Easy Sourdough Bread

 

I love a crusty, chewy , sourdough bread! This is my favorite recipe for that, sooooo easy. You must need to plan a little bit since the dough sits in the fridge over night. Sometimes I bake this in my dutch oven like the recipe says, or you can cut in two and make 2 small round loaves or oblong loaves and bake on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. When I do that, I put a cookie sheet under the rack I'm baking on and after I put my baking sheet with the bread on it in the oven I pour a cup or two of water in the pan below so it steams... this helps your bread rise a little more by providing moisture, that's what baking in a dutch oven does when you leave the lid on for the first 20 minutes of baking.  I also use a good bread flour  and I bought a kitchen scale. I find using a kitchen scale works way better than measuring the flour when it comes to the consistency of the dough. I love baking bread and haven't bought any from the store for years!!  Hope you enjoy!

• Easy Sourdough Bread
• 1 cup (227g) ripe (fed) sourdough starter

• 1 3/4 cups (397g) water, lukewarm
• 1 teaspoon instant yeast
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 5 cups (600g) King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour
• 1 tablespoon (18g) salt

Instructions:

First off: Measure your warm water and add the yeast and sugar. You don't have to use yeast and sugar but I find I get a little more rise to my bread with its help. The yeast also eats the sugar and blooms. Set this aside while you measure the rest of your ingredients into a large Bowl with a lid.

Weigh your flour: or measure it by gently spooning it into a cup, them sweeping off the excess.

Combine all the ingredients into the bowl. Using a big wooden spoon, mix and stir everything together to make a sticky shaggy dough. 

Leave the dough in the bowl, cover it with the lit or a piece of plastic wrap for 1 hour.

Gently pick up the dough and fold it over itself several times, cover and let it sit for enough hour.

Repeat this rising-folding process one more time for a total of 3 hours. Then, place the bowl in the refrigerator  and let it rest over night.

When you're ready to make the bread, take the dough out of the fridge and let it warm up for about an hour.

Turn the dough out onto a well floured surface and shape it into a rough ball. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and let raise until double in size. 

I like to make a proof box in my oven by barely turning the oven on for 30 seconds and then turning off. 

This takes the chill off of it. I boil a small saucepan of water them put that in the oven along with the dough and let raise for around 30 to 45 minutes. Then take the dough out of the oven along with the saucepan of water and heat oven to 450 degrees. I put my dutch oven in the oven to preheat as well.

When the dough is double in size, I slash a couple of lines in the top of my loaf with a razor blade. Any design you choose is great, I go about 1/2 inch deep.

Take the lid off your dutch oven and pick up your dough by lifting the parchment paper. Place the dough in your dutch oven and put the lid back on. Bake at 450 with the lid on for 20 minutes. Then take the lid off and turn the oven to 425 and bake another 20 to 25 minutes or until your bread reaches 200 degrees internally.

Carefully remove from the oven and let sit for 10 minutes then remove the bread from the dutch oven to a cooling rack.

I love it when you can hear the bread crackle as it cools. 

Enjoy a thick slice slathered in butter!! yum!