sourdough bread.
flour, water, salt,
baker’s percentages:
80% hydration.
2.5% salt.
22.5% starter.
Ingredients:
levain:
40g active sourdough starter.
70g wholegrain flour.
70g filtered water, (85-95°F).
dough:
650g unbleached bread flour.
150g whole wheat flour.
580g + 60g water (85-95°F).
20g fine sea salt.
glutenous rice flour, (for dusting).
Equipment:
large mixing bowl.
banneton, or a bowl lined with a tea towel.
a razor, lame, or very sharp knife.
Dutch oven.
thermometer.
scale.
Yield:
2 loaves.
The oldest and simplest form of leavened bread.
Execution:
start your levain.
Feed your sourdough starter around 4-8 hours before you start your levain.
In a jar, combine your levain ingredients and mix until no dry flour remains. Cover with a loose fitting lid and let it sit in a warm environment for 4 hours.
2. autolyze, hydrating the flour.
One hour before your levain is fully active, combine all of the dough ingredients in a large bowl, except for the salt and 60g of the water.
Continue to mix the mass of dough until no dry flour remains. Cover with a damp towel and place in a warm environment for one hour.
3. combine the autolyze & levain.
Pour the levain overtop the dough, using wet hands, mix the levain through the dough and knead until everything is well combined.
Transfer to a work surface and begin kneading using the slap & fold technique. Repeat this until the dough is smooth.
Form the dough into a ball by pulling the edges underneath all around the dough. Place the dough back into the bowl, cover with a damp towel and allow to rest for 20 minutes at room temperature.
To perform a set of slap & folds, first grab underneath the dough with just your fingertips at 12 and 6 o'clock, lift the dough slightly off the surface, rotate it 90 degrees, and slap the bottom portion onto your work surface, giving the dough a stretch towards yourself before folding it over itself with the dough being held by your hands.
4. incorporate salt.
Mix the water and salt together until dissolved, pour this over the dough and mix until the dough has absorbed all of it.
Transfer to a work surface and continue to slap and fold until the dough is smooth and elastic. This may take 5 - 10 minutes.
The dough should have built a strong gluten network by now, to test this; pinch a small portion of dough and stretch it as thin as possible using both hands, if the dough is extensible enough that it becomes transparent when stretched to its limit then you have built enough gluten, if not, continue to knead.
Form the dough into a ball by pulling all the edges underneath the dough. Place the dough back into the bowl, cover with a damp towel and allow to rest for 15 minutes at room temperature.
5. bulk fermentation.
Perform a set of stretch and folds.
For the next 2 hours, you will perform 4 more sets of stretch and folds, spaced between 30-minute intervals. After each set, you will cover and place the dough back in the warm environment.
After the last set of stretch and folds, cover and allow the dough to ferment for 90 minutes at room temperature.
While the dough is in the bowl, with wet hands, gently grab an edge of the dough and pull up as far as the dough will allow you to without ripping, then fold overtop the opposite side of where you first grabbed. Perform this 4 times around the perimeter of the dough. (12, 3, 6, 9’ oclock).
6. pre-shape.
Move your dough onto an un-floured work surface and split the dough into two equal-sized halves using a dampened bench scraper.
With damp hands and a bench scraper, shape each portion into a loose ball by pulling the edges of the dough underneath, essentially forming a ‘skin’ around each ball.
Allow this to rest on your work surface for 15 minutes.
7. shaping & proofing.
Dust the boules with rice flour and gently flip each mass of dough onto its floured side.
At this stage, you will begin the final shaping of the bread. Starting from the left edge, with your fingertips, stretch the dough outwards, then fold it into the center. Repeat with the opposite side. Then stretch the bottom side into the middle, and repeat with the top. Grab the bottom edge of the dough and begin rolling the entire loaf tightly, like a cigar, into itself, with the floured side facing upwards now, pull the edges underneath the dough to create a tight outer skin
Lightly dust the exterior with rice flour. Do not make the skin too tight or too loose, with repetition you will figure this out through feeling.
Place the loaf, into a floured banneton or a bowl lined with a tea towel that has been generously dusted with flour with the bottom seam-side of the dough facing up. Tightly cover each banneton/bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for 12 - 24 hours to proof.
8. baking.
Preheat an oven to 500°F and place your Dutch oven, with the lid, into the oven for 30 minutes.
Remove your dough from the fridge and gently flip your bowl/banneton onto a piece of parchment paper. Lightly dust the top with flour, then score the dough about 1cm deep using a lame/razor blade.
Place your bread into the Dutch oven by carefully lifting the dough using the parchment paper.
Place the lid on top and bake for 20 minutes.
Remove the lid and reduce the temperature to 450°F. Bake for another 20-30 minutes, until the loaf achieves a dark brown exterior. Once the loaf is finished baking, remove it from the Dutch oven and place it onto a wire rack to cool
Repeat these steps for the second loaf.
Let the bread rest for at least 2-4 hours before slicing.
9. storage.
To prevent it from drying out after cutting, leave it cut-side down on a cutting board and cover it with a towel.
After a couple of days, the bread will go stale, to reverse this, spray the exterior of the loaf with a light misting of water then place in an oven preheated to 350°F and heat for 5 minutes or until crispy.
At room temperature the bread will last for 3-5 days and 3 months in the freezer, tightly wrapped with cling film.