Basic Sourdough Bread
This is my favourite basic sourdough recipe that can be used to make a variety of different loaves. Try using different flours, spices, dried fruit, or herbs to add exciting flavours.
Servings: 12
Equipment
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Mixing bowl
- Plate
- Parchment paper
- Banneton
- Dutch oven
- Bench scraper optional, but helpful
Ingredients
- 100 grams leaven made the night before, see instructions
- 375 grams water room temperature
- 500 grams flour I like 50% sifted and 50% whole grain, but use any ratio
- 10 grams sea salt
Instructions
Two Night Before: Make the Leavan
- Two nights before you want bread, you’ll need to make the leaven (a word from French to “give rise”). This is usually the last thing I do before I go to bed. Take out about 1-2 tablespoon of your starter from the fridge and mix it with 50 grams of room temperature water and 50 grams of flour (sifted, whole grain, spelt, or a combo, whatever you prefer as long as the flour to water ration is 1:1).
- Cover the bowl with a plate and leave it on the counter to ferment overnight (a minimum of 8-12 hours). The next morning you know you can begin making bread if you pinch a little bit of the leaven off and it can float on the water’s surface (this means it’s full of fermented gas). If the ball of dough sinks, let the leaven sit out a little longer to ferment. If you can’t get to making bread until later in the evening, that shouldn’t be too big of a problem. See how to make sourdough levain (leaven).
Morning Before: Mix + Autolyse
- Once your leaven is ready you can get started on the bread. Combine 100 grams of the leaven with 350 grams of water. The remaining leaven can go in the fridge as the base for your next loaf, keeping the starter alive. Add the flour to the water mixture and using your hands mix to combine.
- Once mixed, cover with a tea towel and let sit anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour. This gives the flour time to absorb the water and is called an ‘autolyse”. After the bread has had time to rest, add the remaining 25 grams of water and the salt. Mix well until combined. If you want to add flavours or seeds to your bread, now is the time.
Stretches and Folds
- After you’ve mixed in the salt you can do your first fold. To do this begin by getting your hands damp (it’s less sticky that way) and reach under the dough on the opposite side of the bowl from you. Pull the dough up and over towards you.
- Repeat this so the side closest to you folds over to the side away from you and the side on your left folds towards you right, and your right folds towards your left. Think of it as wrapping a package.
- Next, scoop your hands under the ball of dough and flip it over completely. This completes one “fold”. You will do one of these complete “folds” every 30 minutes for 3 hours (perfect reading or Netflix time!) for a total of 6 times. I like to write down each fold I do just to make sure I haven’t lost count. After the 6th and last fold, let the bread sit for a final 20-30 minutes. See how to stretch and fold sourdough.
Shaping
- To begin to shape your dough, gently scoop it out of the bowl, and using lightly floured hands (or a bench scraper) form into a rough ball. Let this dough rest on the counter for another 20 or so minutes before the final shape. In the meantime, get your banneton dusted with flour, or if you prefer, layer a clean tea towel in a medium mixing bowl and dust the cloth liberally with flour.
- To finish shaping, flour the surface with just a touch of flour. Too much flour will prevent the dough from sticking to the surface and getting taunt. Turn your bread over onto the counter and gently fold it up like a burrito, then flip it over so that it’s seam side down and use your hands to cup and roll the dough.
- You want to make as much surface tension as possible without tearing the outside of the loaf. Once shaped, turn the loaf into the lined and floured bowl (top-down). Gently flour the top of the loaf (which is, in fact, the bottom) before covering with the edges of the towel. See this full post on how to shape sourdough boules.
Proofing
- Pop this loaf in the fridge overnight for a next day’s bake. You can keep a loaf in the fridge for two days, but I do think it is better after just one day of fermenting. If you don’t want to retard your loaf to bake it later, let it rise on the counter (in the prepared bowl) for 3-4 hours.
Preheating
- The next day, take one of the racks out of your oven to create space. Place your dutch oven in the oven and preheat the oven to 260°C (500°F) (or as hot as your oven can go, up to 500°F). After the oven has come to temperature, let it heat for another 30 minutes to get the dutch oven fully heated.
Scoring
- After the 30 minutes is up, take your bread out of the fridge. Gently invert the dough onto a piece of parchment paper that will be large enough to lift your bread into the dutch oven. With your lame or knife, gently score bread. This allows the loaf to expand and prevents any bulges.
Baking
- Working fast, take your dutch oven out of the oven carefully. Remove the lid and gently lift the parchment and bread into the pot, being super careful not to touch the sides. Cover the pot with the lid (be careful, it’s hot!) and put the entire dutch oven back into the oven. Turn down the heat to 230°C ( 450°F ) and bake for 20 minutes.
- After the 20 minutes are up, gently take the lid off of the dutch oven (be careful of steam) and bake for another 20- 25 minutes (I like mine a little darker, personally).
- Once cooked, remove the pot from the oven and gently lift out the loaf by lifting the parchment paper. If that’s too hard, just let the loaf cool in the pot.
Notes
The more white/sifted flour used means you’ll have a lighter loaf - the more whole grain, the denser the loaf.
Nutrition
Serving: 1slice | Calories: 160kcal | Carbohydrates: 34g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 1g | Sodium: 325mg | Potassium: 0.1mg | Fiber: 6g | Calcium: 1mg | Iron: 2mg