Bread & Dough
Sourdough Loaf
A naturally leavened white and whole wheat loaf, cold proofed overnight and baked in a Dutch oven.
This is the loaf I teach in my sourdough classes. It takes three days, but most of that time the dough is working and you are not. Feed the jar on Friday, mix on Saturday, and bake on Sunday morning.
2 loaves, about 1 kg (2¼ lb) each · 3 days start to finish (about 1 hour hands-on)
Ingredients
For the leaven (the day before):
- 50 g mature sourdough starter (1¾ oz)
- 200 g white bread flour (7 oz)
- 200 g water at 27°C (7 oz, at 80°F)
For the dough:
- 800 g white bread flour, 11 to 13.5% protein (1 lb 12 oz)
- 200 g whole wheat flour (7 oz)
- 200 g ripe leaven from the jar (7 oz)
- 750 g cool water, not ice cold (1 lb 10½ oz)
- 25 g fine sea salt (about 1 oz)
- 25 g honey, optional (about 1 oz)
- 20 g malt powder, optional (about ¾ oz)
Method
- The morning before you mix, stir the starter, flour and warm water together in a jar until smooth.
- Leave the jar in a warm spot, 24 to 28°C (75 to 82°F), until it is domed, bubbly and smells clean and a little sweet. This is your leaven.
- The next morning, stir 200 g of the leaven into the 750 g of water until it looks milky.
- Add both flours and mix by hand until there are no dry bits. The dough will be shaggy and sticky, but do not add more flour.
- Cover the bowl and let it rest for 30 to 45 minutes so the flour can take up the water.
- Add the salt, and the honey or malt if you are using them, and pinch them through the dough.
- With wet hands on a clean, unfloured counter, slap the dough down, stretch it up, fold it over and give it a quarter turn. Keep going for 3 to 6 minutes until the dough turns smooth. If it starts to tear, let it rest for 2 minutes and carry on.
- Put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, smooth side up, and cover it.
- Leave the bowl on the counter, ideally at 24 to 28°C (75 to 82°F). Every 45 minutes, wet your hands, stretch one side of the dough up and over the centre, turn the bowl and repeat on all four sides, then flip the dough seam-side down.
- Do this 4 or 5 times, then leave the dough alone until it is 50 to 75 percent bigger. It should feel light, and a gentle poke should spring back slowly. It does not need to double.
- Turn the dough out and divide it in two. Fold the edges of each piece to the centre, flip it, and tighten it into a loose round. Cover them and let them rest for 30 minutes.
- For the final shape, turn each round seam-side up, fold it like an envelope, and tighten it into a round or an oval loaf.
- Place each loaf seam-side up in a well-floured 23 cm (9-inch) banneton or a bowl lined with a floured towel.
- Cover them and refrigerate for 16 to 30 hours.
- On baking day, put a Dutch oven in your oven and heat it to 260°C (500°F). Take one loaf out of the fridge 15 minutes before it goes in.
- Turn the loaf out onto parchment and score it about 1 cm (½ inch) deep with a razor or sharp knife.
- Lower it into the hot Dutch oven, add 75 ml (5 tbsp) of water to the pot for steam, put the lid on and bake for 25 minutes.
- Take the lid off, turn the oven down to 230°C (450°F), and bake for another 20 minutes, until the loaf is deep brown and reads 96 to 99°C (205 to 210°F) inside.
- Heat the oven and pot back up to 260°C (500°F) and bake the second loaf the same way.
- Let the bread cool on a rack for at least 45 minutes before you cut it, or the crumb will be gummy.
Notes
- Keep what is left in the jar as your starter. Feed it again with 50 g starter, 200 g flour and 200 g water, or keep it in the fridge and feed it 24 hours before you want to bake.
- A healthy starter smells like yoghurt. If it smells of nail polish or harsh vinegar, it is hungry. If it turns grey or pink, throw it out and start again.
- If your kitchen is warm, stop folding sooner. If it is cold, give the dough another fold and more time. Go by the feel of the dough, not the clock.
Cook with me
Want to cook this with your team?
No starter yet? Email deniz@chefdeniz.ca and ask about Jimi, my sourdough culture.