Good Sourdough Bread

• servings: 1 serving
• active time: 10 minutes
• total time: 19 hours 45 minutes

Ingredients

Bread Flour - 450 grams

Water - 300 grams

Sourdough Starter, active - 100 grams

Salt - 10 grams

Sourdough Starter, leftover - 25 grams

Water - 50 grams

Bread Flour - 50 grams

Directions

Mix about 25 grams of leftover sourdough starter (from the fridge) with 50 grams of water and 50 grams of bread flour. Stir until everything is well combined.

Mark the top of the starter with a rubber band to see how much it grows overnight. Then cover the starter and let it rise overnight (or for around 6-12 hours).

The next morning your starter should be bubbly, active, and doubled-in-size. It's ready to mix into your dough. Measure out all four of the dough ingredients into your mixing bowl (flour, water, salt, and 100 grams of your starter).

Put the remaining starter that's left in the jar into the fridge to use for next time.

Mix all of the dough ingredients together until almost no dry bits of flour remain.

Then, cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 30 minutes. This half hour rest will allow the flour to hydrate and the dough will be easier to handle. Now that the starter has been mixed with the rest of the ingredients, bulk fermentation (or, the first rise) has officially begun!

After the first 30 minute rest, give your dough its first set of "stretch and folds." Grab an edge of the dough, stretch it up and fold it over the top of the rest of the dough. Then grab another edge of the dough and do the same thing.

Repeat this process, working your way around the dough until all the edges have been stretch up and over the center. This process will smooth out the dough, developing a strong gluten network along the way.

Cover up the dough with a kitchen towel and let it rest for 30 minutes.

After the 30 minute rest, give your dough its second set of stretch and folds followed by another 30 minute rest.

Give your dough its third and final set of stretch and folds. At this point, the dough should feel fairly smooth and elastic. You might even start seeing bubbles forming in the dough as you stretch it. That's exactly what you want to see.

After the stretch and folds, flip the dough over so that the smooth side is facing up. Cover the dough and let it rest for the remainder of the bulk fermentation. This should take between 3 1/2 and 5 more hours, depending on the temperature of your kitchen.

After bulk fermentation, remove the dough from the mixing bowl and place it on the counter with the smooth side up and the seam side down.

Sprinkle a little bit of flour on top of the dough and gently shape the dough into a ball with your hands or a bench scraper. Then, cover the dough and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Now, you can shape your dough into any shape that you want. I usually prefer a batard, or oval-shaped loaf. Sprinkle your counter with a little bit of flour and flip the dough over onto the flour so that it is now sticky side up and smooth side down.

Press the dough down a little bit with your finger tips and gently stretch it into a rectangle. Flip the right half of the dough over the middle. Then flip the left half of the dough over the middle to meet the first half.

Tuck and roll the dough tightly into itself starting from the furthest side and rolling the dough in towards you.

Once you've shaped your dough, transfer it seam-side-up into an oval-shaped banneton basket that you've dusted with rice flour (or regular bread flour will work fine too).

Move the basket to your fridge and let the dough proof overnight (covered or uncovered) for at least six hours. 8-12 hours is ideal.

The next day, 30 minutes before you're ready to bake, preheat your oven to 450°F (232°C) with your Dutch oven inside on one of the bottom racks. The Dutch oven should preheat along with your oven so that it can transfer its heat into your dough.

About 30 minutes later, when the oven is preheated, transfer your dough from the banneton basket onto a sheet of parchment paper. The dough should now be seam side down.

Dust off any excess flour from your dough and you're ready to score.

Slash the top of your dough with a bread lame or a razor blade in one long, shallow-angled slash from the far side to the near side. This is one of the key ways to get a good "ear" on your loaf of bread.

Carefully transfer the dough inside of your Dutch oven. I prefer to lift the dough by holding onto both sides of the parchment paper tightly.

Place the dough, parchment paper and all, inside the Dutch oven. (Be careful not to burn yourself on the sides!) Put the lid back on the Dutch oven and bake the bread for 20 minutes at 450°F (232ºC) with the lid on. The lid will trap steam around the dough, allowing it to rise up to its full potential, and giving the bread a great crust.

After 20 minutes of baking, take the lid off of the Dutch oven and admire your bread's oven spring! Continue baking with the lid off for an additional 15 minutes, or until the bread has the color that you want.

Remove the loaf from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack for at least one hour before slicing.