Basics: Sourdough Bread

Ingredients Link to heading

Equipment Link to heading

  • Big bowl (to mix everything in)
  • Spatula, or spoon (to handle the wet dough)
  • Scale (to measure your ingredients precisely)
  • Dutch oven (or a pot with a lid you can put in the oven)
  • Banneton (proofing basket)

Recipe Link to heading

Get ready, because this one takes a long time from start to finish.

Step 0: Math Link to heading

You need to calculate your proportions:

  • Decide on the amount of flour (for example 400g)
  • Decide on the hydration level (I usually go for 65%)
  • Note down the hydration level of your starter (80% in my case)
  • Calculate the amount of water you initially need using this formula:
base flour        = 400g
hydration         = 65%
starter           = 80g (20% of flour content)
starter hydration = 80%
starter flour     = 44g (55% of starter)
starter water     = 36g (45% of starter)

water = hydration * (base flour + starter flour) - starter water

In my case it’s 252g of initial water (rounded down).

Step 1: Autolyse Link to heading

Mix your flour with water, stir until it’s all wet, then cover bowl with a wet towel.

Wait time: 2 hours.

Step 2: Sourdough Link to heading

Add sourdough starter equal to 20% of the flour weight. Knead until fully incorporated.

Wait time: 1 hour.

Step 3: Salt Link to heading

Add in salt equal to 2% of the flour weight. Spread it on the surface then push your fingers down through the dough gently without puncturing it; stretch and fold until incorporated.

Wait time: 30 minutes.

Step 4: Laminate Link to heading

Stretch the dough very thin on a large wet surface, fold it in thirds, then roll it on the long axis.

Wait time: 1 hour.

Step 5: Strength (repeat 3 times) Link to heading

Stretch and fold 4 times rotating the bowl 90°, or coil fold the dough twice if it’s wet enough.

Wait time: 30 minutes.

Step 6: Cold Fermentation Link to heading

Pre-shape the dough and put it in a bread basket before inserting in the fridge, but don’t cover it, let the surface dry up a bit so it holds it’s shape better.

Wait time: 4-24 hours.

Step 7: Heat Link to heading

Heat the oven to 250°, with the dutch oven inside.

Wait time: around 30 minutes.

Step 8: Scoring Link to heading

Take the dough out of the fridge and immediately put it in the hot dutch oven.

If the dough is dry and tall enough, you can score it with a razor, knife, or scissors. Otherwise just leave it be.

Be as fast as possible.

Step 9: Rise Link to heading

Pour some water on the bottom of the dutch oven, not on the bread, so it creates some steam inside, seal it, then shove it in the oven.

Wait time: 25 minutes.

Step 10: Bake Link to heading

Remove the top of the dutch oven; leave to cook until you reach te color you like. You can turn on the oven fan for this step.

Wait time: around 15 minutes.

Step 11: Rest Link to heading

Rest the bread for at least 1 hour before slicing.

Notes Link to heading

  • Normal flour has ~10% protein content, strong flour has ~13%.
  • The sweet spot hydration level for normal flour seems to be 65% and anything above that ends up a sad pancake; stronger flour could reach even above 100%.

Olive oil Link to heading

You can add olive oil to the recipe, just make sure to count it as part of total hydration. This will keep the bread softer for longer, and improve it’s taste but tends to make the dough lose it’s shape quickly, so you might need to reduce the overall hydration to compensate, for example 60% instead of 65%.

The formula becomes:

water = hydration * (base flour + starter flour) - starter water - oil

The maximum seems to be about 3% or less of base flour, or 12g out of 400g.

Strong flour Link to heading

This recipe uses 10% flour, if you have stronger flour you can go above the 65% hydration limit. The cheapest way to acheve higher protein content is to use normal flour, and strengthen it with extra gluten. This also alows you to experiment with even greater protein contents.

Here is how to calculate how much gluten flour to add:

base percent = 10%
base weight  = 350g
base protein = 35g

starter percent = 10%
starter weight  = ~38g (~55% * 20% of base weight)
starter protein = ~4g

flour weight   = 388g
protein weight = 39g
extra percent  = 80%
final percent  = 14%

               final percent * flour weight - protein weight
extra weight = ―――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――――
                       extra percent - final percent

In my example, here is how much it ends up being:

extra weight  ~ 23g (ends up being ~7% of base weight)
extra protein ~ 18g

final weight  = 411g
final protein = 57g

Since it’s stronger, I can go for a hydration of 75% with olive oil, which ends up being:

water = hydration * final weight - starter water - oil

hydration     = 75%
starter water = ~32g (~45% * 20% of base weight)
oil           = 12g (3% of final weight)

This ends up being 264g of initial water.