Being a home cook and mom of three hungry boys, my goal is to make food that is delicious, healthy, and easy. Sourdough bread is a staple in our house. Here is my tried and true favorite recipe for sourdough bread. Check out my post on how to make a sourdough starter if you need a starter.
Sourdough Bread Recipe
Things you’ll need:
~all-purpose flour
~sourdough starter
~filtered water
~salt
~Dutch oven
~large mixing bowl
Recipe:
~3 cups of all-purpose flour
~1 heaping cup of sourdough starter
~1 cup of filtered water (room temp is best)
~1 tsp of salt
Step 1: Mix flour, starter, and water in large mixing bowl until well incorporated. There will be lumps at this stage. That’s okay, you can work them out on the next step. I like to use my hand for mixing. Cover with tea towel or beeswax wrap and let sit on counter for 20 minutes.
Step 2 : Add salt to dough and incorporate. You’ll be incorporating the salt by kneading it. It’s more of a stretch and fold rather than kneading. I do the stretching and folding in the bowl until the salt is well incorporated and any lumps are worked out. Let rest in the bowl covered for one hour.
Step 3: Repeat the stretching and folding with 5 or 6 stretches and folds. Let rest in the bowl covered for one hour.
Step 4: Shape your dough into a ball and let sit covered for another twenty minutes.
Stpe 5: Place shaped dough into a greased bowl for the bulk rise and cover. Place Dutch oven in the cold oven and heat to 450°. I like to place my bowl of dough on the back of the warm stove top to help speed up the rising process. Allow the dough to rise one to two hours depending on how warm your house is. We live in Florida and our home is usually 78 to 80°, so I only let my bread rise for one hour. In the winter when our home is in the 60’s I let the bread rise for one and a half to two hours.
Step 6: Once the bread is finished rising and the Dutch oven has been heated at 450° for at least an hour, remove the hot Dutch oven from the oven and grease the inside of the pot. Then plop the bread from the bowl into the dutch oven. The dough may have a funny shape during transfer, this is fine, the bread will still turn out great. Quickly place the lid back on the Dutch oven. You watch to trap all the steam and moisture in the pot. Put in the oven for 25 minutes.
Step 7: Take off the Dutch oven lid and continue baking for five more minutes. This will allow the bread to get a nice brown crust. Then remove bread from the oven and pot and place on a cooling rack. Allow to cool for at least an hour before slicing. I usually cheat and eat it sooner. Who can resist fresh baked bread?
Follow along @homesteadonlakeside for more sourdough goodness.
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