Easy Steps to making the perfect Sourdough Bread

How To Make Sourdough Bread

Timeline for making basic sourdough bread:

1. Your starter needs to be fully fed and well active. Follow the 2:5:5 rule. You can feed it in the morning or the night before (11pm) if you are baking in the morning. 

2. Mix the dough in the morning. Allow it to ferment at room temperature all day and refrigerate the dough in the evening before going to bed.

3. The dough can stay in the refrigerator for 2-3 days at this point.

4. Take the dough out first thing in the morning and shape the loaf.

5. Leave the loaf at room temperature to rise for 1 1/2- 2 hours.

6. You should have fresh bread by lunch time.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Make sure your sourdough starter is active. If your sourdough has been in the refrigerator, take it out 2 to 3 days before you plan to bake. Feed it daily to make sure it's strong and very active before you make the bread.

2. Autolyse - In a large bowl, 400 grams of water, 400 grams of strong bread flour and 100 grams of whole wheat flour until there are no dry bits of flour left. The dough will be sticky and shaggy looking. Cover the bowl with a tea towel or plastic wrap to keep it from drying out and let it rest for 2 hours.

3. Add your Starter - Your dough now will be stretchy and look smooth like a baby butt. You can now add 100g of your sourdough starter into your dough using mix and stretch and fold method (a.k.a incorporate). Cover the bowl with a tea towel or a plastic wrap for 1 hour.

4. Add Salt - Now it is time to add the salt to the dough. Pour 20 grams of salt on the top of the dough. Use your hands to incorporate the ingredients by squeezing the dough until it comes together. You can stick your finger down, if you still feel the salt means you have not incorporated it fully (You do not want to have a part of salty bread later). Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 1 hour.

5. Bulk Fermentation - During the bulk fermentation phase you will do 3 sets of stretch and folds over the first 1.5 hours (one set every 30 minutes). A stretch and fold is exactly as it sounds. Place your hand underneath one side of the dough, pull it upwards and stretch it over itself to the opposite side. Continue this until you've come full circle. Place the cover back on the bowl and perform the next set in 30 minutes. You can do the windowpane test, to know if your dough is fully fermented and have the elasticity it should have - Stretching the dough till you can see through.

6. Once you've completed the 3rd set or more of stretch and folds, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough bulk ferment for 3-5 hours on the counter. The dough should rise about 1.5 times its original size and you should see signs of activity around the edge of the bowl in the form of bubbles. (It varies dough to dough but the bubbles on the side or your dough is a good indication).

7. Pre-shape - Turn the dough out onto a clean work surface and use a bench scraper to cut the dough in half. To pre-shape the dough, take your bench scraper in one hand and push it under one side of the dough. Push the dough forward with the bench scraper while turning it in a circular motion. Repeat this process until you have a tight, round dough ball.

8. Final Shape - Lightly flour the surface of the dough and then use your bench scraper to flip it over. Gently pull the dough out from the right side and fold it over to the center of itself. Repeat with the left side. Repeat this shaping process with the top and bottom sides of the dough.

Flip the dough over so that the seam side is down. Cup your hands around the dough and gently pull it towards yourself to help create tension on the outside of the dough. Turn the dough in a circular motion and repeat the pulling and turning motions until the dough has developed a "tight skin".Place the dough, seam side up, in a bowl that is lined with a floured tea towel. (You can use a banneton if you have one.) Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit on the counter for 30 minutes before placing in the refrigerator. Let the dough ferment, up to 12 hours or until the next morning in the refrigerator. This will allow the dough to slowly ferment and develop their taste.

9. Bake - Preheat the oven to 250 celsius degrees (with the Dutch oven inside). Remove the sourdough from the fridge, place a piece of parchment paper over the top of the bowl and invert it onto the parchment paper. Use the parchment paper to pick the dough up and place it into the Dutch oven. Score the top of the dough with a sharp knife or a razor.

10. Spray some water into the dutch oven to create some steam. This will help on the oven spring of your dough. Place the cover on the Dutch oven and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the cover and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes. 

11. Tough Part!! - Let it rest and smell the beautify freshly baked bread. It’s good to let it cooldown for at least 1 hour before cutting into it.