Our family's sourdough bread recipe. To get consistent results, I use a scale to measure. I add wheat gluten to boost the protein of the all purpose and whole wheat flour to give the dough elasticity and strength to the dough.
Ingredients
300gof baking starter (levain)
625gof lukewarm water
1kgall purpose or bread flour
15gvital wheat gluten*optional
15gsalt
1Tbspcanola oildivided
1Tbspcornmealoptional
Instructions
Mix all ingredients except oil and cornmeal in a large bowl. Let rest for 10 minutes to allow flour to really absorb the water.
Knead into a soft, pliable dough. It will feel very sticky at first, but as you knead it will stiffen up. Add a little flour to help, but try to work past the stickiness without adding too much flour. The final dough will be tacky and soft.
Coat dough and bowl in 1/4 Tbsp oil.
Cover and rest dough for 4 hours. This is called proofing or the first rise.
At every 30 minutes for the first 2 hours of proofing (total of 4 times) stretch the dough. Slide hand down side of bowl, grab dough from bottom, stretch it up and fold over the top. Repeat this in the four directions of the compass. Flip the dough so the folds are facing down. Cover and continue to let rest.
An hour before baking, separate dough into halves.
Coat baking sheet or cast iron dish in oil. Sprinkle bottom (only where dough will rest) with cornmeal if using.
Shape dough by pulling and stretching into log or round as desired. Make the top smooth by pulling extra dough to bottom. Place on or in baking dish.
Cover and let rise for 1 hour. After the first 30 minutes, preheat oven to 450°F.
Just before putting bread in oven, use a very sharp knife to score the top. This lets steam escape and prevents bread from bursting open at odd places.
Bake on high heat (450°F) for 20 minutes. If using a baking dish keep lid closed for this portion.
At 20 minutes, reduce heat to 400°F and remove lid. Bake for additional 20-30 minutes.
If baking one loaf in a cast iron dish and one on a baking sheet, the baking sheet loaf will likely be done a few minutes before the dish loaf.
To check for doneness...
- look for a nice golden brown color (if it is getting too dark, cover loosely with tin foil)
- tap bottom of loaf and listen for hollow sound
- insert instant read thermometer, sourdough should be at 97°C or 208°F
Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack for at least 1 hour before slicing. It is very difficult to cut bread fresh from the oven.
Enjoy.
Once it has completely cooled, store in plastic bag. Freeze extra loaf in tightly sealed bag for another day. To use, simply thaw overnight.
Notes
Vital wheat gluten helps provide structure to the bread by adding more gluten. It's great to use with all purpose flour, but it is not needed. Since COVID, I haven't been able to get vital wheat gluten and am still getting great results, it truly is optional.Whole Wheat Version: Experiment replacing some of the all-purpose flour with whole wheat flour. I recommend 750g all purpose flour and 250g whole wheat flour to start.