Artisan Sourdough Bread Recipe

Ingredients

Instructions

By Hand

1. Mix flours, water, and levain. Ensure there are no dry spots. Cover and leave to fermentolyse for 20 minutes. DO NOT ADD SALT YET.
2. Add salt by sprinkling over dough and then pressing salt into dough, dimpling with wet fingers. Massage the dough until you do not feel any more grains of salt, around 5 minutes.
3. Begin to Stretch and Fold #1 until dough starts to come together.
4. Cover with plastic and leave to rest for 20 minutes.
5. After 20 minutes, Stretch and Fold #2 until you feel the dough start to resist, around 8-10 stretches and folds.
6. Cover with plastic and leave to rest for another 20 minutes.
7. Stretch and Fold #3 until you feel the dough start to resist and you see your windowpane.
8. Take 40 g of dough and place it into a 2 oz aliquot container. Stretch and fold until you start to feel resistance of the dough. Place dough in a warm area for approximately 2 hours or until dough in aliquot reaches the top.
9. Shape and bench rest dough for 20 minutes.
10. Shape your dough into its final shape and place top down into the banneton. Make sure to close off the seam if it splits apart.
11. Cover with plastic and place in the fridge for 8-24 hours.

With KitchenAid

1. Mix flours in the mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, measure water and levain. Using the dough hook, knead on speed #2 just until there are no dry bits. Cover and leave to fermentolyse for 20 minutes.
2. Add salt and knead on speed #2 for 6 ½ minutes until windowpane.
3. Cover with plastic and let rest for 1 hour.
4. Aliquot (add 40 g to a 2 oz container), stretch and fold, and place dough in a warm area for approximately 2 hours or until dough in aliquot reaches the top.
5. Shape your dough into its final shape and place top down into the banneton. Make sure to close off the seam if it splits apart.
6. Cover with plastic and place in the fridge for 8–24 hours.

Baking

1. Preheat your oven AND Dutch oven (if using) to 500°F.
2. Once the oven has preheated, gently turn out your dough on a cookie sheet lined with high-quality parchment paper (450°F parchment).
3. Score your dough and carefully place the cold dough in the Dutch oven, lid on (or other vessel that can trap steam).
4. Decrease the oven temperature to 475°F and bake for 22 minutes with steam (or the lid on).
5. After 22 minutes, remove the lid from your Dutch oven and bake for another 12–14 minutes. Remove the bread from the oven and let it cool for a minimum of 1 hour before slicing.

*Put a cookie sheet on the bottom oven rack to avoid burnt bottoms.