ELLY’S SOURDOUGH RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

750g Bread Flour

563g Water

12-15g Salt

150g Starter

Makes 2 Loaves

*King Arthur Organic Bread Flour was used for this recipe.

**You will need a dutch oven for baking.

***I also suggest a linen cloth lined banneton or something of the sort for proofing.

****You don’t technically need a scale but it will make your life so much easier so please just get the scale and use grams.

Making the Dough

Feed your starter! After your starter has at least doubled in size, add that to a bowl then the water and mix until the starter is dissolved into the water (TIP: Use room temperature or warm water). Add the flour and mix until a shaggy dough forms making sure to scrape the sides and get all that flour. Add the salt and use your hands to mix it in (TIP: Use water on your hands otherwise it will be insanely sticky and seemingly impossible to get off). 

(First) Bulk Rise

Once everything is mixed, put a damp cloth over the bowl and put the bowl in a dark, warm place. I put mine in the oven with the light on. Leave it to proof for anywhere from 3-12 hours (I know that’s an insane range of time, for me it’s about 5 hours, but it is completely dependent on your environment).

(Optional but for me necessary) Stretch and Folds

Okay so stretch and folds, which are very hard to explain, but are basically taking some of the dough stretching it up and folding it over towards yourself, turning the bowl ¼ turn and doing that 4 times total for 1 complete set. These can be spaced 30 minutes - 1 hour apart. I do 4 stretch and folds 30 minutes apart usually just because I’m impatient. They are technically optional but I do find it makes a difference in my dough’s texture and overall rise.

Shaping

Take it out of the oven and DO NOT PUNCH IT no matter how tempting it may be, this is not that type of bread. Now technically if you’ve done your sourdough correctly you should be able to shape your dough with just water rather than flouring your surface and/or hands. Howeverrrr I have a butcher block which is where I shape my dough and need to use flour on my surface but I still use only water on my hands. Now onto the actual shaping…flip the bowl over and let gravity do its job and let the dough fall onto your floured surface, proceed to cut it in half since it makes two loaves (about 740g each, you can measure or eyeball it). PSA I am not a professional, this is just how I do it. I stretch out the dough to make a flat rectangle, I fold the sides into the middle in thirds to form a skinny, smaller rectangle, then starting at the bottom I roll it all the way to the top. I turn the dough and roll it again into a tight ball. Using a circular push and pull motion on a less or non floured surface, push and pull the dough to create enough surface tension to create a tight ball. Put the ball seam side up in a floured banneton.

OKAY PAUSE…You can either bake it the same day or do an overnight proof in the fridge. The overnight proof can be 12-36 hours. Be careful not to over-proof. And be mindful that the longer it proofs the more fermented it is and the stronger the sour flavor will be in your sourdough.

Baking Time!

If you’re baking the same day then it needs a mini rise with a cloth over the banneton for 30 minutes to an hour. While waiting you can preheat your oven to 525 degrees and make sure to put your dutch oven in to preheat as well. When your dough is ready, put it seam side down on parchment paper and score the dough with a razor blade, knife, or x-acto blade (shout out to all fellow art school graduates) but just get some sort of sharp blade. Then into the oven and lower the temp to 500 degrees for 25 minutes with the lid on. Once it's done take the lid off and lower to 450 degrees for 15 minutes (Disclaimer: I now have a new oven that is quite strong so I adjusted these temperatures to be 50 degrees lower).

Yay all done!! Now you have delicious bread but don’t cut into it for at least 2 hours!! Muy importante!! Resist the temptation!!

Okay I know that was kind of a lot and looking up sourdough can be overwhelming and seem like a daunting feat but I promise it is not as hard as it seems!

Just the Tips ;)

• It is possible to have starter without discard. If you’re not using discard it is such a WASTE. Putting it in the fridge slows the fermentation process and allows you to only feed it what you need and then put it in the fridge until you need it next. It lasts up to about 3 weeks, it will develop some liquid at the top but just dump it out before feeding.

• Make sourdough work for you. If you only have time for 1 stretch and fold then only do 1 or 2 or none. If you have to leave your dough to bulk rise for an extra hour because you’re out then okay or you’re just impatient so you take it out an hour earlier than you usually do. It’s not the end of the world, it will be okay.

Explore recipes! You can make so so much with sourdough starter, basically anything, so don’t limit yourself and use it for whatever you want! Cinnamon rolls, cookies, focaccia, pancakes, the options are endless…