In my email last Saturday morning, I shared that there was an easy way to make sourdough bread. We have heard from many people that they would like to know the recipe and how to make it, so we would like to introduce it to you! (Are you on our email list? If not, add your email to Sign Up on the homepage)
This post probably has more photos than any other post I’ve ever written, but I wanted you to see the bread at each step.
From start to finish, this bread will probably take you about 25 minutes to actually touch. However, it spans about 36 hours or so, only a few minutes here and there.
The key to making sourdough bread regularly is to incorporate it into your life. I feed the starter the night before I use it. The next morning, stir the dough while cleaning the kitchen.
Although the process of flipping and folding can take hours, it only takes 30 seconds each to actually play with the dough.
That evening, take 3 to 5 minutes to lay out the dough on a floured towel, wrap it up and put it in the fridge.
When I wake up the next morning, I preheat the oven for an hour during my workout. While eating breakfast and drinking coffee, I put the bread in the oven to bake.
You can modify this schedule to suit your needs. It’s flexible!
I don’t remember which site I got the starter recipe from, but I made something very similar to this recipe. I used whole wheat flour first and then gave it the bread flour that the site recommends.
I also baked a whole wheat bread recipe the day I started making the sourdough starter, so there was a lot of yeast in the air. I don’t know if it helped, but everything worked fine.
Another note about the starter: I only feed it when I want to grill. I left it in the fridge for a month without feeding it and it was fine.
There is no feeding or throwing away. Give it enough so that you have just enough to mix the dough the next day.
I’ve put the recipe at the top of the post to make it easier to find, but scroll down to see the process with all the photos.
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sourdough bread
simple sourdough bread recipe
Quantity: 1 bread
material
Instructions
Combine flour and salt in a 3- to 4-quart mixing bowl.
Add 1/2 cup sourdough starter and 1 1/3 cups warm water to flour.
Stir with a wooden spoon until the dough forms a ball.
Cover with a lid or plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes.
Remove the cover, turn it over and fold it. Lift one edge of the dough with your hands and fold it over a ball. Turn the bowl 1/4 turn and do the same thing. Continue working around the fabric until you have four folds.
Cover the dough again and let it rest for another 30 minutes. Repeat this process a total of 4 times.
Place the dough on the counter, cover, and let stand all day.
In the evening, dust a kitchen towel (without the terrine) with flour and place the dough in the center of the floured towel. Gather the dough into a ball, put it in a bowl, and chill it in the refrigerator.
The next morning, or when you’re ready to bake, place the Dutch oven in the oven and preheat at 500 degrees for 1 hour.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and place it on a cookie sheet.
Use a knife to make a slit in the top of the dough.
Carefully lift the parchment paper and place it in the hot Dutch oven. Cover and bake for 20 minutes.
Remove the lid. Reduce oven to 475 degrees and bake for another 20 minutes.
Place the finished bread on a cooling rack.
There is nothing special to make sourdough. A 3- to 4-quart mixing bowl, wooden spoon, rubber spatula, measuring cup, flour sack towel, parchment paper, and Dutch oven for baking. My sister often uses a stoneware loaf pan to bake bread.
I also use a meat slicer to slice bread. I will post more details later.
The night before making the dough (2 days before baking), remove the starter from the refrigerator and add 1/2 cup flour and 1/2 cup water. Stir well and leave on the counter overnight.
In a large bowl, combine 3 1/2 cups flour and 2 teaspoons salt. Add 1/2 cup sourdough starter and 1 1/3 cups warm water. Stir well until the dough comes together into a ball.
The fabric will look quite “fuzzy” at first. Cover with a lid or plastic wrap and let stand for about 30 minutes.
Then repeat the flip and fold process 4 times, about 30 minutes between each. There’s no need to time it.
To flip and fold, lift one side of the dough with your hands and fold it toward the center. Rotate the bowl 1/4 turn and do it again, then repeat until you have gone all the way around the bowl.
The photo below shows what the fabric looks like after being turned and folded. It took about 2 hours to complete the fourth one, but it only took about 30 seconds of fiddling with the dough.
Cover the dough and leave it on the counter all day. easy!
In the evening, dust a kitchen towel with flour and drop the dough from the bowl onto the center of the towel.
Bundle it up and put it in a small bowl. I use an old glass mixing bowl. Leave the dough in the refrigerator overnight. If your schedule allows, you can also let it sit in the fridge for a day or two before baking.
Place the Dutch oven in the oven and preheat at 500 degrees for 1 hour. Both the baking sheet and the oven will be hot.
Place the dough on a cookie sheet. Use a knife to make a slit in the top of the dough.
Carefully lift the parchment paper along with the dough and place it in the hot Dutch oven. Cover and bake for 20 minutes.
Remove lid, reduce heat to 475 degrees and bake for another 20 minutes.
Transfer the baked bread to a cooling rack to cool completely. You may be tempted to slice it and eat it right away, but I’m not saying you shouldn’t do that. It’s part of the reward for baking fresh bread!
I use a meat slicer to slice the bread evenly, bag it up, and put it in the freezer. Remove the frozen slices and toast them when needed.
I hope this post inspires you to start baking sourdough. I haven’t bought sandwich bread from the store since I started baking sourdough a year ago.
