It’s the big thing right now, sourdough bread! I’ve been making sourdough since 1999 when I owned a bakery. These days I teach people how to make sourdough bread (among other things) at Traditional Cooking School .
Anyone can make a successful sourdough starter and sourdough bread, it really isn’t that hard. Here is my recipe for sourdough bread using plain all-purpose flour and a starter.
If you don’t have a starter or can’t get one from someone, don’t despair, I’ll make another post later and who you how to make one or where to buy one that will work.
For this bread you’ll need:
60g of active starter. “Active” means that it is bubbly and has risen up pretty big in the container you keep it in.
350g of filtered water that is 100 degrees F. You don’t want to use tap water in this because the chlorine in most tap water can keep the sourdough from rising.
Now mix this up really well and add 500g flour and 10g salt.
Mix vigorously. You’ll have a shaggy dough. Leave it in the bowl.
Cover with a damp towel and let rest for 45 minutes
After 45 minutes, pull that dough out and stretch it and fold it about 6 to 8 times. The dough will come together and be more smooth. Just make a smooth ball of dough.
Place the dough ball back in the bowl and cover with a towel. Let it rest all night on the counter top.
In the morning take the dough out of the bowl and do some more stretch and fold on a lightly floured surface, it won’t take as many times to get a smooth ball this time.
Flour a banneton or a clean kitchen towel and place the dough ball in it. Let it rest another hour.
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F.
Gently turn the dough out on a piece of parchment and score it if you want to. It’s not necessary to score it, sometimes it comes out pretty sometimes not.
Place the dough on the parchment into a dutch oven and put the lid on it.
Alternatively, you can place the dough with the parchment paper in an 8x4x2 inch loaf pan.
Bake at 450*F covered for 30 minutes. If I use a loaf pan I cover it with a small metal casserole pan, you can use whatever you have on hand.
Uncover and bake another 20 minutes.
Put back in the oven on the rack, no paper no pan, for another 10 minutes. Or if you’re using a loaf pan, you can leave it in the loaf pan if you prefer.
Take it out of the oven and let it cool on a wire rack.
Allow to completely cool before slicing!
I have never tried the last step of out of pan on rack for 10 minutes! Helps the final crust I bet! Feeding Evelyn now – send you a picture by Wednesday. Thank you Sylvia!! You do that for your sandwich bread as well?
Hi Annie
Yes I make my sandwich bread similarly. But when it’s in a loaf pan, I don’t take it out and bake it that final 10 minutes on the rack but you could. I leave it in the pan like the picture shows, it comes out like a nice loaf, perfect for making sandwiches.