I was one of those people who was (semi) resolved never to make a delicious loaf of sourdough. As much as I loved cooking and baking, I had to rely on instant yeast to get my bread to rise an inch.
Now, after what seems like tens of gummy and unappetizing loaves, I've fine-tuned my technique, found a recipe that works, and have made a more dramatic switch in my sourdough game than Jojo Siwa has in her music career.
Please note: while I make delicious sourdough bread, I wouldn't say I'm a sourdough master, and I'd still love to get a huge, airy, bubbly crumb. But I can say that if you follow the steps below, the result will be a crispy-crusted, fluffy creation that would make your foremothers proud.
I credit this recipe for finally leading me in the right direction. No fancy tools and only one set of stretch and folds near the beginning.
Also note that the recipe I curated was used in early spring in southern California, and your location could vary bulk fermentation times. As long as your dough jiggles like jello and falls easily from your vessel (more on that later) you should be good to shape. For me, this was 12 hours.
A few key tips before we begin
1. DO NOT make your starter*. I've tried this, the bread was awful, and the starter molded. I've only been successful when I was gifted an active starter and fed it according to directions. Even for more experienced bakers, I generally don't recommend making your sourdough starter.
2. Give yourself a 24-48 hour window to make the bread. While sourdough bread-making dates are cute in theory, the most you can do in a short timespan is feed your starter, get bulk fermentation started, shape the doughs, or pop perfectly formed and cold-proofed doughs into the oven. You cannot do all four in one day.
3. There are sourdough influencers who will tell you that you can make a loaf in seventeen minutes or one without an active starter. I'm sure these tips have merit- but when we start and want consistent results, we're not going to cut corners.
4. I've converted non-American recipes to match American measurements, it's just better if you start with American measurements (or any measurements you're familiar with).
5. It's better to over-proof than under-proof. Granted, the best option is to have a perfectly proofed loaf, but even if my bulk fermentation was slightly webby/stringy, I was left with a much softer bread than if I had not let my dough ferment long enough. Especially if you're starting out, you will be impatient. So when in doubt, give your bulk fermentation more (not less) time so the wild yeast can do its thing.
Straightforward Sourdough:
Servings: 8.
Total time (prep + cook): Around 10-15 minutes prep, 24 hours inactive cook time, 55 minutes bake time.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup active pre-made sourdough starter (for inactive starter, follow steps 1-3 below)
1 1/4 cups water, slightly warm (90 degrees F max)
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tbsp salt
Tools:
Sourdough starter in 16-oz (or bigger) jar. Big enough where the starter can expand.
Stand mixer and dough hook. Feel free to mix by hand, but I trust the Kitchen Aid more.
Large air-tight container, round or rectangular
Metal scraper
Banneton (round or oval), floured. Could also work with a floured tea-towel lined bowl.
Scoring knife or sharp knife
Dutch oven or oven-safe pot with lid
Parchment paper
Bow or serrated knife for slicing
Instructions:
1. If your starter is inactive, feed it so it gets bubbly. Take half of your unfed (hungry) starter out of the fridge and either use it in a recipe like pancakes or throw it away.
2. Feed the starter by volume. For my starter (in a 16-inch mason jar), this was 1 cup flour to 2/3 cup water. Mix flour and water with the starter until the mixture is clump-free.
3. Close the lid tightly and leave the jar at room temperature until active- doubled in volume. A foolproof way to decipher if your starter is active is if it's practically exploding out of the jar, with the lid tight and the starter (perhaps) coming out of the sides.
I draw a line on my jar where my starter's volume is after I freshly mix more flour and water in it, then check in a couple of hours to see if the volume has doubled past that line. The starter should also make a popping/crackling sound when active.
4. Make dough for bulk fermentation. With the stand mixer on medium speed, mix the active starter, flour, and water until the mixture forms a shaggy (not smooth) dough.
5. Place a towel over the stand mixer bowl and leave the covered dough alone for thirty minutes.
6. After thirty minutes, stretch and fold the dough into itself from each corner (total of four times). To see how to do stretches and folds, watch this video.
7. Place stretched and folded dough into an airtight container and leave alone for 8-12 hours. In summer, this will likely take less time due to the higher heat.
I left mine for 12 hours in my unheated warming drawer and only checked on it occasionally, placing a timer on my phone for 12 hours.
8. After bulk fermentation, your dough should be jiggly, bubbly, and smooth. When you take the lid off and tip your airtight container to the side, the dough should slowly but cohesively start falling out as a single unit.
If the dough seems stiff or gummy, it needs more time to ferment. If it's webby and stringy, it may have fermented too long and need to be made into focaccia instead (or otherwise baked into a sourdough where the baker hopes for the best).
9. Shape dough into a smooth ball by gathering all four corners together and repeating this motion until your ball is smooth and tight. Flip the ball over and use a metal scraper on the bottom to continue creating tension and make the ball smooth and elastic. See this video for more tips.
10. Place shaped dough seam-side (messy side) up into a banneton or tea-towel lined bowl, closing any loose seams on top before popping it in the fridge. Cover with dough with a towel and let cold-proof for about eight hours.
Eight hours/overnight gave me the best result (taste and texture).
11. Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit, placing Dutch oven or oven-shape pot and lid into oven.
12. After the pot has preheated for at least thirty minutes, flip the dough (seam-side down) onto a piece of parchment paper, and lift both parchment and dough into the pot.
13. Score dough by cutting a large slash down the middle to give dough space to create an ear.
14. Place a couple of ice cubes into the pot to create a steaming effect. Spritz or douse bread with some filtered water before covering and placing in the oven.
15.. Bake bread for 35 minutes covered and 25 minutes uncovered (no steam).
16. When bread has a golden crust and sounds hollow when tapped, it's ready to cool. Cool bread on a rack for two hours.
17. Once completely cooled, slice bread with a bow or serrated knife and enjoy! Crumb should be fluffy, with no big caverns. If you feel your crumb is lacking, take a look at this crumb guide to see what possible changes could be made for future loaves.
This was my crumb from following the recipe above.
* Sourdough starter is community of microbes used to leaven breads. People can make their own with flour and water and letting it ferment or used an established starter (bought or gifted) to leaven their sourdough. Since this type of yeast is wild, it takes longer to ferment and make breads rise. When used correctly, your starter will give your bread a slighlty sour taste and a fluffly, chewy texture.