Beginner Sourdough Bread

Published: Apr 20, 2020 · Modified: May 12, 2020 ·by Swathi.This post may contain affiliate links ·

Simple and delicious no -fail Beginner sourdough bread you can make it with just flour, active sourdough starter, salt and water

If you have made a strong active starter, the next step is to make Sourdough bread. I am going to explain how you can create a delicious beginner sourdough bread. My first sourdough bread did not look great, but it tasted good. With years of practice and after lots of trial and error I can bake delicious sourdough bread. Still I am continuing to learn. Here is the simple and no-fail recipe of Beginner Sourdough Bread.

Even If you didn’t take a picture-perfect sourdough bread, at the same time I can assure you that it is going to be taste delicious.

Before you start baking sourdough bread, you need to get familiar with sourdough bread baker’s terminology. You are going to see these when you start making sourdough bread.

- Starter: It is a mixture flour and water with active wild yeast and bacteria which helps to create sourdough bread. You must continue to feed them if you want to bake the bread. For how to make active sourdough starter please check this post.
- Levain (or leaven) is made with little starter and flour and water. Actually, you are making a concentration of active microorganisms which you going to mix into the dough when you making the bread. I prefer to use leaven/ Levain as it gives assurance that your starter is working. The levain is always made with a portion of a starter when the starter is mature, or at its peak (more on this later).
- Autolyse is a step in the baking process where only flour and water are mixed, always at the beginning of the whole process. This will help to initiate enzymatic activity in the dough which helps draw out sugars from the flour, but it also increases its extensibility (the ability for the dough to stretch out without tearing). Increased extensibility helps the dough to expand and fill with gasses, resulting in a light & airy loaf.
- Bulk Fermentation is the first rise of dough, where flour, salt, water and leaven/ leavain work together. This gives flavor of the dough as alcohols and acids are formed the microbial activity on the flour. In other words, bacteria and wild yeast breaks complex sugars in flour into simple form and resulting CO₂ and other byproducts.
- Proof : In the case of sourdough this is typically done at cooler temperature in the refrigerator. I prefer overnight proof as it give more flavors to dough. It is usually done on shaped dough as it continues to ferment, further strengthening the dough.

- The final dough temperature (FDT) is the temperature of the dough right after mixing all ingredients together, usually it should be around 78°F (25°C).

Baking Tools

There are a few necessary tools for baking your first loaf of bread.

Kitchen Scale: I prefer measuring in gram rather than in cups.

Combo Cooker, Le Cresuet Dutch oven, or Cast-iron combo cooker which can tolerate 500°F (260°C) in the oven, has a lid and will create a good seal when covered

Pyrex glass bowl or steel vessel which you can make the dough

Banneton or kitchen colander for proofing. If you are using Kitchen colander make sure to line with tea towel and dust well with rice and all-purpose flour mix

Bench knife you can use steel or plastic ones

Kitchen towels

Plastic wrap or shower cap.

Mixing bowl

Instant read thermometer

Rice flour and all-purpose flour (80:20) for dusting proofing bowl

Razor or sharp knife for score the dough before baking

Fine sea salt

Parchment paper (this will prevent the sticking of the bread while baking)

Oven mitt

How to make the first sourdough loaf

Once you have gathered all the ingredients and active starter ready start making your first loaf

In the morning around 8.00 AM you make the levain/ leaven by mixing starter and flour, water. Normally it requires 5-6 hours get ready, so that you incorporate into dough. You can also make the levain the night before you plan to mix your dough, but it can also be done early in the morning

12: 00 P.M Autolyse the flour by just mixing all the flour and water (you need to keep aside at least 15g of water for mixing salt). Cover the bowl and store somewhere warm (near your leaven is convenient) for at least 1 hour

1.00 P.M mix the dough. You need to mix in the levain/ leaven into the dough and set aside for 30 minutes.

Mix in the salt and rest of water and set it aside.

1.10 PM to 6.40 PM Bulk Fermentation which includes stretch and fold. This is to give strength to dough which will rise as well as dough continue to ferment.

First 2 hours of dough mixing you need to stretch and fold (check the video for details) the dough for every 30 minutes interval.

First fold 30 minutes, after mixing you can incorporate salt too at this stage

Second fold 60 minutes after mixing

3^rd fold after 90 minutes of mixing

4^th fold after 120 minutes of mixing

5^th fold after 3 hours of mixing

6^th fold after 4 hours of mixing

7^th fold after 5 hours of mixing

8^th and final fold are after 5.30 hours of mixing

Each set consists of 4 folds, one at the North, South, East and West sides. Wet your hands with a little water to prevent sticking and then lift one side (North) of the dough with two hands. Stretch the dough up high enough just so that you can fold it completely over to the other side of the dough in the bowl. Rotate the bowl 180° and do the other side (South). Finish the other two sides (East and West) to complete the set. Let the dough rest 30 minutes, covered, between sets.

At the end of the bulk fermentation your dough should have risen between 20% and 50%, and should show some bubbles on top. The sides and the edge of the dough where it meets the bowl should be slightly domed showing strength.

Next step is to Preshape the dough

In a workspace if you want you can dust lightly with flour, I usually skip this step. Transfer the dough from the bowl lightly pulling the dough towards you. This gentle turning and pulling motion will develop tension on the top of the dough forming a round circle. Let the dough rest for 25 minutes, uncovered.

Shape the dough

In a lightly floured workspace, lightly spread the dough. Then, grab the left and right sides of the dough and stretch them away from each other, fold one side over toward the other and repeat with the other side. You’ll now have a tight package that resembles a letter.

Finally, flip, or roll down the dough so the seams are all on the bottom and using two hands cup the top part of the round and drag the dough gently towards your body. The angle of your hands will gently press the bottom of the dough on the counter creating tension, forming a skin on the top of the dough as you drag.

After shaping, let the dough rest on the bench for a few minutes and then place seam-side-up into a towel-lined kitchen bowl or banneton that was lightly dusted with rice flour and all-purpose flour.

Next is to proof the dough

To prevent your dough from drying out overnight, place your bowls containing your shaped dough in plastic bags sealed shut with a rubber band. I will usually puff up the plastic bag around the bowl by opening it wide and then quickly closing the opening. Once covered, let the dough rest on the counter for 20 minutes. Then, place the dough / retard in the refrigerator at 38°F (3°C) for 16 hours.

During this time overall fermentation will slow, but (good) bacterial activity will continue, contributing to a more complex flavor and darker crust coloring.

Bake – Next Morning

Preheat oven for 1 hour at 500°F (250°C). You can pre-heat the oven with Dutch oven or combo cooker inside. If you don’t have Dutch oven, place the dough in the baking sheet lined with parchment paper. You need to keep some ice cubes to create steam.

When you’re done preheating, take one of your plastic bag-wrapped loaf out of the fridge and unwrap it. Then flip the whole thing over into parchment paper. Remove the basket and your dough should be resting on the parchment.

Score these loaves at a 90° angle between the razor blade and dough. If you want a more pronounced “ear” at each score line, lower the angle between the blade and the dough (so the blade is close to horizontal with the dough)

Bake the bread at 500°F (250°C) for 25 minutes with lid and then reduce the temperature and remove the lid and bake 450°F (230°C) for 20 minutes or until its golden-brown color.

Wait 1-2 hours before slicing the bread (I know, it’s hard to do this) to ensure the interior is set otherwise you will get gummy bread.

Once you made your Beginner sourdough bread. Next bread you can play with various flavors if you want.

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