SOURDOUGH BREAD RECIPE
New to baking Sourdough bread? Are you looking for a dead-simple way to bake delicious Sourdough bread time after time? Then this easy Sourdough bread recipe is for you!
Sourdough bread (the holy grail of bread!) is a rich source of vitamins and minerals and once you get to grips this very easy Sourdough bread recipe, you will have truly mastered the art of Sourdough bread making.
Sourdough bread isn’t hard to make, it simply takes time and a little bit of technique. With some practice, you will get a feel for your sourdough starter. Each Sourdough starter has different personalities and characteristics. During this process will get to know your Sourdough starter, what it likes and it doesn’t like.
If you haven’t made bread before or maybe you have had a failed attempt, this easy no-knead Sourdough bread recipe will help you to make fantastic bread, it’s perfect for beginners. Best of all this no-knead recipe works with any kind of strong bread flour and any kind of Sourdough starter (San Francisco, White, Rye etc..)
Learn to trust yourself and don’t forget that baking Sourdough bread is a process. It’s important to enjoy the process! It’s actually quite rewarding and absolutely delicious!
The Easy No-Knead Process
Kneading bread simply means pushing and mashing the dough on the counter using the heel of your palm.
If you want to take this a step further you can fold the top of the dough (towards you) after each push, or you can rotate the dough slightly after each knead in a rough circular shape. But, hand kneading is not for the faint of heart. It’s a labour-intensive process that requires a lot of work to ensure that the dough comes together. The thing is, the more force you apply while kneading the dough, the faster the dough comes together and the gluten typically develops.
So, the question is:
How can we make delicious sourdough bread without kneading the dough? The answer is surprisingly easy, by allowing a longer fermentation process where the Sourdough will actually do the work for us. We use a longer proofing time and a very easy set of stretch and folds of the dough to develop the gluten.
Bake Your Sourdough Bread in a Dutch Oven
When you first taste a warm slice of dutch oven Sourdough bread, you’ll quickly realize that nothing tastes better than the flavour of freshly baked Sourdough bread.
Traditionally, dutch ovens were made from cast iron. But, cast-iron has its downsides (they can rust quickly). So, many dutch ovens today are made from other materials, such as ceramic which are suitable for high oven temperatures.
When we cook the dough inside a dutch oven we trap the steam from the dough, which allows it to rise better. We then remove the lid and allow the bread to brown (just as you would with traditional bread making). This is a fantastic method that allows us to bake delicious Sourdough bread. This easy no-knead dutch oven sourdough bread method is so easy to do, you will wonder why anyone would want to make bread any other way.
We recommend a dutch oven with a minimum of 2.5l capacity.
The Recipe
- 600g Bread flour (compatible with your Sourdough Starter, eg Rye, Wholemeal, White)
- 12g Salt
- 375g of water
- 150g Sourdough starter (the leivan you make below)
Bread Flour
We simply can’t stress enough the importance of a good quality flour. When working with Sourdough, you will find a high protein bread flour works best. You can use any type of bread flour providing it’s compatible with your Sourdough Starter. So if you want to bake with white, wholemeal or rye flour, this recipe will work perfectly. We do however recommend white flour for beginners as it’s the easiest flour to work with. White flour will work with any of these Sourdough Starters:
- San Francisco Sourdough Starter
- Alaskan Sourdough Starter
- White Sourdough Starter
If you have already purchased a different sourdough starter, not to worry. Simply follow along and be sure to use the correct flour type.
Salt
You can use just about any salt you have available and it will work perfectly fine. However by using a good quality salt (Himalayan pink salt) it really seems to add so much more to the final bread flavour.
Water
We personally like to use filtered water. Tap water will also work though if that’s all you have. Just be sure to weigh the water on a scale, as opposed to measuring it in ml.
Sourdough Starter
Your Sourdough Starter should be already active after having a few feeds to get it going. Now remove 50g from your Sourdough Starter and place it in an airtight jar. Then add 50g of water and 50g of bread flour before mixing it all together. This is making what’s called a Sourdough Leivan at 100% hydration. This leivan (sourdough starter) will then be added to the dough later.
Now seal the jar and place it in a warm place 4 hours (the warmer the better!).
We can now move on to making the dough while we wait for the leivan to ferment.
Making The Dough
Add the remaining flour and water into a bowl and mix well. Making sure to mix the dry flour into the water until it’s well combined. When done mixing, cover the bowl of dough with plastic (cling film works well) so that it’s airtight. Leave it as is for 4 hours. This is called an autolyse which allows the gluten to begin to form.
Okay so back to the leivan:
After 4 hours have passed, check to see how the leivan is looking. You should now be able to see that it has risen and almost doubled in size.
Next add the leivan and the salt to the flour and water mixture and fold it in. This can get messy and may be easier with wet hands.
The Easy No-Knead Stage
Go ahead and wrap the bowl of dough. This will allow the sourdough to ferment and do it’s thing. Cover the bowl tightly to seal it (again cling film works well). The idea here is to stop any air getting through to the dough which will only dry it out. If for whatever reason the dough drys out, it will cause lumpy hard bits in the bread. So, make sure you wrap it up really well. Leave it at room temperature to ferment. Usually around 20c is good.
After 1 hour, it’s now time to do our first set of stretch and folds. Take some of the dough, pull it up (stretching the dough) and fold it back onto itself. Turn the bowl 45 degrees, then repeat. You want to do approx. 20 really good stretch and folds. You are basically folding the dough into a ball shape and working the dough like this helps to get a much better rise on the final loaf. You really want to work the gluten during the folding process. It definitely feels like a workout but it’s a lot easier than kneading the bread using the traditional method. Cover the bowl of dough in the plastic again.
Repeat this stretch and fold stage once an hour for the following three hours. This is known as the bulk fermenting stage.
Proofing the dough
The fridge is your friend. Use it!
In order to get the depth of flavour required for a good loaf of Sourdough Bread, we are going to use a very easy method of proofing the dough. Simply go ahead and take the dough then place it into the fridge. Leave it for approx. 12-24 hours. Longer proofing times will produce more flavour. This is called the retarding stage.
Shaping the dough
Shaping the bread dough is by far our most favourite part of the entire process. It’s when we get creative. The only problem is that shaping the dough can be difficult. So, we recommend making a boule (a round loaf) to begin with.
Go ahead and take the cold dough from the fridge and put it onto something flat, a kitchen countertop, table etc… then allow it to warm up for 1 hour before shaping. With really cold dough (straight from the fridge) you may have a tough time getting the surface tension you want without tearing the dough. So allowing it to warm up before shaping will help greatly. The shaping method below is one of the easiest ways to make a boule so let’s get started!
Begin by stretching the dough outward, starting on the right side (or left, use your good hand). Then fold it over towards the center. Turning the dough after each fold. Repeat the process a few times. Now, stretch and fold the dough from the bottom to the top and roll into a ball. Flip the dough over and fold in half (from the center), before tucking in the edges, then let it rest for approx. 10 minutes to relax the gluten. Now gently cup the dough and move it around in a circular motion to tighten the shape.
Remember, it doesn’t have to be 100% perfect (it’s bread afterall) so have fun with it. Shaping bread is a skill and will become easier with practice. This shaping method is known as making a boule (or round loaf).
Baking The Bread
Start by preheating your oven and dutch oven (230°C). This usually takes 25-40 minutes to get to the correct temperature but it really depends on your particular oven.
Preheating the dutch oven is necessary since they can take a while to get up to the correct cooking temperature. By the time the oven reaches 230°C, the dutch oven will be ready to go.
Cold dough contains trapped Carbon dioxide (CO2). When we cook cold dough it will release the gas which in turn helps with the bread rising in the oven. Often referred to as the the “oven spring technique“.
Once preheated, line the dutch oven with some baking paper and place your now shaped dough into it.
Now we need to score the bread. Most will use a bakers lame but you can cut it with a scissors or a sharp knife also. To keep things as easy as possible, simply cut one line down the center of the dough.
Don’t forget to pit the lid on your dutch oven before placing it back into the oven. Cook the dough for 25 minutes. Then, remove the lid. You should notice the bread has risen. If not, don’t worry as it will still taste great. With the lid removed, cook the dough for a further 25-30 minutes. This is called the browning stage. The cooking time is 50-55 minutes total.
Resting Your Bread
Rest your bread for at least 2 hours. Remember it will continue to cook inside and cutting into it too early means you won’t get the nice airy bread that we know and love. If you want to really allow the flavour to develop further, allow the bread to cool for 5-7 hours before cutting into it.
Place the bread on something that enables heat to escape from all sides, including the bottom of the loaf. We find a griddle style stand usually works well for this.
Sourdough Bread Storage
Sourdough Bread is free from preservatives and a full loaf of sourdough bread (uncut) will stay fresh for 3-6 days. Once you cut into it and the air gets into your bread, it will usually stale within 24 hours. If you have purchased fresh bread from a supermarket or bakery, then you will have experienced this for yourself. Sourdough bread does freeze very well. We often make a few loaves at once, after allowing them to rest we then slice them up before freezing. Toasted Sourdough bread tastes absolutely delicious! Enjoy your bread, you have earned it!
Some Dough Shaping Tips
Remember not to use too much flour your work surface. The dough will only move around and make things more difficult. We like to use a flour shaker to lightly dust the surface area. If you find you’re not getting enough surface tension (which is necessary when shaping the dough), wipe down your surface with water, dry it off and then start again.
An extremely useful tool to have is a bench knife, it’s excellent when handing wet, sticky doughs. It’s used it to scoop up the dough and to move it around as needed.
Always be gentle, but firm when shaping your dough. If not, the dough may lack oven spring when baked. If you get too aggressive with it, you might deflate those beautiful air bubbles. Your shaping technique will only get better with practice and repetition.
A good idea is to make smaller loaves. When making a standard size boule, you only have one chance to shape it. So why not split the dough in half and then shape two smaller loaves? By doing it this way, you’ll have another chance to practice.
Try not to compare. Yes, we agree, this is one of the hardest tips to follow. Your dough may or may not look like someone else’s on Youtube, Instagram etc… but, most doughs are different. They will have different hydration levels (flour to water ratio), different flour types, different temperatures and so on, which all effect the overall look and feel of the dough. For now, try to focus on your own dough until you get more experience with shaping.