You might think that making artisan sourdough bread is reserved for the most advanced home cook. It isn’t nearly as scary as it sounds. Be careful as the Dutch oven will be very hot. Score the loaf with a serrated knife. If you follow my instructions carefully, I’m confident that you too can enjoy this amazing loaf. Preheat it in the oven for 30 minutes before baking your bread. This resting stage is known as autolyse. Lately I’ve really been liking how this leaf pattern turns out. If you don’t own a Dutch oven, you can always bake the bread on a heavy baking sheet or pizza stone instead. I was going to buy special bread-making equipment for this post so I could look all fancy and professional. Making a delicious loaf of sourdough bread is more attainable than you may think! This is what it should look like when it’s done! https://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2020/04/sourdough-bread-recipe.html You want to go fairly heavy here since the dough is wet. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content on their web site. If your kitchen is really warm, the dough will ferment much faster. Fold the corners of the tea towel over the bowl and put it back in the fridge for 3-4 hours. I want to show you guys that you can make some amazing artisan sourdough bread at home without any fancy equipment. Take your (very hot!) Note: The loaf may not rise significantly while it’s in the fridge, but it will expand crazily once it hits the hot oven. It’s especially popular among sourdough enthusiasts. This process will take about 2 1/2 to 3 hours. I wrote the recipe to be more concise so you don’t have to read through a huge chunk of words every time you want to bake bread. All you need is some parchment paper, a kitchen scale, a tea towel, a bowl, a serrated knife, and a Dutch oven or heavy baking sheet. Grab one corner of the dough and pull it up and over to the opposite side of the bowl. You don’t want it sticking to the towel when you turn the dough out! It has a 4.7-star rating and has more than 6,000 five-star reviews. This is because we’ll be inverting it onto parchment paper later. Notice the large bubbles under the surface. I make a series of slanted slices down the middle of the loaf, and two curves around the edges. After a total of 5 to 6 turns and rests, let the dough rest a final time for 1 hour. This step is optional, but it makes your scores stand out more. I can never get mine to land exactly in the middle of the paper…. If it floats, it indicates that it’s ready to be used! Now mix the flour into the water/starter mixture until everything is well combined and there aren’t any dry flour patches. Cover and bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Repeat the folding and resting process for a total of 5-6 times. It’s so much more accurate to measure ingredients by weight than by volume, especially when it comes to sourdough! On top of that, there’s the joy of eating something that you carefully crafted over the course of days. Now lift and fold the dough every-which-way until the salt is somewhat incorporated. Whisk the water and starter together. Working quickly (and carefully so as not to burn your fingers), transfer the loaf with the parchment paper to the Dutch oven. I hope my tutorial has given you the knowledge and confidence to try baking your own loaf of artisan sourdough bread. As you do more turns, you’ll notice that the dough becomes more cohesive and elastic. The reason a Dutch oven works so well for baking sourdough is that it mimics commercial steam ovens. Both a young and a mature starter might pass the float test, but they will probably result in different-tasting breads. I was shocked at my success. My favorite bowl is 8 1/2 inches in diameter and 5 inches tall. If you haven’t experienced the joy of homemade sourdough bread, you haven’t truly lived. Very similar, but I think the rise was more dramatic in the Dutch oven. Maybe it was a fluke? The ingredients for a standard size loaf of bread 1 1/2 pounds or 680 grams will suit a 5 to 7-quart Dutch oven. Buy: Lodge 6-Quart Dutch Oven, $70 For those who are in the market, this $70 option from Lodge is the bestselling Dutch oven on Amazon. What Size Dutch Oven for Sourdough Bread? The next day, when you pull the dough out the refrigerator, it should look something like this. It’s really important to give your starter the float test. Make the preferment the night before baking in a large bowl. A note about the “maturity” of the starter: A starter that’s “younger” (one that has been fed more recently) will result in a sweeter loaf, and a more “mature” starter (one that has gone longer without a feed and is starting to smell sour) will result in a more sour loaf. Scrumptious! If it’s chilly in your house, the fermentation will slow down. DO NOT open the oven for 30 minutes, or the steam will escape! It’s simply amazing toasted and spread with butter and cream cheese and topped with avocado and tomato slices. About 45 minutes before your bread is done rising, it’s time to get the oven ready! Sure, you can buy some excellent sourdough bread these days. You’ll hear the bread crackling as it cools—it’s a glorious sound! If the dough starts to break apart on top, you know it’s time to stop shaping. But I overcame my inhibitions and gave sourdough bread-making a try. Don’t worry: it will get mixed in more during the next step! Let the dough sit for 1 hour. Grab a piece and start to gently roll it on the counter, guiding it with your hands, to create more surface tension. This will prevent the dough from sticking to you. Here you can see what the surface looked like. Next, dust the top of the loaf with flour and gently rub it over the surface of the dough with your hand. Take the Dutch oven out of the oven and transfer the dough, parchment paper and all, into the Dutch oven. Now we need to work the salt into the dough. Printable Recipe: Artisan Sourdough Bread. Of course you can use a floured banneton (proofing basket) instead if you have one. I’m planning on investing in one since I bake sourdough regularly and I’m sick of dirtying my tea towels. The next part of the process involves making a series of “folds” in the dough. If you notice that your loaves tend to get really dark before they’re finished baking, you can lower the temperature to 450 degrees after the initial preheat and just after putting the dough in the oven. Letting the dough rise in the refrigerator takes a lot of the guesswork out! It basically gives the flour a chance to absorb the water. You’re looking for a nice round, taut ball of dough. When you come back, you’ll notice that the dough balls have flattened out. After several times baking with sourdough, you might be able to tell if the starter is ready without the float test. The loaf baked on the sheet is still amazing, but the one baked in the Dutch oven takes it to the next level. I’ve forgotten this step before, and it makes mixing the dough a lot harder! Turn it on to 500ºF and place a Dutch oven with its lid on inside to preheat. It gives it a nice flavor, but the texture isn’t as light. Here you can see a comparison of the crumbs: the one baked on the baking sheet is on the left, and the one baked in the Dutch oven is on the right. Every item on this page was chosen by The Pioneer Woman team. I talked all about sourdough starters: how to make one, and how to maintain one. Here’s a comparison of a loaf baked on a baking sheet (on the left) vs one baked in a Dutch oven (on the right). But it’s best if you can wait for an hour or two so you don’t let all of the steam out of the loaf right away. But it’s a good idea to utilize it the first few times you bake. Okay, I’m exaggerating (a bit). (Note: Some home bakers say that preheating their empty enameled Dutch oven has caused it to crack, but plenty of reviewers and even … Bake covered for 30 minutes. To create that steam, you’ll need to preheat a metal rimmed baking pan under the baking sheet as well. If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer them! It’s so important to start your bread-making with a healthy, active starter. The site may earn a commission on some products. But it’s something that a food enthusiast should taste at least once in their life. You want the Dutch oven to preheat for 30 minutes before baking your bread. This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. It traps the steam while the dough bakes, creating a beautiful crust. One of my favorite ways to eat fresh sourdough bread is spread with some good-quality butter. I’m planning on investing in one of those as well because a knife tends to stick to the dough while you’re scoring it. The Pioneer Woman participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. Remove the lid and bake uncovered for an additional 10–15 minutes, or until the crust is deep golden brown and the loaf sounds hollow when rapped on the bottom. It’s a good idea to choose a bowl that has a lid if you have one, because we’ll be proofing the dough in the same bowl that we mix it in. https://www.homemadefoodjunkie.com/tartine-style-sourdough-bread-recipe Dutch oven out of the oven. But no, I have been able to achieve the same results again and again. In the morning, it had doubled and had lots of little holes.