Sourdough Bread

Prep Time: 30 mins hands on over 24h

Ingredients: 

50g starter  |  350g water  |  500g flour*  |  1 tsp salt

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* we use 20% Scottish Heritage Rye Flour and 80% Organic Bread White Flour

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 Instructions:

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1. To make the dough, start by mixing the starter, water and salt together in a bowl. Then add the flour to the bowl and mix loosely, ensuring all the flour and water are mixed. You can use a tablespoon or your hands for mixing. Cover the bowl with a shower cap or tea towel, and leave it for 30 mins - 1 hour on the kitchen counter. 

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2. Uncover the dough and begin to lift and fold it to create structure and to bring it into a smooth ball. Take a small handful of dough from one side of the bowl, lift it, and fold it over the rest of the dough to the opposite side. Turn the bowl and repeat the process about 20-25 times until the dough forms a smooth ball. You will only need to perform this many pulls and folds during the first folding. Later on, you will require far fewer pulls and folds to form the dough into a ball before covering it and letting it rest. Check this video from Foodbod for the right technique. Cover the bowl again and leave it out on the kitchen counter.

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3. Over the next few hours, perform sets of the pulls and folds, aiming for about 4 sets in total. Each time you perform these pulls and folds, stop when the dough comes into a ball, that’s the dough telling you it’s had enough handling at that stage.

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4. Complete the final set, pulling the dough into a nice firm ball, then cover the bowl, and leave it on the counter for 8-10 hours. The ideal temperature for this is between 18 – 20°C. If it’s a lot colder than this, it will take longer, so just give it a few more hours. 

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5. After several sets of pulls and folds, the dough should have doubled in size and developed a nice structure. Take out a banneton and sprinkle it with rice flour (or other non-gluten flour), making sure to flour the sides well to prevent the dough from sticking. Perform a final round of pulls and folds with the dough to bring it into a ball. Place the ball of dough, smooth side down, into the banneton, gently moving it aside to sprinkle rice flour down the sides and on top to prevent sticking. Cover the dough again and refrigerate it for 3 to 24 hours. The longer you leave it, the more flavourful it will become. This is known as the "final proof".

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6. After this time, you can choose whether to bake from a preheated or cold start.

If you choose to preheat: preheat the oven now to 220°C fan (230-240°C for non-fan oven). Remove the dough from the banneton, place it on a parchment baking paper and score the dough with a lame or a clean razor blade. Transfer to the enamel roaster, put the lid on and bake it for 50 mins. You can remove the lid for the last 5-10 mins of baking to give the crust a darker colour.

To bake from a cold start: place the dough into the pan as above, score, put the lid on and place the pan into your cold oven. Turn the oven up to 220°C fan (230-240°C for non-fan) and a timer on for 45-50 mins, leaving the lid on for the whole time. After that time remove the lid and bake for further 5-10 mins to give the crust a darker colour. The time required in the oven starts from the point you place the pan into the cold oven and switch it on, not from the time the oven reaches the required temperature. 

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7. Remove the whole pan from the oven, carefully take the loaf from the pan, tilt it whilst still wearing your oven gloves to remove the parchment paper from the bottom (but keep it to use again), then leave the loaf on a rack to cool. Wait at least an hour before you slice into it. If you cut into the loaf too soon, it will still be cooking, and steam will fill all of those carefully crafted holes and make the bread gummy. Enjoy!

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