Basic Weekly Sourdough Bread

This bread is a great beginner bread.  It is a moderate hydration level so it’s not too scary to work with, yet it has a nice relatively open crumb (i.e it’s a medium holey level). It doesn’t require kneading which is nice for busy days or for when the children are crying.

A couple notes:

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Sourdough works on weights better than volume most of the time so I would definitely use a scale (like this one).

Different flours use different amounts of water.  So you may have to experiment a little bit with this but for the purpose of this post this is the flour I use.

Warmth is also a factor.  If your house is warmer or colder you may have to let your dough rise shorter or longer.  For this post I am rising my dough at 68*F.

On with the recipe!

Weekly Sourdough Bread

Ingredients:

900 grams Bread Flour (found here)

130 grams Whole Wheat Flour (found here)

300 grams Sourdough Starter (learn how to make yours here)

700 grams Water

20 grams Salt (found here)

Directions:

1. Mix the starter, water and flour in a large bowl until well mixed.  Let rest for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
2. Add salt and incorporated with your hands.  Add just a smidge of water if necassary.
3. Cover and let rise until almost double or approximately 8 hours. You should have some bubbles on the surface of the dough.
4. If you are home and have the time, perform stretch and folds (here is a video of stretch and fold technique, I just do it in the bowl) every half hour for a total of 4 stretch and folds. Stretch and folding is taking the dough and stretching it up out of the bowl until it almost breaks then folding it back over on itself in the bowl. Repeat this by turning the bowl a quarter turn and doing the same thing. Keep doing this until you go all the way around the bowl.
5. After it has doubled, scrape it out onto a lightly oiled or floured counter.
6. Divide in half and loosely shape it. Let rest 15 minutes covered with a towel.
7. While that is resting get your proofing baskets or bowls ready.  This can be any basket or bowl in the shape of the loaf you are going to make or you can buy proofing baskets like these.  For my boules I use a bowl, for my batards I use a glass bread loaf pan. Line whatever you decide to use with a clean towel and dust lightly with flour.
8. Once the dough is done resting, begin shaping it.  To do this you can either shape into a boule or a batard. Here is a video showing a boule and here is a video showing a batard.
9. Once you have shaped the bread, pop it into the proofing container (upside down) of your choice and put it in the fridge overnight. It can proof in the fridge up to 12 hours.
10. In the morning preheat the oven to 500* F. When the oven is preheated line a dutch oven or la cloche with flour.
11. Take bread out of the fridge and turn out of the proofing container onto a floured or oiled counter.
12. Slash with a sharp knife or lame. Place in the baking vessel, spritz with water and put the lid on.
13. Place in the oven and turn the oven down to 450* F.
14. Bake for the first 30 minutes with the lid on. After the first 30 minutes are over take the lid off and bake another 20-30 minutes uncovered.
15. When the crust is browned to your liking take it from the oven and place on a cooling rack or counter.

Let cool at least two hours before slicing.  Trust me on this one.  If you slice it before two hours is up it will end up gummy textured.  I know it’s hard not slicing into hot, fresh bread but you can do it.

I believe in you.

Let me know, did you try it? How did it go?