The Best Sourdough Bread
This is the best sourdough bread recipe for beginners! NOTE: If I want fresh baked sourdough bread on a Sunday, I will feed my starter Friday night, make the dough on Saturday, and bake the loaves Sunday morning.
Ingredients
- 200 grams ripe sourdough starter
- 700 grams bread flour
- 300 grams wheat flour
- 750 + 20 grams warm water
- 20 grams salt
- rice flour
Instructions
Making the Dough
- Measure and combine 700 grams of white bread flour and 300 grams of whole wheat flour. Stir in 750 grams of warm water and combine with the flour until no dry flour is remaining. Cover with a damp dish towel and let this mixture sit for 30 minutes.
- Uncover the bowl and add in 200 grams of ripe starter. Use a dough hook or your hands and mix in the starter until completely combined.
- Sprinkle 20 grams of salt into the bowl and sprinkle the additional 20 grams of warm water over the salt. Use a dough hook or your hands and mix in the salt and water. Cover with a damp towel and let sit for 10-20 minutes.
- Uncover the bowl and wet your hands with warm water. Reach down along the side of the dough and stretch the dough upward and then fold it back down into the bowl. Turn the bowl and repeatedly stretch and fold the dough for 10 minutes. Cover the dough with a damp towel and let sit for 60 minutes. Your dough is now in the bulk fermentation stage.
- After 1 hour, uncover the bowl and wet your hands. Reach down into the dough like you did before and stretch and fold the dough four times. Rotating the bowl in between each stretch and fold so you fold all the way around the dough. Cover and let sit for another 60 minutes. Repeat this step 4-6 times (4-6 hours) to complete the bulk fermentation of your dough. You know when the dough is ready when it is jiggly and feels soft and airy.
Shaping the Dough into Loaves
- Now it is time to shape the dough into loaves. Flour your surface with rice flour and gently dump the dough onto the counter. Cut the dough in half using a bench scraper. Take one half of the dough and fold and pinch the edges of the dough toward the center to create a ball. Flip the ball over and use your bench scraper to create tension in the dough by scooting the dough ball towards you. Repeat this motion 5-10 times. The surface of the dough should become tight. Repeat this with the other half of the dough. Cover both dough balls with a damp towel and let sit for 20 minutes.
- Uncover the dough. Take one dough ball and gently stretch the dough into a rectangle shape. Fold the rectangle into itself in thirds hotdog style. Then take the short end of the rectangle and start to roll the dough onto itself like a cinnamon roll. Repeat with the other dough ball.
- Sprinkle the dough balls with rice flour and use your bench scraper to scoop the dough balls and put them each in their own banneton. You can also use a small mixing bowl with a tea towel. Cover both bannetons or bowls and let your dough sit for 60-90 minutes.
- Poke your finger into the dough. If your finger leaves an indentation in the dough you know the dough is ready to go into the refrigerator. If the dough springs back quickly, it needs more time.
- Transfer your covered dough into the refrigerator and let it chill for 8-12 hours. This time helps the sourdough flavor develop in your bread. The longer the bread chills, the more sour it will taste. I prefer 12 hours.
Baking the Dough
- When the dough ready to bake. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees and put your dutch oven on a lower rack. Let the dutch oven warm up in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.
- Remove on dough ball from the refrigerator and transfer the dough to a sheet of parchment paper. Use a sharp knife or blade to score the top of the bread about 3/4 inches deep. Carefully remove the preheated dutch oven from the oven and carefully drop the dough on the parchment paper into the dutch oven. Put the lid on the dutch oven and transfer it back to the oven.
- Let your bread bake for 30 minutes with the lid on. After 30 minutes, remove the lid and let the dough bake for an additional 10-12 minutes or until it is a dark golden brown.
- Carefully remove the dutch oven from the oven and use mitted hands to take the bread loaf out of the dutch oven. Immediately bake your second dough ball using the same process.
- Let your bread loaves cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting into them.