Raising Recipes

This is my recipe for fresh sourdough bread with a light airy crumb and a golden crunchy crust.

What is Sourdough Bread?

Sourdough bread is leavened naturally with a starter made from wild yeast in the environment instead of commercial yeast or a chemical leavening like baking powder or baking soda.

What is Sourdough Starter?

Sourdough starter is a mixture of flour and water that uses wild yeast from the environment and lactobacilli. This ancient technique is what makes the bread rise.

You can make your starter from scratch (preferably in the warmer months, unless you have a very warm area in your home) with un-bleached flour and distilled or well water. I don’t recommend using city water, as it contains chemicals that will kill the bacteria and your bread will not rise. Your starter will need to be fed every day until it is mature (2-4 weeks depending on water and climate), at which point you can keep it in the refrigerator until you need it. It can be kept in the fridge for a couple of months in-between uses (be sure to keep in the coldest area of the fridge). You may need to feed it twice to wake it up before using.

You can also buy a starter from a reputable source, which will be mature right away, and you can start baking immediately.

What Do You Need?

• Digital scale
• Large bowl
• Dough whisk
• Baking bench scraper
• Tea towels
• Parchment paper
• Banneton basket or bowl
• Active bubbly starter
• Razor
• Dutch oven
• Sharp knife

1. Mix the Dough
2. Stretch and Fold
3. Bulk Fermentation
4. Shaping and Bench Rest
5. Second Proof
6. Scoring and Baking

To make a classic sourdough bread, you’ll need the following ingredients:

• 50-100g active bubbly starter (less if you are in a warmer climate, more if you are in a colder climate)
• 375 g of warm water (distilled or well, do not use city water)
• 500 g of un-bleached bread flour
• 12 g salt

Here are the steps to follow:

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the sourdough starter and water.
2. Add the flour and salt, mixing with a dough whisk until a shaggy dough forms.
3. Cover with a damp tea towel and let rest for 30-45 minutes.
4. Perform a series of stretch and folds every 30 mins, stopping after 2-3 hours.
5. Place the covered dough in a warm area for 8-10 hours (or until it has reached 150% of it’s size)
6. Using a bowl scraper, remove the dough from the bowl onto a lightly floured surface.
7. Perform one more stretch and fold, flip it over, and shape into a round by turning it a quarter turn and tucking your hands under the dough. Let it bench rest for 30 minutes.
8. Prepare a bowl or banneton basket with a dry tea towel and lightly dust with flour. Place the dough in seam side up.
9. Cover with a tea towel and place the the refrigerator for 12-48 hours. (the longer it ferments, the more open the crumb will be)
10. When you are ready to bake, preheat a dutch oven to 500 degrees for 30 minutes.
11. Flip the dough over onto a piece of parchment paper (seam side down).
12. Score an “X” into the top of the loaf using a razor, place it into the preheated Dutch oven, cover with the lid, and bake for 30 minutes.
13. Remove the lid and bake for an additional 15 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown.
14. Cool the sourdough bread on a wire rack for at least an hour before slicing. (If you don’t allow the bread to cool completely before slicing, it will be gummy and seem underbaked.

Enjoy your freshly baked sourdough bread!