Artisan Sourdough Bread
Time: 15-20 hours Yield: 1 Loaf
260g Warm Water (80°F -100°F)
120g Sourdough Starter at it’s peak
1600g Bread Flour
10g Salt
20g Light Olive Oil
* First, check your starter by giving it the float test. Add some water to a small bowl or cup. Add a spoonful of starter. If the starter floats on the surface of the water, then it is ready to use in your bread.*
In a mixing bowl, add water, then the starter, then the bread flour. Mix in mixer using the dough hook attachment on low speed until it is all mixed together well. Let that mixture sit for 20 minutes to autolyse. By giving your bread a pause in mixing, this allows the yeast to get a head start on rising before adding salt which will slow down the rise a bit.
Add salt and olive oil. Mix on low speed for 5 minutes to get all the ingredients well-incorporated.
Spray a bowl with pan spray and turn your dough out into the bowl. Cover to let rise.
Turn your dough every 30 minutes with a gentle stretch and fold technique. 4 folds per turn.
After the 3rd round of folds, let rise for 2 hours.
Shape into a round. Lightly flour the top of your bread and lay upside down into a lightly floured proofing basket or bowl. Too much flour will get you a crusty top. A nice light dusting is all that’s needed.
Cover basket and refrigerate overnight for 10-18 hours.
Preheat oven with a dutch oven (with lid) inside to 450°F.
Turn chilled loaf out onto a piece of parchment paper to avoid sticking. Dust with rice flour and score your loaf as desired with a clean razor blade or very sharp knife.
Transfer loaf with parchment into the hot dutch oven. Cover with lid. Turn oven down to 425°F and bake for 25 minutes on center rack. Pro Tip: place an upside down pan on the rack below your dutch oven to keep the bottom of your loaf from burning.
Remove lid and bake for another 25-27 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 204°F-206°F.
Cool on rack before slicing.
This here is my go-to Artisan Sourdough loaf recipe. I hear non-stop about how cooking blogs always have a long story associated with the recipe you must scroll through to reach the actual recipe. So, I vow to keep the recipes simple, at the top of the page, and as clear as possible. Any added fluff or extra tidbits of information that would be helpful can be found below in the text for anyone who desires to read it.
Baking more than one loaf at a time? Here are some things to consider. First off, make sure your loaves are the same size. Use your kitchen scale to divide your dough to exactly even. Second, your baking temperatures are going to change when you add more loaves.
If baking 2 at a time: place dutch ovens on the same rack and turn the oven temp down to 430°F. Remove lids half way through.
If baking 3 or 4 at once: Bake at 450°F for 25 minutes. DO NOT REMOVE LIDS and rotate your dutch ovens around. Move the ones on bottom to the top rack and vice versa. THEN turn oven down to 430°F (lids are still on) and bake for another 27 minutes.
These are my tried (many, many trials) and true hacks. If you make this recipe, please tag me in any shares about it because I want to know about it! If you have any snags or questions, please reach out! I’m hoping that together we can all become the best baker versions ourselves we can be!
Be Kind & Be Yourself,
Cassie
