Easy No-Knead Sourdough Peasant Bread

• servings: 10 servings
• active time: 2 hours
• total time: 2 hours 45 minutes

Ingredients

3 1/2 cups all-purpose or bread flour 485 g (recipe says 497 g)

2 teaspoons granulated sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast (see note) (for discard use 2 1/2 vs 2 as recipe was written.)

1 1/2 teaspoons table salt

1 1/2 cups warm water 365 g (this is just over 1 1/2 cups by 5 g but her recipe shows 338 g for 1 1/2 C which is wrong as it would be 360) (water temperature110-115 degrees)

1 cup sourdough starter (fed or discard) 275 g (does 1 cup of my discard weigh this?)

Directions

In a large bowl, measure the bread flour. In 6 qt cambro bucket add the warm water and sourdough starter together with whisk. Then add the sugar, yeast and salt. Then add flour with the whisk gradually changing to rubber spatula or wooden spoon until the ingredients form a shaggy, sticky ball and no dry streaks remain.

Let sit 15 min covered. Then using wet hands or spatula go around bucket to lift up and over-like stretch and folds as much as possible. Then Cover the bowl and let the dough rise until doubled, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Place an oven rack in the center position (3rd rung from bottom with pizza steel on it) Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Generously grease 9x5” inch loaf pan with cooking spray or butter. (See note for other pan sizes/options.)

Scrape the dough away from the sides of the bowl with a greased rubber spatula (deflating it) forming a rough ball in the center of the bowl. Lightly grease bench scraper with cooking spray or oil and place (or just kind of plop!) the dough in the prepared pan. The loaf will not be completely smooth and may look a bit rough in shape, that's ok! You can try to form the dough into a rough ball shape, tucking the edges under, but if it's too sticky, just get it in the pan. :)

Let the dough rest, uncovered, for 15-30 minutes until slightly puffy.

Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 375 degrees F and continue to bake for 25-30 minutes until golden. (200-205 degrees) Let the bread cool completely before slicing (see note).

Notes

Use 6 qt Cambro bucket. Dough weights about 1100 g.

Mel’s notes:

This recipe calls for either sourdough discard (you can use it straight out of the refrigerator) or fed sourdough starter.

Not all sourdough starters have the same feeding ratio. Because of that, your sourdough starter may be thicker or thinner than mine. I tested this recipe using my sourdough starter that I feed with a 1:1:1 ratio (by weight).

If your sourdough starter is thicker than mine (pictured below), you may need to add more water to the recipe. If your sourdough starter is thinner, cut the water in the recipe by 1/2 cup and add more only if needed.

(My starter is 1:2:2 vs Mel’s so it is thicker and will take longer to rise and need more water).

Salt: I use table salt for this recipe. If using coarse, kosher salt, increase the salt to 2 to 2 1/2 teaspoons.

Yeast: I have not tried this recipe with active dry yeast, but it should work – dissolve 1 tablespoon active dry yeast in 1/4 cup warm water until foamy and bubbling and decrease the water in the recipe by 1/4 cup – use the yeast mixture in the recipe when adding the rest of the water.

Baking Pans: I prefer baking the dough in one loaf. However, the dough can be split into two pieces and baked in smaller bowls or pans (about 1 quart in size). Many people bake this dough in greased pyrex bowls, but I prefer pie plates or loaf pans.

Sourdough Starter: I have not tried this recipe using 100% sourdough starter and omitting the yeast, because recipes like that need much longer rising times (often overnight), and I prefer this recipe to be quicker and easier. If using fed sourdough starter, you can probably get away with reducing the yeast to 1 teaspoon.

Warm Bread: warm, homemade bread is hard to resist…and I’m not going to tell you NOT to slice into this loaf warm; however, the bread will be softer and fluffier if it cools completely.