I’ve had some requests for my sourdough recipe. Here is the recipe and if you form the loaf into a long roll and bake on a cookie sheet… it makes a great baguette too! (See photo below). When it comes to flour, I prefer King Arthur Bread Flour myself – but I’ve used all-purpose flour from various brands and it works just fine. Also, potato flour works, rice flour and I’ll add a rendition for whole wheat below I encourage you to experiment and let me know how it turns out. Both sets of ingredients are made the same, you just choose which loaf you want to make.
There are four critical pieces you must have. Each of these has links to the one that I personally use.
- Dutch Oven
- Kitchen Scale
- Banneton Bowl
- Glass Bowl (for rising. Never use a metal bowl)
- Plastic Wrap (I like this plastic wrap because it has the razor cutter and it lasts FOREVER)
NOTE: If you don’t have a starter and would like mine (mine has been passed down from person to person and was the original bacteria/yeast used with Lewis and Clark on the Oregon Trail.) just let me know. I’ll be happy to mail you some. Or you can create your own. I’ll post how I did that recently in my next post.
JASON’S SIMPLE SOURDOUGH:
You will need:
For round loaf
1 banneton bowl (or glass bowl)
1 glass bowl
1 dutch oven (or clay baker)
1 damp towel
For baguette loaf
1 glass bowl
1 damp towel
Ingredients (white sourdough):
1lb 4oz (567g) unbleached flour
.50-.70oz (17g) sea salt (Do not use iodized salt. Iodine can kill yeast/bacteria. I usually use non-iodized kosher salt or sea salt.)
12oz (340g) filtered water (Temp can be cool or warm. Just make sure it’s not from the tap. Tap contains chlorine and it can kill the yeast/bacteria. Cooled boiled water works fine too.)
4oz (113g) sourdough starter
Ingredients (wheat sourdough):
14oz (396g) unbleached flour
6oz (170g) whole wheat flour
.50-.70oz (17g) sea salt (Do not use iodized salt. Iodine can kill yeast/bacteria. I usually use non-iodized kosher salt or sea salt.)
12oz (340g) filtered water (Temp can be cool or warm. Just make sure it’s not from the tap. Tap contains chlorine and it can kill the yeast/bacteria. Cooled boiled water works fine too.)
4oz (113g) sourdough starter
INSTRUCTIONS:
Let me first state that room temperature is crucial. You want the room temp to be between 69-74 degrees F. Cooler than that and the starter won’t break down the gluten enough, warmer than that and it will go too crazy and break down the gluten too fast. I usually put up a curtain on both doors and have a small space heater in the kitchen that keeps the temp right around 72 degrees.
- Mix flour and salt together in a bowl.
Mixing the dough
- Place your mixing bowl on your scale and tare it to 0.0 oz.
- Add 4 oz of starter then tare your scale to 0.0 oz.
- Add 12 oz of water then tare your scale to 0 lbs, 0 oz. (or you can leave it at oz, just remember that a pound is 16 oz)
- Add all of your flour above then tare your scale to 0 0z.
- Add your salt.
- Mix with kitchen mixer with a dough hook or use a large spoon to mix well. It’s not a big deal if there are a few lumps in it. Don’t beat it… just gently mix it until the dough has a raggy texture to it.
- Take the dough out and place it in a glass bowl. (DO NOT USE METAL – many metals kill bacteria and you want this bacteria to be happy)
- Cover the glass bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit on a wooden cutting board (just so it is insulated from stone counters) for 10-14 hours in your warm kitchen.
-
Mixed dough ready to cover with plastic wrap
After about 10-14 hours (10 hours if you are following the temperature guidelines exact) your dough should have doubled in size. Take it out and place it onto a floured surface. Pull it widthwise (side to side) until it is about 1 1/2 feet long and then trifold it onto itself (imagine the dough is in thirds – fold one third over to the middle and then the other third on top of that). Then pull the dough lengthwise (top and bottom if you’re looking down at it) until it’s twice as long and then fold once onto itself. Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit 15 minutes.
For the round loaf:
- Take a banneton bowl (or any glass bowl) and sprinkle whole wheat flour (or cornmeal) on it. I like to wipe a little olive oil on it before I put the flour so that the flour sticks to the bowl a little. Place the dough in the bowl and cover with a damp towel for 30-45 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, take the basket (or bowl) and pour the dough gently into the dutch oven. Take a very sharp knife (or scissors) and cut a 1/4″ – 1/2″ deep slice across the top in two directions to make an “X”. Cover with the dutch oven lid and close the oven. Cook for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, remove the lid and reduce the temp to 450 for another 10 minutes.
For baguette loaf:
- Pull dough lengthwise until it is about 2 feet long. Place on a floured surface and cover with a damp towel for 30-45 minutes.
- At the 45 minute mark, turn on the oven to 500 degrees (If you are making the round loaf, place the dutch oven in oven at this point).
- After 30 minutes, take the dough and place it on a lightly floured cookie sheet (I usually put cooking parchment paper down first as well). With a very sharp knife, cut diagonally 3 slices 1/4″ deep (see picture). Insert the cookie sheet in the oven and bake for 25 minutes.
- Cool and serve (or cut into it 10 minutes later for warm bread)
The baguette
The round loaf