Sourdough classic

Ingredients

prep starter makes enough for 200g, 30g starter, 100g flour, 100g water overnight

700g Whole wheat flour

300g white bread flour

750g lukewarm water

200g ripe starter

20g salt

Directions

Autolyse - mix flour and water until no dry spots remain. Cover for 30 min-1hour Combine Autolyse and Starter - pinch dough and rotate bowl until starter is fully incorporated

Sprinkle 20g of salt and 20g of water across dough and pinch as before to incorporated. Cover and let sit for 10 min.

Mix dough for 10 min with a wet hand. Stretch until you feel resistance and fold back onto the dough mass. Do so until you pass the window pain test.

Bulk fermentation - cover and let rise for 1 hour

Stretch and fold gently and repeat every hour until the dough feels pillowy and filled with air. 3-7 hours. After each fold, dough should feel lighter and sit higher in the bowl. The dough is ready when it has more or less doubled in size, lots of bubbles on the surface and sides. Very alive.

Pre-shaping - flour work surface and divide the dough in half. Gently pull at the edges of the dough towards the center to create a round, tidy packet. Cover and let rest for 20 min.

Prep shaping baskets - As the dough rests, prep the bennaton baskets with rice flour.

Final shaping - flip the dough so it is floured side down. Stretch gently into square shape and fold left side of the dough towards the center, and right side dough towards the center like a letter. Starting with the end closest to me, roll the now rectangle up into a ball. Left the dough and place seem-side up in the prepared baskets. Repeat for other dough ball.

Proofing - let the loaves rest at room temperature until the dough has settled and the entire loaves have slightly increased in volume - 1-½ hours.

Poke test- press a floured finger about ½ in into the dough. If the dough springs back immediately, it needs more time. If it springs back slowly and a slight impression remains, the dough is proofed.

Chill the dough- once the dough passes the poke test, chill the dough overnight before baking. (2 days made it rise less?)

Prep the dutch oven -250

Remove from basket onto a parchment paper and dust with flour. Make a slash

Bake 240ºC for 25minutes before reducing the temperature to 220ºC and baking for a further 25 minutes with lid off, for larger loaves 2kg 20 minutes each for smaller 1/3 loaves