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Sourdough Starter & Country Loaf

Learning to bake your own Sourdough Bread is a journey towards food mindfulness. Take away the water and salt and suddenly sourdough is made with just one ingredient. Flour. The rest is a fine balance of time, knowledge and skill.
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Active Time 13 hours 10 minutes
Servings 8

Ingredients
  

For the leaven

  • 20 g leaven
  • 50 g flour mix (see above)
  • 50 g water

For the bread

  • 325 g water (+ 25g)
  • 450 g strong bread flour
  • 50 g wholemeal flour
  • 10 g salt
  • Rice flour

Instructions
 

  • 6-12 hours before mixing your dough, make your leaven by mixing 20g of your starter with 50g of the flour mix and 50g cold water.
  • To start your dough, dissolve 100g of the leaven (use the rest to feed your starter) in 325g lukewarm water. Add all of the flour and mix thoroughly, then cover it with a clean tea towel and rest for 30 minutes. In the meantime, feed the remaining leaven to continue your starter.
  • After thirty minutes, add the salt and the remaining 25g water. Squeeze the dough through your fingers to incorporate everything, then fold it on top of itself a few times. Cover the dough and rest for 45 minutes.
  • Now it is time to complete three sets of the Stretch & Fold technique. To complete one set, moisten your hands with some water and loosen the dough. Then stretch a corner of the dough as far as possible without ripping and fold it back over the centre. Continue with the next corner, going around the dough as if it was a square. Continue stretching the dough until it begins to firm up. Cover and rest for 45 minutes.
  • After the last set and its 45 minutes rest, lift the dough onto a lightly floured surface so that the smooth side is facing down. Going once around the dough, stretch and fold it inwards just beyond the centre until it forms a ball, similar to the technique you’ve used before. Then, with curbed hands, build more tension by pulling the dough towards you over the surface. Turn the dough 90 degrees and repeat until the skin stretches until the dough looks plumb and holds its shape. Be careful not too overdo this step or the skin of the dough might tear. Turn it around so that the smooth side is facing upwards, cover it and leave it to rest for 20 minutes.
  • Lightly dust a proving basket with rice flour. Alternatively, use wholemeal flour. If you don’t have a proving basket, use a bowl and line it with a clean tea towel. Flip the dough over and repeat the folding technique until you have a plumb dough. Place in the basket/bowl with the smooth side facing down. Then proof for 3 to 4 hours at room temperature or for 8 to 14 hours in the fridge.
  • Place your casserole or tray into the oven and pre-heat to 250° C (230° C fan). Once the oven is hot, take the dough out of the fridge and gently tip it out onto a floured board. Score the top of the dough with a razor blade or sharp knife and place in the casserole (dusted with flour) and close the lid, or place on a tray with a separate tray filled with water on a lower rack. Bake for 25 min. Remove the lid or water tray and bake for another 25 min. Cool on a wire rack. Enjoy!

Notes

Below is a suggested timeline that can easily be adjusted to your personal situation. You can mix the dough in the morning and bake the bread in the evening, or start later in the evening and bake it later the next morning. Each step in the timeline is allocated either 5 or 10 minutes to be completed, depending on how complex it is. All in all, from first mixing the dough to leaving it to rise, takes around 4 1/4 hours for which you need to be in proximity of the dough, but only 30 - 50 minutes actual work.
  • Between 6 am and 12 pm (midday): Make your leaven
  • 6 pm: Mix the dough
  • 6:40 pm: Add the salt and the remaining water
  • 7:30 pm: First set of Stretch & Fold
  • 8:20 pm: Second set of Stretch & Fold
  • 9:10 pm: Third set of Stretch & Fold
  • 10:00 pm: pre-shape the dough
  • 10:30 pm: final shaping
  • The next day between 06:40 am - 12:40 pm (midday): Bake your bread
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