Sourdough Bread
Real sourdough bread: four ingredients — bread flour, water, salt, active starter — and two to three days of patient fermentation. No yeast, no additives. The starter (a living culture of wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria) leavens the dough while simultaneously producing the organic acids that give sourdough its characteristic tang and dense, chewy crumb. The signature is the crust: baked inside a covered Dutch oven, it shatters when you cut it. The open crumb — an irregular network of large and small holes visible when sliced — comes from strong gluten development through stretch-and-folds and a long cold proof that slows fermentation and develops flavor. One of the most technically demanding home bakes; also one of the most rewarding.
Ingredients
- 450 gbread flour
- 50 gwhole wheat flour
- 350 mlwater
- 10 gfine sea salt
- 100 gactive sourdough starter
Method
- Autolyse. Mix the bread flour, whole wheat flour, and 320 ml of water in a large bowl until no dry flour remains. The dough will be shaggy and rough — this is correct. Cover and rest at room temperature for 1 hour. This rest allows gluten to develop passively without kneading. If your starter is not yet ready (peaked and doubled), let the autolyse rest longer — it is forgiving.
- Add starter and salt. Sprinkle the salt over the autolysed dough and pour the reserved 30 ml of water on top. Add the active starter. Using wet hands, pinch and fold everything together for 3 to 5 minutes until fully incorporated and the dough feels cohesive. Transfer to a clean large bowl or container. This is the start of bulk fermentation.
- Bulk fermentation with stretch-and-folds. Cover the dough and let it ferment at room temperature (24–26°C / 75–79°F) for 4 to 5 hours. During the first 2 hours, perform 4 sets of stretch-and-folds, each 30 minutes apart: wet your hand, grab one side of the dough, stretch it up as high as it will go without tearing, and fold it over the center. Rotate the bowl 90° and repeat three more times, completing one full set. The dough is ready when it has grown 50 to 75%, feels airy and jiggly, and the surface shows visible bubbles.
- Shape and cold proof. Turn the dough onto an unfloured surface. Fold the edges toward the center, flip it seam-side-down, and drag it toward you to build surface tension — the dough should feel taut. Let it rest 20 minutes uncovered (bench rest). Shape again into a tight boule or batard. Place seam-side-up in a well-floured banneton (proofing basket) or a bowl lined with a well-floured cloth. Cover with a plastic bag and refrigerate 8 to 16 hours. The cold retard slows fermentation and develops flavor.
- Bake. One hour before baking, place a covered Dutch oven (4–5 liter) in the oven and preheat to 250°C (480°F). Cut a piece of baking paper larger than the loaf. Remove the cold dough from the fridge, flip it onto the baking paper, and score the surface decisively with a sharp lame or razor blade — at least 5 mm deep, at 30 to 45 degrees. Lift the dough on the paper into the screaming-hot Dutch oven. Cover and bake 20 minutes. Remove the lid, reduce to 230°C (445°F) and bake 25 more minutes until deeply caramel-brown. The crust must be dark — a pale loaf will have a dense crumb. Cool on a wire rack at least 1 hour before cutting. Cutting early releases steam and produces a gummy crumb.
FAQ
A sourdough starter is a live fermented culture of wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria sustained by regular feedings of flour and water. The wild yeast produces CO2 that leavens the bread; the bacteria produce lactic and acetic acids that create flavor and tang. A starter is ready to bake with when it has doubled or tripled in volume since its last feeding, has visible bubbles throughout, smells pleasantly sour and yeasty (not sharp or alcoholic), and passes the float test: a spoonful dropped in water floats. This peak activity window lasts 2 to 4 hours depending on temperature — bake within this window.
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Comments (2)
Been trying to get my starter right for weeks. This recipe finally worked! I think my kitchen was too cold before, moved it near the window during the day and it took off. Crumb isnt perfect yet but getting there.
Sourdough is the only recipe on this site where I genuinely cannot give you a guaranteed timeline. Your starter, your flour, your kitchen temperature — everything matters. What I can tell you is this: the dough is ready when it has doubled and passes the poke test (press a floured finger in, it springs back slowly). Not when the clock says so. I bulk ferment at room temperature for anywhere between 4 and 8 hours depending on the season. In winter it can take 12. Trust the dough, not the timer.