Crust and Crumb, photo by Gene Davis
Since there was sufficient interest in my original post, here are the detailed instructions for how I make sourdough bread. I will blast through the recipe, and annotate with comments at the end. I’ve tried to keep everything as brief as possible. There are photos of each key step leading to the loaf pictured above on the full post. Feel free to ask questions about anything over on the community.
Recipe:
Makes 2 1-pound loaves (approx.)
Step 1. In a large mixing bowl, mix well:
- 400 g active sourdough starter – see Annotations below if you don’t have this (Photo: Active Starter)
- 400 g water
- 300 g whole wheat flour
- 350 g bread flour
Once mixed, let rest (covered) for 30-60 minutes (Photo: Initial Mix)
Step 2. Add:
- 21 g salt
- 50 g water
Mix well. Transfer to a different nonmetal bowl (or proofing tub if available). (Photo: Ready to Rise)
Step 3. After one hour, perform several “stretches” on the dough (Photo: Stretching the Dough). Repeat this 4-6 times (waiting 30-60 minutes each time), until dough has approximately doubled in volume, and bubbles are visible throughout (Photo: After Rise). See notes on Temperature in Annotations.
Step 4. Place dough on lightly floured countertop (Photos: Ready to Shape, See the Bubbles). Divide in two, and perform stretches and folds to shape into a ball (Photo: Initial Shaping). Let rest 30-60 minutes.
Step 5. Gently stretch out, and stretch and fold into a final ball, and place into a flour-dusted bowl or basket “tighter-side” down (Photo: In Basket). Cover and put into the refrigerator overnight.
Step 6. In the morning, put a dutch oven (or similar all-metal pot with all-metal lid) into the oven. Preheat at 500 degrees for 30 minutes – you want this pot to be hot before the bread goes in it. NOTE: in the next step, ideally you are going to bake the bread on the pot’s LID, and cover the bread with the pot’s BOTTOM.
Step 7. Pull out lid from oven, turn over, dust with flour, and place dough upside-down on lid. Score top of dough with razor blade (Photo: Scoring). Put the pot bottom over the bread, and place into the oven for 15 minutes.
Step 8. Pull off the pan “bottom”, leaving the bread on the lid in the oven (Photo: Remove the Lid). Reduce the temperature to 450 degrees and bake for another 15 minutes.
Step 9. Pull out bread from oven, dust off excess flour, and cool on a cooling rack. (Photo: Out of the Oven)
That’s all there is to it! But of course, as they say, the devil’s in the details, so unless that’s enough to get by with, please read the rest of the post over on the GeekDad Community…
