if you add roasted nuts, they can make the overall flavor of your finished loaf really salty. The salt may also inhibit the yeast from its reproductive activities. So adding too much salt to your dough is not recommended. If you are adding dried fruits or nuts to your dough, add a bit more water to the dough to compensate for the moisture that will be drawn from the dough by these ingredients. You want your dough to remain soft and supple after fermentation, not dry and firm. Next, if you're adding purees to your dough, be sure to adjust the hydration of your flour. You can do this by adding water to the puree and then measuring out the flour you need to add, or you can remove water from the puree in another way (for example, by wringing it out in a kitchen towel). Lastly, if you're using juice (like carrot juice), try to use it in place of all your water rather than just half of it! In general, the best time to add flavorings is halfway through the stretch and fold stage. At this point, the flavors will be evenly distributed throughout your dough. 

Possible Inclusions:

Jalapeno & Cheddar

Roasted Garlic & Parmesan

Seeds & Dried Fruit

Everything Bagel Seasoning & Cheddar

Sundried Tomatoes &

Cinnamon & Raisins

Lemon & Rosemary

Lemon & Blueberry

Pesto & Parmesan

Cranberries & Orange

Honey & Oats

Pumpkin & Chocolate Chips

Olives & Rosemary

Caramelized Onions

Roasted Bell Peppers