My Full-circle Easy Sourdough Bread Recipe
Sometimes Back to Basics is Best
About two years ago I decided to try making sourdough from scratch. I love the flavor and the texture of sourdough, and the idea of being able to bake a fresh loaf at home any time I wanted intrigued me. So I read every article and blog post I could find, and watched countless videos in search of an easy sourdough bread recipe. Finally, I gave it a try. I made my own starter and began making sourdough.
It was good, but it wasn’t great. I wanted the picture perfect loaf with great rise, a nice open crumb and the ever elusive ‘ear’. My loaves were very inconsistent. Sometimes I’d have good rise with dense crumb, and other times they would be shaped like a mushroom cap and heavy as a brick. Sometimes I would get one nice big air hole, and the rest of the loaf would be like a tight sponge. And I never got an ear. But every loaf tasted good, even if it wasn’t pretty. So each time I made a loaf, I’d tweak my recipe and try something a bit different.
Levain has doubled.
In the meantime, a year ago, with my one year old starter in hand, I visited my mother-in-law. She wanted to learn how to make the sourdough bread I’d been talking about for the past year. So, we made bread using a recipe that I had created by changing things each bake, in an attempt to make a perfect loaf. It was an easy sourdough bread recipe to teach her. It was good, and she enjoyed it. When I headed home, I left her with a jar of starter in her refrigerator. And she continued using it to bake sourdough, consistently, once a week, using that same recipe.
Back at home, I continued to try to create my masterpiece loaf by making changes here or there. And again, each time I would bake, which was sometimes twice a week, and other times not for weeks at a time, my loaf would be inconsistent.
Coming Full Circle in my Sourdough Bread Journey
So this past summer I went to visit my mother in law again, a year after I had introduced her to sourdough baking. And we made sourdough bread using the same recipe I had left with her a year prior. And it was GOOD! It had great rise, nice crumb, and tasted wonderful. Still no ear, but hey, looks are not everything.
It hit me that her bread was so good, and mine was so inconsistent, because I wasn’t consistent. If I had stuck with one recipe, and tried to master that, instead of changing it each time, I would probably have been much happier with my results.
Other than sourdough bread, I have never been much of a baker. I’m a cook, and with that comes some liberties. If you’d like more of something, add it. If you are out of something, substitute it. But baking is not like cooking in that way. Measurements matter. Who knew!? Every sourdough baker out there evidently!
It took me two years, but I have come full circle and finally have a consistent, foolproof, easy sourdough bread recipe that makes a good loaf, every time!
Maybe someday I’ll get an ear.
Recipe Notes For Easy Sourdough Bread
This recipe assumes you are familiar with sourdough techniques and terminology and already are using a sourdough starter.
Unlike most sourdough recipes, in this recipe the starter is fed right out of the refrigerator and only fed once before creating a dough. I keep 100 – 200g of sourdough starter in the refrigerator for use in this recipe. Once my amount of starter builds up, I use the excess as discard to make sourdough crackers, English muffins, crumpets, etc.
After removing from the banneton (proofing basket), score and bake the sourdough loaf in a deep dutch oven with a lid. The bread bakes with the lid on for 20 minutes, then continues baking for 30 minutes without the lid. Some recipes will say to pre-heat the dutch oven prior to placing the dough inside, but for me, that did not make a difference in the final loaf.
The recipe sounds involved, but is actually quite simple after doing it a couple of times. It’s best to start the recipe on a day that you will be home most of the time. Each step of the process is easy and quick, but there are a number of steps, and timing does matter.
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Full-circle Foolproof Sourdough Bread
Equipment
- Large mixing bowl
- Banneton or towel lined bowl
- Dutch Oven
Ingredients
To feed your starter (make the levain)
- 112 g filtered water
- 112 g bread flour
For the dough
- 200 g active sourdough starter (levain)
- 300 g filtered water
- 500 g bread flour
- 2 tsp sea salt
Instructions
Feeding the starter (make the levain)
- Start with 100-200g of sourdough starter (see notes above).
- In a jar, add 112g of filtered water and 112g of bread flour to starter and mix well.
- Leave jar at room temperature until the levain has doubled (3-5 hours). The time will vary based on the temperature of the room.
- Test to see if levain is ready by putting a small amount in a glass of water. If the levain floats, it is ready. Proceed to making the dough. If the levain does not float, continue to let rise on counter.
Make the dough
- Measure 200g of levain into a large bowl. Cap the remainder and return to the refrigerator. (This will be the starter for your next loaf).
- Add 300g of filtered water, and 500g of bread flour to the levain.
- Mix until combined. At this point the dough will look rough and shaggy.
- Cover with a damp towel and let rest for 45 minutes.
- After 45 minutes, add 2 tsp of sea salt to the dough and stretch and fold the dough to incorporate the salt. Wet your hands as needed to prevent the dough from sticking.
- Let rest for 30 minutes, and do three sets of stretch and folds, at 30 minute intervals, covering the bowl with a damp towel between each. During this time the dough should become more smooth and elastic.
- After the 4th stretch and fold is complete, cover with a damp towel and allow to rest (bulk rise) for 2 – 2 1/2 hours. Bulk rise is complete when the dough has increased in size by 30% and has formed small air bubble on the surface.
Shape and proof the dough
- When the bulk rise is complete, gently remove the dough from the bowl onto a lightly floured surface and shape. Shape the dough by gently stretching the dough on one side outward and folding it back over towards the center. Repeat with the other side, then the the top and bottom. Using a bench knife, flip the dough over so the seam side is down. Gently pull the dough towards you in a circular motion to tighten it.
- Let dough rest, lightly covered with a towel, for 20 minutes.
- Lightly flour the inside of a banneton, or a bowl lined with a towel. After the dough has rested for 20 minutes, gently flip over into the banneton or bowl, so seam side is up. Cover loosely and let rest for 1 hour.
- Put the dough in the refrigerator to proof overnight (12 hours).
Baking the bread
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
- Cut a piece of parchment paper to a size that will cover your banneton and the bottom of your Dutch Oven.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Place the parchment paper on top of the bannton and gently turn the banneton over so that the dough is now sitting on the parchment paper. Gently lower the parchment, with the dough, into the Dutch Oven.
- Once the oven is heated, gently score the top of the dough with a lame or very sharp knive.
- Spray the inside of the lid of the Dutch Oven with water, cover the Dutch Oven and place in pre-heated oven.
- Set the timer for 20 minutes.
- When 20 minutes has passed, remove the lid of the Dutch Oven and reduce the oven temperature to 425.
- Set the timer for 30 minutes.
- When 30 minutes has passed, remove the Dutch Oven from the oven, and gently turn out the bread and remove the parchment paper.
- Turn off the oven and return the loaf of bread to the oven for 5 minutes.
- When 5 minutes has passed, remove the loaf of bread from the oven. Transfer to a cooling rack. Allow to cool a minimum of 1 hour prior to cutting.
Notes
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