3 Reasons To Bake This Sourdough Bread

CLASSIC SOURDOUGH BREAD

You asked for it, so here it is – sourdough bread! Here’s a post containing 3 Reasons to bake this classic sourdough bread and how to do it step-by-step. No starter? No problem! Click here for instructions: Sourdough Starter. Need comprehensive instructions? Check out The Sourdough Tutor, a day by day, step by step instruction e-book to create a starter and bake your first bread. Download and get started today! Have a starter but it’s not optimized for the best baking – read this post!

AN EASY, NO KNEAD, WHITE SOURDOUGH BREAD

3 Reasons to Make This Simple White Sourdough Bread

Here are my top 3 reasons why you should bake sourdough bread:

REASON #1: This is an easy recipe for a beginner sourdough baker using only 4 ingredients – starter, white bread flour, water and salt. Sourdough can be a very intimidating project for both novice bread bakers as well as those with yeast-risen experience but it does not need to be, start simple.

REASON #2: Sourdough breads are especially flavorful and naturally resistant to staling. The acidity in sourdough bread lends a depth of flavor that can not be achieved using commercial yeast. The acidity can be controlled to a point. For a lighter sourdough flavor, allow bread a shorter proof on the countertop at room temperature, as is called for in this recipe. If you like a strong sourdough flavor, I suggest you allow your bread to proof in the refrigerator overnight. This retards the process allowing yeast and acid to develop slowly, producing a stronger sourdough flavor.

REASON #3: Naturally fermented foods are healthier for you. Sourdough is naturally fermented creating cultures similar to those found in other fermented foods like yogurt, so it is relatively easier for your body to break down than bread made with mechanical yeasts and preservatives. It is still bread and therefore high in carbohydrates so eat with a balanced diet.

Wild Yeasts and Bacteria

They are all around us, wild yeast and bacteria spores live in the air and are even resident in flour. Depending on your region, these produce distinctive flavors. Even if you create a sourdough starter in one region and carry it to another region, as you feed it in the new region, the local yeast spores and bacteria will take over and change the flavor.

Notes about this Recipe

I use a rye starter for my bread because I like the rustic flavor it imparts to the bread; you can use your own sourdough starter, white or whole wheat or try cultivating a rye starter by using a tablespoon of your current starter and refreshing it with rye flour. I baked my bread in a round Dutch oven. Dutch ovens mimic the steam ovens in professional bakeries. I highly recommend a Dutch oven and some other equipment and cookbooks, check them out here: Recommended Products. Lastly, sourdough bread is finicky. If you do not achieve the results you were hoping for, try again! There are so many variables to learn. As the cliche goes, practice makes perfect!

Personal Vignette about Growing Sourdough Culture

If you read the About Me section of my blog, you know that I met my husband in Poland. I spend a lot of time there with his family in their beautiful little country home. It’s darling. The house is surrounded by thousands of acres of cultivated fields and natural forests. The fields rotate every year, and sometimes wheat grows, other times potatoes, sugar beets, etc. Around their home there is an abundance of yeast spores happily filling the air.

I currently live with my family on the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. Colorado is an arid place where there is very little farming.

When I cultivated my sourdough starter in Colorado, it took seven full days to get it ready to bake. While in Poland, I cultivated a sourdough starter for my in-laws. I used exactly the same method I describe here, which is the same method I used a few years ago to start my culture in Colorado. The most amazing thing happened. The starter, which took a solid week to cultivate in Colorado, bubbled up overnight in Poland!

Sharing is Caring

Convinced to try sourdough and are you ready to learn? Let’s get baking! If you try this recipe, please share it on social media, rate it in the comments section below, and share your experience on FB, Instagram or Pinterest, make sure tag me @ChristinasBreadBakes. I look forward to hearing from you!

Rustic White Sourdough

Christina

No knead, rustic, white sourdough bread with rye sourdough starter, shaped in a banneton, and baked in a dutch oven.

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Prep Time 45 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Resting Time 10 hours hrs

Total Time 11 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Course Side Dish

Cuisine American

Servings 20 Pieces

Calories 82 kcal

Equipment

• 4 Liter food container (or bowl)
• Cover for container (or plastic wrap)
• Digital Metric Scale
• Bowl scraper
• Banneton (or other proofing dish)
• Dutch Oven

Ingredients

  

• 100 grams Sourdough Starter
• 300 grams Warm Tap Water (baker's percentage: 75% hydration)
• 400 grams White Bread Flour (strong white flour at least 14% protein)
• 11 grams Sea Salt

Instructions

 

Mixing

• Using a digital scale set to metric, measure 100g sourdough starter into a minimum 3 liter food grade container or large bowl. (In photos, you will see a 6 L Rubbermaid food bin with lid).
  
• Using a scale, measure 300g warm (not hot) water. Add water to starter. Mix well with your hand to break up the starter and create a milky slurry.
  
• Using a scale, measure 400g bread flour. Add flour into slurry. Mix well with your hand to hydrate flour until there are no dry bits remaining.
  
• Cover container tightly, set aside, rest for 20-30 minutes so flour will autolyze (hydrate).
• Using a scale, measure 11 grams of sea salt. Sprinkle sea salt over the autolyzed flour and water mixture.
  
• Cut through the mixture three times by squeezing two fingertips together (like you are forming the "okay" symbol). Next, grab a small portion of dough from one side and pull dough up, then fold the dough down over itself. Be careful not to pull too much as dough will tear. Rotate the container a quarter turn and repeat. Do this a total of four times. After the final fold flip the dough over so folds are tucked below dough mass.
  
• Replace the cover and allow dough mixture to rest for 10 minutes.

Folding

• This recipe requires three folds over the next 2-3 hours. After the 10 minute rest, perform the first fold.
  
• Remove cover.  Pull a small portion of dough from the outside of the dough mixture and stretch dough up (being careful not to tear it) and fold it down over itself. Do this a total of eight times while turning the container clockwise (no cutting this time).  After the final fold, turn the dough over in the container so folds are tucked below the dough mass.

  Hint: When pulling and stretching, be careful not to tear the dough.  It will not stretch very far during the first fold, but do not worry, you will do this three more times, each time the dough will stretch further. This process produces a loose round that tightens with each additional fold. 
  
• Replace cover and allow dough to relax 30 minutes.
• Remove cover. The dough will have relaxed. Perform the second fold. Pull a small portion of dough from the outside of the dough mixture and stretch dough up (being careful not to tear it) and fold it down over itself. Do this eight times while turning the container clockwise after each stretch and fold. After the final fold, turn the dough over in the container so folds are tucked under creating a round shape. Repeat this process two more times at 30 minute intervals.
  

Bulk Fermentation (First Rise)

• After the last fold, cover the dough, allow it to complete the first rise in a warm place. Be patient! This will take between 6-8 hours depending on the temperature where dough rests. Dough must double in size before moving on to the next step.

  Hint: Using a clear container allows you to easily see the progression of the rise. After the fourth fold, mark the container at the point where the doubled bread will rise; I use either a marker or an elastic around the container to indicate this point.

  Hint: Yeast needs a warm place to multiply and perform its magic. If you have a cold kitchen (below 68 degrees) or are using air conditioning in summer, you may need to create a warm environment. If dough is not rising, move it to a warm location, in an oven with the light on is an option.
  

Shaping

• When dough has doubled in size it will be lofty with good structure, bubbles on top and inside. Flour a work surface.
• Prepare the banneton (if using) with 1-2 Tablespoons of flour. Set aside.

  Hint: If you do not have a banneton (which are costly and not required), simply use a colander or other bowl lined with a very generously floured, clean, linen kitchen towel.
• Turn dough out carefully onto a floured work surface so as not to lose too much of the gas structure.  Use the bowl scraper to coax the sticky dough out of the container. Set container aside.
  
• Pull each of the four corners of the dough towards the center. 
  
• Flip the dough so the folds are now on the bottom and you have a very loose round shape.
  
• Cup hands around the rear of the round shape and drag the dough towards you on the work surface.  Turn the dough a quarter of a turn. Gently pick the dough up and place it further away from you again. Repeat four times or as many times as it takes to create a tightly rounded dough ball.

  Hint: You will need a little friction to drag the dough ball to tighten it into a round. If there is no friction, clear the work surface of the majority of flour and try again.
  
• Once you have a tight dough ball, flour the top of the dough ball. Pick it up by gently by sliding cupped hands under either side of the ball.
  
• Gently lay the ball into the banneton. Cover the banneton with plastic wrap, a plastic bag, or a linen towel.
  

Proofing (Second Rise)

• Set the banneton in a warm place to proof. Allow the dough ball to rise until it has relaxed and doubled in size. This may take 30 minutes to 2 hours, depending on the room temperature.

Baking

• Approximately 45 minutes prior to the second rise being complete, place your Dutch oven onto the middle rack of your oven. Set oven temp to 475 F degrees. Set timer for 45 minutes.
• When timer buzzes, check if your dough has doubled and is ready to be baked. 

  Hint: To check if your dough has risen enough, you can perform the poke test. Poke the dough with a floured finger. If the indent springs back quickly, it is not yet ready to be baked. Allow it to continue to rise. If the indent springs back slowly, it is ready to be baked. If the indent does not spring back at all, it is over-proofed.
  
• Pull preheated Dutch oven from the oven and place on a heat resistant surface. Caution!  It will be very hot.  Remove and set the lid aside. 

  Hint: Leave your oven mitt over the lid so you do not accidentally grab it with bear hands when picking up the lid again. Yes! This is experience talking. 😉
• Uncover the dough. Reach your fingers under the formed dough to gently loosen its grip on the Banneton or dish towel.  Slightly tip the banneton sideways allowing the dough ball to gently flip upside down into the preheated pan (resulting in the previously folded side facing up).  Cover the pan with the lid and return to the oven.

  Hint: You are able to place the dough directly into the oven without cutting a fancy pattern onto the top of the loaf. The steam will find it's way out and produce a lovely crown. However, if you want to unleash your inner artist, you can create a pattern by slicing the top of the loaf with a sharp knife or lame after flipping it into the hot Dutch oven giving the steam an escape hatch.
  
• Bake at 475 F degrees for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the lid from the Dutch oven. Bake at 475 degrees for an additional 10-15 minutes.

  Hint: The darker the outside caramelization is on the crust, the more flavor your bread will have. I personally like to bake it to a very rich dark brown.
  
• Remove the Dutch oven and set on a heat proof surface.

Cooling

• Immediately remove the bread from the Dutch oven after baking has finished. Set bread on a cooling rack to allow air flow around the bread.
• Listen to the symphony of crackling as the crust begins to cool.
• Allow to cool at least 15 minutes, preferably 30 minutes, before slicing.

  Hint: I know it's hard to wait for that yummy first piece! However, the crumb needs time to cool so it does not get crushed when you try to cut the bread.

Storing

• If you do not use this bread immediately, it can be stored in the open air for 8 hours, or even overnight, as long as it is not cut.
• Once the bread has been cut, allow it to cool completely. Store cut side down on a cutting board for up to one day.
• After that time, slice the remaining bread, place slices in an airtight bag, and freeze the slices. Warm each slice in a toaster before eating.

Keyword bread, no knead, rye, sourdough, white flour