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Sourdough Bread for Beginners

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Everything you need to know to start baking delicious sourdough bread. From making the starter to troubleshooting for common issues.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 100g/1/2 cup sourdough starter
  • 500g/4 cups white bread flour
  • 350ml/1 1/3 cups + 1 tablespoon water
  • 9–10g/ 1/2 tablespoon salt

Instructions

  1. In the morning discard a half of your active starter, then feed it by adding 50g of flour and 50g of water. Leave to ferment at room temperature. It should double in size after 4-5 hours depending on the strength of your starter and the temperature of your house. (It will rise quicker in the summer but might take 6-7 hours in the winter.)
  2. When you starter is nearly doubled in size. Start the autolyse by mixing the flour and water. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside until the starter is ready to be used. (It will take anywhere between 30 minutes to 1 hour.)
  3. Once the starter is at its peak add 100g of it to the flour and water mixture, then add the salt and mix well. You should have some of the starter left over, keep it until the next day, then feed it as usual.
  4. Knead the dough either in the bowl of a stand mixer using a dough hook or by hand. It takes approximately 10 minutes on low speed (I use speed 1 or 2 out of 7 on the dial) if kneading in a stand mixer. We aim to develop gluten in the dough, so to check is the dough is ready, pull a small amount away and stretch it between your fingers. The dough should stretch easily into a transparent membrane and not tear. This is called a windowpane test and is a good indicator that your dough has been kneaded properly.
  5. Cover the dough with plastic wrap, so it doesn't dry out and let it ferment for 5-7 hours. Gently scrape the dough out of the bowl onto a floured work surface. With floured hands pull one side of the dough and fold it over itself, repeat the same motion with the other 3 sides. Wrap it like an envelope and pinch at the top, so it stay together. Your dough should be full of bubbles at this point, so make sure to not knock them down.
  6. Using a bench scraper pick the dough up and flip it over, so the pinched knot is facing the countertop now. Then shape it into a ball by tucking the sides of the dough inwards with your hands. Keep spinning the dough while tucking the sides in at the same time in order to create tension on the surface, so the top is smooth and round. (It helps to have very little flour on your work surface, so when you spin the dough it catches and pulls for a taut surface. Check photos for reference.)
  7. Generously dust your banneton with rice flour (it prevents the dough from sticking!) and put the shaped loaf in the seam side up. Cover with a tea towel and allow to ferment in a refrigerator for 16-20 hours.
  8. The following day preheat the oven with your Dutch Oven inside to the highest temperature 450F/220C or higher one hour before you intend to bake. Take the dough out of the proofing basket and flip it over on a piece of parchment paper. Placing the paper on a flat baking sheet helps with the flipping. Then score the dough with a sharp knife or a blade in any way you like. Take the Dutch Oven out of the oven, pick the shaped loaf by the opposite sides of parchment paper and quickly drop it into the pot, put the lid on bake for 30 minutes, then take the lid off and bake for 15 minutes longer.
  9. Cool your sourdough bread on a wire rack for at least 4-5 hours before slicing it.

Notes

Please note:
You need to start this bread recipe a day before you actually bake the bread.

Nutrition

Find it online: https://www.delicetreats.com/sourdough-bread-for-beginners/