This sourdough bread recipe is based on the basic sourdough loaf from Tartine. It’s a really lovely guide to making sourdough breads of all sorts, and I highly recommend it. It is, however, only a starting point. As you become comfortable making bread you’ll no doubt make some adjustments and look to approaches that other bakers are using.
The process I’ve outlined below fits well into my usual schedule (i.e., time to tend to things in the morning and evening). I usually rely on my proofing box which helps control the temperature during the long first rise.
A Word About Equipment
You can make perfectly good bread without much in the way of special equipment. That said, once you’re hooked on bread baking getting your hands on the right tools will make everything quite a bit easier.
The key to a great crust and a nice “spring” is to bake your bread in a very wet environment. For home bakers, this is accomplished by baking your loaf in an enclosed pot. A Dutch oven works nicely, but because your pot needs to be preheated, placing your loaf into such a deep container can be difficult. Fortunately, there are special pots with a shallow bottom (sort of like a skillet) and deep tops that can be used instead. If you get into bread baking, the modest investment is worth it.
You’ll also benefit from a good dough scraper, as well as a “lame” for slashing the loaves just before putting them in the oven. This slashing helps the dough to rise in the oven without tearing.
Finally, having a couple of banneton bowls and some flour sack dish towels for the final rise is a good way to ensure that your loaves are nicely shaped and can be easily transferred to your pot.
Here’s the stuff I use, along with alternatives that you may already have. (Note: if you buy anything by clicking on the links below, Amazon will give our friends a small commission. You won’t pay any more than if you’d found the stuff on your own, but I thought you should know.)
Okay, now let’s get down to the business of baking sourdough bread.
Recipe and Instructions
Makes two round loaves (“boules”)
Total time: roughly 38 – 40 hours
Leaven
1 tablespoon sourdough starter 200 grams warmish water 100 grams all-purpose (AP) flour 100 grams whole wheat flour
Bread Dough
610 grams of cool water 200 grams leaven (see above) 700 grams high-gluten flour (bread or Manitoba flour works well) 200 grams AP flour 100 grams whole wheat flour 20 grams table salt (about 1 tablespoon)
Note: The weights above are based on flour we get here in Italy. You may need to adjust the hydration (the ratio of water to total flour by weight) to get it right. You’re looking for a dough that is almost too wet to shape after the first rise. Start with these weights and adjust as needed.
Dusting for Loaves
Equal measures rice flour and whole wheat flour – this mixture is used on the loaves and on the dishtowels to ensure that the dough doesn’t stick when being transferred from the bannetons to the baking pot. Keep a supply of this in an airtight plastic container – it’s very handy.
Day 1: Evening – Assemble the leaven
Leaven: starter mixed with flour and water the night before preparing the bread dough
Combine sourdough starter, flour and water in a bowl large enough to hold the contents, and mix until incorporated. Let rest over night at about 72 degrees F.
NOTE: the starter should be at room temperature. If you’re keeping your starter in the fridge, be sure to take it out in the morning and feed it then.
TIP: You’ll have a nice amount of extra leaven, so you can set this aside as starter if you’d like.
Day 2: Morning – Assemble the Dough
Before proceeding, test the leaven to ensure that it’s ready. To do this, take a small spoonful of the leaven (without deflating it too much) and drop into a bowl of water. If the leaven floats, it’s ready. If not, you will need to let it rise longer; you can speed this along by putting the leaven someplace a bit warm – but not hot.
Tip: Now is a good time to pull off a few paper towels. You are about to get your hands into the dough.
If the leaven is ready, you can assemble the dough. Put the water into a large bowl. Stir the leaven into the water to dissolve.
In a separate bowl, mix the three flours together, and then add that to the water / leaven mixture. Mix thoroughly with your hands until all the flour is incorporated. The dough will be pretty wet and sticky. Wipe off your hands, and use a rubber spatula to scrape all the dough off the side of the bowl (this helps with clean up later). Cover with a dishtowel and let the dough rest for 30 min.
Dough at the start of the bulk fermentation
After the resting period, sprinkle the salt into the dough, then wet your hands slightly. To incorporate the salt and water, squeeze the dough between your fingers. Do this for a minute or two, turning the dough over once or twice to make sure the water is fully incorporated.
Now it’s time for the bulk fermentation. Place your dough in a quiet place, covered with a dishtowel, plastic wrap, or an inverted plate. The temperature should be in the about 70F or so. You’ll want the dough to rise for a total of 6 or so hours.
Note: If possible, it’s good to “turn” the dough once every hour for the first two hours of the bulk fermentation. If you can’t do that, no worries – I’ve gotten good results regardless. The “turning” uses the action of the sourdough rather than kneading, which is an advantage because the dough is very wet (and therefore difficult to knead). To turn the dough, run your hand under water (so the dough doesn’t stick to you), reach along the side of the container, and “scoop” the dough up and then over itself. Rotate the bowl, and do this twice more.
Day 2: Evening – Complete Bulk Fermentation and Shape the Loaves
Check the dough; it should have become a bit more slack and risen a bit.
Now comes the fun part, and it takes a little practice. You’re going to shape that lovely dough of yours into nice round “boules” and put them in those bannetons for their final rise.
This process is hard to describe in words, but I’ll try. Read through these instructions, then take a look at the two videos I’ve included. These were the two videos that shaped my approach to shaping dough.
So here we go!
First Shaping
Clear off your work surface, and carefully scrape all the dough from the container onto the UNFLOURED surface. Use a rubber spatula or dough scraper to remove the dough all at once. (The dough is your friend here; it will tend to stay together.)
You now have a gigantic blob of wet dough on your counter. Sprinkle one piece with some flour – just enough to dust it – then pat it so the flour sticks to the dough. Use your bench knife to separate the dough into two roughly equal sized pieces.
Dough after the first shaping
Using your bench knife and hand, flip one piece of the dough over. This will be a little challenging because the dough is relatively wet, but it will all come up in one piece. You don’t have to totally lift the dough off the surface; just enough to roll it flour side down.
Now you’re ready to do the first shaping. Using the bench knife and your hand, fold the dough up onto the middle. The idea here is that the bottom (with the flour) becomes the outside of the loaf. You want to make as few moves as possible while creating a bit of surface tension. You will only need the scraper for the first fold or so; you can use your hands after that.
Make the folds with one hand, and use the other to gently pinch the folds together at the top of the loaf. You may feel the need to flour your hands so the dough doesn’t stick to you, but try to avoid adding any more flour to the dough.
You will see that the dough is starting to look a bit more like a loaf. When it’s standing up a bit, gently cup your hands on the sides and rotate once or twice to make the loaf round.
Now repeat the entire process with the other piece of dough. Cover both with a dishtowel or a couple of bowls, and let rest for 30 to 40 minutes.
Final Shaping
Now that your dough has rested a bit, you’re ready to do the final shaping. This is kind of exciting because it’s the last time you’ll touch the dough – after this, the next time you’ll touch it, it will be a loaf of bread!
Place a (napless) dishtowel in each of the two bannetons, and dust each generously with the 50/50 mix of rice flour and regular flour. Set the bannetons aside.
Remove the cover from the loaves. You will see that they’ve probably relaxed quite a bit. Make sure that you have a workspace that is free of flour.
You’ll shape each piece separately. Pick one piece to work on.
Final shaping complete
First, take the side of the dough that is closest to you, lift it slightly, and fold that away from you and onto itself. Rotate the dough 90 degrees and repeat, lifting the side next to you enough to stretch out the dough, and then folding it away from you and onto itself. Rotate once more, and repeat. At this point, you will again have something that is roughly loaf shaped, with only three moves.
The last step is to create as much surface tension as possible. Move the loaf to a part of the work surface that has little or no flour on it, and about a foot from the edge of the surface (e.g., countertop) closest to you. Lightly dust your hands, and cup the loaf on the side opposite you (i.e., the “pinky” side of each of your hands will be against the work surface, and the dough will be in the palms of your hands).
Now pull the loaf toward you, rotating the loaf slightly as you do so. The front side of the loaf (side opposite of your hands and closest to you) will stick slightly to the surface, fold under the loaf, and create the surface tension you want. Rotate the loaf, move it away from you, and repeat twice more. If bubbles rise to the surface, gently pinch them to deflate. You want to create some good surface tension but not tear the dough.
Dough in the banneton, ready for the second rise
Your loaf will look really beautiful at this point. Sprinkle some of the rice flour / flour mixture on the top of the loaf, carefully lift it up, and then flip it over into the banneton with the dusted dishtowel in it. Gently fold the towel over to cover the loaf, and place in the fridge.
Repeat the process with the second piece of dough.
Let the loaves sit in the fridge overnight (for at least 12 hours), and congratulate yourself on the progress so far.
Here are the videos that show how the process works and will give you an idea of the general technique. The instructions above assume a rough shaping followed by a final shaping, as shown in the first video. But the second video does a really nice job of showing you how to do the second shaping (i.e., making the dough into a tight ball with a good, solid skin).
Day 3: Morning – Baking
About 30 minutes before baking, take your first loaf out of the fridge. Put your cast iron pot (with lid) into the oven and pre-heat at 425F. (Adjust the rack so you have enough room to safely remove the top of pot without hitting the top of the oven.)
Once your oven is to temperature, put a trivet or heavy towel on the counter. Leave room to the right side for your loaf (assuming you’re right handed).
Very carefully remove the pot from the hot oven and place on the trivet. Carefully remove the top and return it temporarily to the oven. Pick up the banneton, holding onto the dishtowel. In one confident move, flip the dough into the heated pot. The side of the loaf that was down in the bowl is now the top of your loaf.
Tip: This flipping thing is a little tricky, but don’t overthink it. You don’t want the loaf to drop any farther than is necessary, but ideally you want it to land in the middle of the pot oven rather than against one of the sides. This may take some practice; if the loaf ends up against the side of the pot, I’d suggest you leave it rather than trying to monkey around too much.
Slashing helps promote an even spring in the oven
Slash the top of the loaf. This is easy if you’re using the combo pot noted in the equipment section. If you’re using a Dutch oven, be very careful to not burn yourself while making the slashes.
Carefully (i.e., with the oven mitts) retrieve the top of the pot, put it into place, and put the pot back in the oven.
After 20 minutes, remove the lid of the pot. Because you’ll be baking another loaf, you’ll want to keep the lid in the oven. With the combo pot, it’s easiest just to put the lid upside down under the “skillet” part of the contraption.
After removing lid
Let the loaf bake for at least another 40 minutes, and probably more like 50 minutes (for a total baking time of 60 to 70 minutes).
When you have about 20 minutes of baking time remaining (i.e., 25 minutes or so after removing the lid), take your second loaf out of the fridge.
Your loaf is done when it’s attained a dark chestnut color, and when the internal temperature is about 200 to 210F. (You can use a thermometer to check the temperature; turn the loaf on its side and insert the thermometer in the bottom of the loaf.)
When you think your loaf is done, remove the pot from the oven. Use a wooden spoon or spatula to get your masterpiece out of the pot without burning yourself. Let cool on the cooling rack. (After just a minute or so, you will hear the bread “sing” as it cools.)
The finished loaf
Replace the lid onto the pot, put it back into the oven. After 10 minutes or so, repeat the baking process with the second loaf.
Wait a good hour at least before slicing into the loaf. Enjoy… you deserve it!
