Sourdough Bread Recipe

Basic Sourdough Bread Recipe Guide

I’ve been baking sourdough loaves now for years. My first loaf was… Well, pretty poor and it started to take over my life a little bit. Most conversations would be steered towards bread, with the hope someone could help. I read countless blogs and spoke to many people, all offering different opinions and contradicting advice.

So I decided to go back to the basics. I bought the two best bread books I could get my hands on; Tartine Bread and Flour Water Salt Yeast. I read the sourdough loaf sections three times over before even touching any flour. Understanding the process really made a difference. I could then engage in proper conversations about bread and began to realise some of the things people were telling me. Two people I met at parties are keen sourdough bakers, this really helped and they were happy to share their tips, but also the mistakes they’ve made along the way.

Here I’ve tried to break down the method and also cover some of the key terms used in the process. Not going to lie, it’s still time-consuming, it has to be to make great sourdough, but trust me it’s worth it! Every loaf is different and that’s what’s exciting. The different variables, the care and the patience, come together to make each loaf unique.

Before you begin following this sourdough recipe guide, the most important thing I can mention is to have a strong starter. You want your starter to be at least doubling in size after feeding. I’ve made a ‘Ultimate Starter Guide’. It’s really handy if you want to create your own starter/improve your starter strength.

Skillshare

Sourdough Baking Key Terms

Starter

The starter is a mix of flour and water. Natural occurring bacteria is present which causes the flour to ferment. The starter requires feeding (flour and water) to stay alive. The starter is used to create the Leaven.

Leaven

The leaven is made from the starter and is ready once the mixture has reached its peak. The leaven provides your dough with yeast and bacteria. The starter should be fed prior to baking so it’s reached its full potential, becoming the Leaven.

Autolyse (Auto-lease)

This is usually the first step when creating the dough. Simply mix the flour and water together. This helps to draw out sugars from the flour and also increases dough extensibility. This means the dough is more stretchy, allowing the dough to fill with more gases produced from the process resulting in an airy loaf.

Full step by step video Sourdough Bread course available on Skillshare

Sourdough Bread Course

Ingredients – Makes 1 Loaf

325g Organic strong white flour

235g Water at room temperature (72% hydration)

65g Leaven

7g Seasalt

Autolyse

Combine the flour and water together in a bowl making sure all of the flour gets hydrated. I use a spoon or a spatula to do this. Once this is done cover and leave for 1 - 3 hours. This is a premix, we’re not kneading or mixing to form gluten bonds, we are just hydrating the flour.

Add the Leaven

With your leaven happy, bubbly and ready to go add this to the bowl. I usually feed mine 4 hours before using at a ratio of 1:1:1. Starter : Flour : Water

First Mix & Rest

I wet my hand and start to build strength within the dough. I’m using my right hand to stretch and fold the dough. I’m using my left hand turning the bowl as I mix. It usually takes 3 - 5 minutes to mix the dough properly. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 30 minutes.

Second Mix

Before adding the salt it’s important to mix the dough again, adding salt can affect how well the gluten bonds form. Stronger bonds are formed before adding the salt. The dough should feel silky and strong.

Salt & Rest

Add the salt and incorporate again for 3-5 minutes to make sure the salt is evenly distributed. If the dough begins to tear, you’ve over mixed, you want to stop mixing at this point and allow the gluten to relax. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 30 minutes.

Bulk Fermentation

During the bulk fermentation process, you will perform a series of turns. Instead of kneading this allows you to build strength whilst keeping your dough in a bowl.

It is important to make note of the temperature of the room and where you are keeping your dough. This allows the bulk to be consistent each time you bake, it also has an effect on how long your bulk will take. My dough temperature is usually just under 23°C / 73F. This means my bulk fermentation lasts just under 6 hours. More details on timings and temperature below.

By the end of the bulk fermentation process you are looking for the surface of the dough to become light and aerated. By stretching and folding the dough it allows the dough to build strength allowing it to hold its shape when baking.

Completing a turn

Wet your hand to stop the dough from sticking to you. Reach into the bowl from the side and grab the bottom of the dough, pull upwards to stretch it and then fold it back over the rest of the dough. This needs to be done 4 times in total around the dough, to make sure you develop the dough evenly. I like to imagine a compass, pulling upwards from North, South, East and West. Aim to be gentle to avoid pushing the gas outside of the dough.

I like to complete 4 turns during the bulk fermentation. The first two at 45-minute intervals, the 3rd after 60 minutes and then allow the final turn 90 minutes. A timing graph is below.
If you feel your dough is taking its time (most likely due to temperature) allow it more time. You are looking for the dough to increase in size by approximately 25%. When the dough starts to dome and shows increased fermentation (lots of bubbles on top) it’s time to move onto the next step.

Pre-Shape

Remove the dough from the bowl onto your worktop. You don’t want to incorporate any additional flour to the dough at this stage. Use your bread scraper to round off the loaf. Move the bench scraper around the dough and shape it into a ball. You don’t want to over do it as you will risk tearing the dough, you want to use as few turns as possible to avoid losing the gas from the dough.

Bench Rest

Allow the dough to rest for approx 30 minutes which allows the strength you’ve just built to relax, this then allows you to build even more strength in the final shape.

Flour & Flip

Take some flour and sprinkle over the top of the loaf. Use your bench scraper to pick up the loaf and flip over so the flour is now on the bottom.

Final Shape

To create the final shape you need to perform a series of folds. Start by pulling the bottom out and fold over the dough. Then pull each side separately and fold over the dough. Pull the top and fold over itself. You want to build nice even tension across the sides of the dough, you can do this by folding the edges in over themselves making the loaf nice and tight. Fold over itself. Leave for 1 minute to let the seam on the bottom seal.

Basket/Bowl

If you don’t have a bread basket you can use a suitably sized bowl, just line it with a clean kitchen towel. Lightly cover the towel with flour ready for your loaf to stop the dough from sticking. Add flour to the surface of the dough, flip the dough over and fold it once more together and place it into a floured bowl/basket, smooth side facing down with the seam facing up.

The Final Rise

I like to allow the dough a bit longer to proof in the basket before placing in the fridge. Allow it to rise a little more, this should take approximately 30 – 45 minutes. Place into the fridge for 12 – 18 hours (I leave it overnight). This allows more subtle flavours to develop in the loaf and slows down the final rise.

Preheat/Dutch Oven

I use a dutch oven to make my bread in, it’s a really good way to simulate a baker’s oven and I can trap steam inside the pan which helps create a really lovely crust and helps with the initial rise. If you don’t have this you can place the loaf on a baking tray. The important thing is to make sure your oven is preheated (250°C or as hot as it’ll go). If you are not using a dutch oven you can create steam by adding some ice to the bottom of your oven which will create steam during the first part of the bake.

Remove from the fridge

I like to cover the top of the bowl/basket with parchment paper. I can then gently tip out onto the worktop without the bread from sticking.

Slice the loaf

Use a sharp knife to score the loaf. This is important as it helps your loaf to expand fully in the oven. I usually keep my scoring pretty simple, either one long line across the top or I create a square by creating four short lines. Just make sure you are quick, I try and get the score at a depth of just over 1cm / half an inch.

Bake

Place your loaf into the oven and bake for 25 mins on full heat. After this remove your lid if using a dutch oven and turn the oven down to just over 200°C. I then bake for a further 20 minutes.

Timings & Checklist

Autolyse – Mix flour & water

3 hours

Add Leaven to flour & water then mix

30 minutes

Mix, add salt, mix again

30 minutes

1st Turn

45 minutes

2nd Turn

45 minutes

3rd Turn

60 minutes

4th Turn

90 minutes

Preshape & Bench Rest

30 minutes

Final Shape & Final proof in basket/bowl

30 minutes

Place into the fridge for final rise / cold proof

12 to 18 hours

Bake

45 minutes

Leave to cool (if you can wait) and then enjoy 🙂

How temperature affects timings

The temperature has a huge affect on the final loaf. Ideally, try to keep the dough at an approx temp between 22°C – 26°C, no worries if not, my kitchen is pretty cold in comparison (20°C). It just means that the bulk process will take slightly longer if the dough is colder. I like to proof my bread in the same spot to keep consistency, this is next to the heater to try and keep it at 23°C.

For reference, this is how temperature impacts time during bulk fermentation. Use this as a guide but everyone’s kitchen will be different.

23°C – bulk fermentation 5.5 hours

24°C – bulk fermentation 5 hours

25°C – bulk fermentation 4.5 hours

26°C – bulk fermentation 4 hours