Meet Your Starter
Never made sourdough before? Hi. Lets be best friends! I have made sourdough, failed, tried again, failed again and tried again. So if you’re at the beginning of your sourdough journey, trust me when I say I know how frustrating and confusing it can be.
There is so much information out there, and honestly, it can make something as simple as flour, water and time feel bloody complicated.
So this is how I do it ~ simple, no fancy equipment and no overthinking. Just a happy starter, a few basic ingredients and a bit of patience.
Your sourdough starter is a living thing, so look after her ~ name her, feed her, give her a bit of air and don’t fuss over her too much.
- Feed her 1:1:1 — equal weights starter, flour and water. 50g of each is plenty to get started.
- Discard before feeding. Tip out all but about 50g of starter, then give her a fresh feed. Otherwise you’ll soon have a kitchen full of starter and nowhere to put it.
- Keep her on the bench with the lid sitting loosely on top. She needs a bit of air while she works her magic.
- Feed her daily if she lives on the bench. If she’s in the fridge, once a week will keep her ticking along. When you’re ready to bake, bring her out and give her a feed or two to wake her up.
- She’s ready to bake with when she’s doubled in size, looking nice and bubbly, has a little dome on top and passes the float test.
Don’t get too caught up in the clock, either. Your starter will tell you when she’s ready.
Your First Loaf: What You’ll need:
- 500g bread flour
- 350g water
- 100g active sourdough starter
- 10g salt
- Dutch oven
Mix
Mix your flour, water and starter together in a bowl until everything is combined. It should look shaggy and messy at this stage ~ thats exactly what you want. Don't panic and don't try and make it smooth.
Let it rest for about 30 minutes, then add your salt and work it through the dough.
Stretch & Folds
Every 30 minutes, come back and give the dough a round of stretch and folds. Four rounds is generally plenty.
You'll notice the dough changing each time. It will start off shaggy and sticky, then gradually become smoother, stronger and more elastic.
Bulk Ferment
Now comes the part where you have to be patient.
Leave your dough somewhere warm-ish to bulk ferment. As a rough guide, this can take around 4 - 8 hours, but sourdough doesn't really work to a strict timetable. The temperature of your kitchen, the strength of your starter and the weather can all make a difference.
You’re looking for your dough to become lighter, puffier and bubbly, and to have grown by around 50% rather than necessarily doubling in size.
Don’t worry if it takes longer than the recipe says. Watch the dough, not the clock.
Shape
Once your dough has finished bulk fermenting, gently turn it out onto a lightly floured bench.
Give it a loose shape by folding it like an envelope and rolling into a loaf, then leave it to rest for about 30 minutes. This gives the dough a chance to relax before its final shape.
After 30 minutes, come back and give it your final shape, creating a nice bit of tension on the surface without knocking all the air out.
Place it seam-side up into a well-floured banneton.
Don’t have a banneton? No worries. A colander lined with a well-floured tea towel works perfectly well too.
Cover it and pop it into the fridge overnight. Then it’s ready to bake the next day.
Bake
The next morning, take your dough out of the fridge while you get the oven ready.
Place your Dutch oven inside the oven and preheat to 230°C for 20 minutes. You want that Dutch oven properly hot before your loaf goes in.
A few minutes before the 20 minutes is up, turn your dough out onto a piece of baking paper and score the top with a bread lame. If you don’t have one, a razor blade or very sharp knife will do the job.
When you score, don't cut straight down into the dough. Hold your lame or blade more flat against the surface and cut at a slight angle. This helps create that beautiful ear as the loaf opens up in the oven.
Carefully place your loaf into the hot Dutch oven, put the lid on and bake for 20 minutes.
Then remove the lid and bake for another 25 minutes, until your loaf is beautifully deep, golden and crusty.
Try not to cut into it straight away ~ I know, it’s torture. Let it cool for roughly 1 hour first so the inside has time to finish setting, you will also be able here the crackling as it sets.
Then slice it, slather it with butter and enjoy the fact that you just made sourdough 🤎