Everyday Sourdough Loaf
Ingredients
500g unbleached bread flour, 100%
375g water 100°F-115°F, 75%
120g active sourdough starter, 24%
20g kosher salt, 4%
Method
Feed your starter 12 hours before baking to ensure it is at its peak for baking. A good tip is that your starter should float in water when it's ready for baking.
In a large bowl, whisk together the water, active starter, and salt until the starter and salt are fully dissolved and incorporated into the water.
Add in the flour and use a rubber spatula to start combining everything. Once a shaggy dough has formed, wet your hands and knead a few times in the bowl to bring the dough together. Cover with a plate or towel and allow it to sit at room temperature for 1 hour, untouched.
After 1 hour, the dough should have relaxed and will be ready for the first set of stretch and folds. Wet your hands and pull up on one side of the dough, folding it back over the top. Rotate the bowl and repeat on all four sides of the dough. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, perform another set of stretch and folds, following the same procedure as before. Cover and let rest for another 30 minutes. Once 30 minutes is up, perform the final set of stretch and folds following the same procedure as before. Cover and let the dough rest for 4 hours for the bulk fermentation at room temperature.
Prepare your banneton proofing basket or a small bowl of similar size (about 9 1/2" diameter, 5 1/2" deep) by dusting it with a light layer of all-purpose or rice flour to prevent sticking.
After 4 hours, turn your proofed dough out onto a lightly floured surface and stretch it out into a rectangle. To shape, fold each side into the middle before tightly rolling the dough up and using your hands to turn and shape it into a tight boule (shaping video for visual reference). Turn the boule seam side up and place it in the prepped proofing basket or bowl. Pinch the seam closed and cover with an elastic piece of plastic or a tea towel by placing the proofing basket in the middle of the towel and folding each corner over the top. Place the loaf in the fridge to ferment overnight (12-24 hours).
Place a Dutch oven, bread oven, or large heavy-bottomed oven-safe dish of similar size (11" diameter, 5" high) to preheat with the oven at 500°F. Once the oven and Dutch oven are preheated, take the loaf out of the fridge and turn it out onto a piece of parchment paper. Score the top with a scoring tool, a new razor blade, or a really sharp knife. Take the Dutch oven out of the oven, remove the lid carefully, and place the loaf into the pot before placing the lid back on and returning it to the oven to bake at 500°F for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, remove the lid, reduce the oven temperature to 450°F, and bake for another 15 minutes.
Remove the finished loaf from the oven and allow it to cool completely (at least 1 hour) before cutting into it and enjoying!
Notes
This is my go-to recipe for an everyday simple sourdough loaf. I have tried many different variations of this recipe and ultimately came to this being my favorite. I find I always prefer 500g of flour per loaf and I also like to be able to tell that the loaf has salt in it so I up the salt and flour compared to a lot of the recipes out there.
Make sure to use ACTIVE starter. I don’t enjoy when sourdough recipes have a “levin” part. I believe that you know your starter best and to be honest, not everyone’s starter is at its peak after only 4 hours after a feeding. So feed you start according to what you know about it and if you are new, I recommend 12 hours. If you feed it and notice that it is rising quickly and after 4-6 hours it starts to slowly fall, place a drop of it in water and see if it floats, if it does, it’s go time. Learning to work with your starter and knowing that it is not a one-size-fits-all situation will help lead to better success, I promise.
