Homemade Sourdough
A traditional slow-fermented sourdough made with flour, water, starter and salt, through mixing, shaping and baking in a dutch oven. Makes two loaves.
By Julia Scott, NZ Registered Dietitian · 19 August 2020
Recipe
Homemade Sourdough
Ingredients
Batch
Method
- 1Stage 1 - Mixing and Resting
- 2Add flour and water together in a large bowl, mix well. Rest for 45 minutes.
- 3Add the starter and salt to the bowl, stir to combine well. Rest for 30 minutes.
- 4With wet hands, lift and stretch one side of the dough and fold it back over the rest of the dough. Repeat this three times moving the bowl a 1/4 turn each time. Rest for 30 minutes.
- 5Repeat step 3 every 30 minutes for 2 hours (doing step 3 a total of four times). Rest for 4 hours or covered overnight in the fridge.
- 6Stage 2 - Shaping
- 7Flour the bench. Cut the dough in half. Stretch the dough out and loosely plait, then fold back over itself 3-4 times to form a ball. Rest for 30 minutes.
- 8Lightly flour the top of the dough, then flip over. Pull the outside edges into the centre of the dough and push down, turning the dough slightly each time, until you form a ball. Place each ball in a bowl, around 15cm in diameter, lined with baking paper. Cover and rest for 3 hours or in the fridge overnight.
- 9Stage 3 - Baking
- 10Score the dough with a very sharp knife.
- 11Place a dutch oven on a baking tray in the oven and preheat to 250°C fan bake.
- 12Transfer the baking paper and dough into the dutch oven and bake with the lid on for 20 minutes.
- 13Remove the lid of the dutch oven, place on a new (cool) oven tray, reduce the heat to 220°C and bake for another 10-20 minutes, until the crust is medium-dark golden.
- 14When done, turn the oven off and leave the bread in with the door ajar for a further 20 minutes.
- 15Repeat steps 1-5 for the second loaf.
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