Two Loaves a Day - Beginner Sourdough Recipe

Basic Sourdough Recipe and Process

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Basic Sourdough Recipe:

• 100g active sourdough starter
• 500g bread flour
• 330g water
• 10g salt

• Begin by adding sourdough starter to a bowl.

• Add water and salt and mix thoroughly using a dough wisk.

• Add flour and mix again until well combined

Click here for my baking timeline

Click here to see starter feeding ratios

When do I feed my starter?

Stretch and Fold

• Place bowl in a warm area of your house and allow it to sit for at least 30 minutes.
• After 30 minutes, do a set of stretch and folds.
• Do two more sets of stretch and folds over the next couple hours.
• If dough still seems wet or loose, do another set.

Bulk Fermentation

• Put the dough in a warm place and leave it covered for anywhere between 8-12 hours (maybe more if your house is cold).
• Once it has doubled in size and pulls away from the bowl easily, it is ready to shape.
• If you start to see bubbles scattered on the top of your dough it's a good sign that it is done bulk fermenting.

Dough Shape

• Once the dough is ready, drop it from the bowl onto the counter.
• If you are making more than one loaf, cut the dough into pieces.
• Lightly sprinkle flour onto the counter and/or flour your hands to get ready to work with the dough.

Dough Shape

• Stretch the dough onto the counter and then begin to fold it. I use the Tartan Fold method, but use what works for you. Here are three different doughs being shaped. You can see the slight differences I take no one piece of dough is alike.

Dough Stitch

• Once the dough is shaped, place it into a banneton basket lined with a linen liner or a tea towel. I don't flour my baskets, but many people do. I have a gluten sensitivity so I don't like to use too much flour that has not gone through the fermentation process.

Cold Proof

• Cover your stitched doughs with plastic wrap or a shower cap (they work really well) and place them in the fridge for approximately 12 hours.
• You can cold proof up to 2-3 days, but I find anywhere between 12-18 hours as the best time to bake.

Time to Bake

• Place your dutch oven(s) in the oven with a pan underneath them. This helps prevent your loaves from burning on the bottom.
• Then preheat the oven to 500 degrees
• While the oven is heating up, take your loaves out of the fridge and turn them out onto parchment paper.

Time to Bake

• Using a bread lame or a razor blade with. a handle, score your dough.
• This is where you can decorate it with shallow cuts.
• Make one deep cut across your bread.
• I usually will make a design on the bread and then bake it for 7 minutes before scoring it across with a deep cut.
• Search Sourdough Scores online to get some ideas. There are millions out there and you can try a new one each time!
• You don't have to put a design on your bread, but you DO have to score it with at least one deep cut, either before baking or at 7 mins.

Time to Bake

• After scoring, place your dough in the Dutch Oven and put the lid back on.
• Try to do this quickly as to not lose too much heat in the oven.
• Bake for 20 minutes.
• After 20 minutes, open the oven and take off the lid of the Dutch Oven.
• Lower the heat to 475 and bake for approximately 20 minutes or until bread has browned.
• Bake times will vary based on oven so it may take a few times for you to see what temperature is best. Some bake at 450, others at 475. I find 500 works for me. Find your sweet spot and write it down!

Time to Cool

• Take the bread out of the oven and let it cool on a wire rack.
• Do not slice the bread for at least an hour.
• I bake at night and let it sit out until the next morning so that it is fully cooled before I package it or wwrap it up.
• All that's left is to enjoy!

Typical Baking Timeline - 2 days

• Monday, 7:00 AM - Feed sourdough starter
• Monday, 5:00 PM - Mix dough
• Monday, 5:00 - 7:00 - Complete stretch and folds.
• Monday, 7:00 PM - Tuesday, 6:00 AM - Bulk Ferment
• Tuesday, 6:00 AM - Shape dough and place in banneton or basket - then place in fridge
• Tuesday, 6:00 AM - Tuesday. 6:00 PM - Cold Ferment in the fridge
• Tuesday, 6:00 PM (or anytime that night) - BAKE

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Sourdough Starter Ratios

The higher the ratio, the slower your starter will grow.

For example: 10:1 ratio will double in size slower than a 1:1 ratio.

A 1:1 ration would be something like: 50g starter, 50 g water, 50g flour

A 10:1 ratio might be 10g starter, 100g water, 100g flour

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When Do I Feed My Starter?

There is no perfec time, but here is what I usually do:

For example: 10:1 ratio will double in size slower than a 1:1 ratio.

A 1:1 ration would be something like: 50g starter, 50 g water, 50g flour

A 10:1 ratio might be 10g starter, 100g water, 100g flour

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