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Chefs Binge · European · Serves 6 slices

Quick and Easy Sourdough Bread Recipe

A straightforward white sourdough loaf: strong flour, an overnight cold proof and a covered Dutch oven bake. About 45 minutes of hands-on work spread over two days.
Prep
2 hrs 30 min
Cook
40 min
Total
15 hrs 10 min
Serves
6 slices
Per serving
394 kcal

Ingredients

For the Starter Activation
150 g Sourdough starter
75 g Very strong flour - at least 12% protein, which is what gives the loaf its structure
75 g Water - room temperature
For the Dough
500 g Very strong flour - at least 12% protein, which is what gives the loaf its structure
300 ml Water - room temperature
13 g Rock salt - non-iodised if you have it, though any salt works at this quantity

Method

1
Activate the Starter. Mix 150g of sourdough starter, 75g of flour, and 75g of water in a bowl. Stir until smooth, cover, and leave it somewhere warm for 5 hours to activate. It should roughly double and dome on top. If it has not risen, do not bake with it - feed it again and use it when it doubles reliably within six to eight hours.Note: If you already have an active starter, skip this step and proceed directly to mixing the dough.
2
Mix the Dough. Combine 300g of activated starter, 500g of very strong flour, 300ml of water, and 13g of salt in a mixing bowl. Use a tabletop mixer with a dough hook and mix for about 5 minutes until combined.The dough will be sticky; cover the bowl and let it rest for 30 minutes.
3
Stretch and Fold. Perform the Stretch and Fold technique 3 to 4 times at 30-minute intervals.After each round the dough gains strength and goes from slack and tearing to smooth and springy. It is ready to shape when it has risen noticeably, looks domed rather than flat, and wobbles as one mass when you nudge the bowl, which in a cold kitchen can take longer than two hours. There is a video in the post if you would rather see it done.
4
Shape the Dough. Lightly flour your worktop and stretch the dough into a rectangle. Roll it tightly into a loaf shape and place it seam-side up in a floured proofing basket. If you don’t have a basket, use a bowl lined with cling film.
5
Cold Proofing. Cover the dough and refrigerate overnight. The cold slows the yeast right down while the bacteria keep working, which is where the deeper flavour comes from, and a cold firm dough is far easier to turn out and score.
6
Preheat the Oven. Heat your oven as hot as it will go - mine reaches 275°C - with a Dutch oven inside for at least 25 minutes. What matters here is the heat stored in the cast iron rather than the number on the dial, so if your oven tops out at 240 or 250°C, give it a longer preheat and a couple of extra minutes on the bake.If you don’t have a Dutch oven, use two stainless tins as an alternative (these preheat in 15 minutes).
7
Prepare the Dough. Transfer the dough from the fridge onto baking parchment, seam-side down. Dust with flour and score the surface with a sharp knife or baker’s lame to allow controlled expansion.
8
Bake the Bread. Carefully place the dough into the preheated Dutch oven with the baking parchment, cover, and bake for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove the lid, reduce the oven temperature to 225°C, and bake for another 20 minutes.
9
Cool the Bread. Remove the bread from the oven and transfer it to a cooling rack. The internal temperature should be 96°C or above for fully cooked bread.

Chef’s notes

  • Do not bake with a starter that has not doubled. After the five-hour activation it should have roughly doubled, domed on top and smell yeasty rather than sharp. A sluggish starter is the commonest cause of a dense loaf and nothing later in the process rescues it. Feed it again, keep it somewhere in the low twenties, and use it when it doubles reliably within six to eight hours of a feed.
  • Judge the bulk by the dough, not the clock. Three or four folds over an hour and a half to two hours is the usual span, but it is ready to shape when it has risen noticeably, looks domed rather than flat, and wobbles as one mass when you nudge the bowl. A cold kitchen takes longer and that is fine.
  • Preheat as hot as your oven goes. Mine reaches 275 C; if yours tops out at 240 or 250 that is fine, because what matters is the heat stored in the cast iron rather than the number on the dial. Give a cooler oven a longer preheat and a couple of extra minutes on the bake.
  • Score about a centimetre deep, at a shallow angle, in one confident cut, with a fresh razor or a lightly oiled blade, and get the loaf straight into the oven. A shallow, vertical or hesitant cut will not open, and a scored loaf left standing seals itself back up.
  • Bake to 96 C in the centre if you have a thermometer, and cool the loaf completely on a rack before slicing. Bread cut hot is gummy however well it was baked.
  • Hydration is 69.2%, counting the flour and water in the starter. That is wet enough for a good open crumb and dry enough to be manageable by hand.
Per serving  Calories 394 kcal · Protein 11.2 g · Carbs 83 g · Fat 1.1 g · Saturates 0.2 g · Fibre 2.9 g · Sugar 0.3 g · Sodium 842 mg
Recipe © Chef Łukasz Babral · chefsbinge.com · for personal use only
chefsbinge.com/quick-and-easy-sourdough-bread-recipe
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