You Can DOUGH It! Sourdough for Beginners.

This recipe was adapted from Kitchn which was adapted from Tartine Bread, my personal experience, and advice from my bread guru Frank McMullen.

Let me start by saying that making sourdough is not the easiest thing I’ve ever done. However, even my first loaf came out beautifully and as my bread mentor, Mr. Frank, says, “even if it isn’t perfect, it’s better than anything you could buy at the store.” And he’s right. I once majorly messed up the timing of a loaf and they were the ugliest little things I’ve ever seen, but they tasted great. It takes a long time to make. It’s a lot of work. But it’s methodical, and it’s cathartic and at the end, you have created something with your own two hands. Something that smells like home and tastes like heaven.

My interest in sourdough began when a friend told me that her gluten-sensitive friend could eat it. Like real sourdough. Not like almond flour bread substitute, but like, real bread. She directed me to a local shop called Frothy Monkey Bakery here in Nashville and I went in head first. That first night I made toast for dinner…seven different kinds of toast. And I felt fine the next day.

So I started doing some research. How could I eat this? I haven’t had wheat in 6 years, but here I am, gnawing on a piece of toast like I was starving to death. The first article I found was this one, and it said, “During the fermentation process, good bacteria breaks down the gluten proteins, thereby reducing or even eliminating the gluten content all together.” So I kept digging, maybe I wasn’t really allergic and I just didn’t know it. And then I found this article from Fine Cooking that said, “Gluten doesn’t even exist until flour becomes wet.” Wait, WHAT?! How did I not know this? The more I researched the more I learned about the science of baking and flour and gluten and how it all worked. To date, the sourdough I make has never given me issue. It’s a game changer.

*Note: I am in no way saying people with celiac or severe gluten intolerance should go out and start making sourdough. If you are allergic you should seek the counsel of your doctor before making any dietary changes.*

The ingredient list in this recipes comes directly from a Kitchn article that was adapted from one by Tartine Bread and the rest from Mr. Frank and my personal experience. This is what worked for me and so I’m sharing it! I highly recommend you read this article from Kitchn before you use this recipe, it’s complicated but the instructions are amazing. The ending of mine is different because of advice I got from my friend, Frank. I also got my starter from Frank, it’s over 20 years old and I haven’t killed it yet. A simple google search will pull up many options for making your own starter, but if you have a bread baking friend I would beg them for a little bit of it so you can get started on your journey with confidence.

Good luck! And enjoy!

What You Need

Makes 2 loaves

Ingredients-

For the leaven:

1.5 tablespoon active sourdough starter

75 grams (1/2 cup) all-purpose flour or bread flour

75 grams (1/3 cup) water

For the dough:

1 tablespoon salt

525 grams (2 cups) water

700 grams (5 1/2 cups) all-purpose flour or bread flour

Flour for sprinkling on your workspace

Equipment

Small mixing bowl

Large mixing bowl

Plastic wrap

Spatula or wooden spoon

Colanders lined with dish cloth or bread baskets

Dutch oven (two is ideal but not necessary, will cut down on time a lot)

Serrated knife (not totally necessary but trust me, this is a good investment if you’re gonna be baking a lot of bread)

Instructions

1. Make sure your sourdough culture is active: If your sourdough has been in the fridge, take it out 1 to 2 days (even 3, but I’ve never done it for that long) before you plan to bake. Feed it daily to make sure it’s strong and very active before you make the bread.
2. Make the leaven (overnight): The night before you plan to make the dough, combine a tablespoon of active sourdough culture with the flour and water for the leaven (½ cup flour, ⅓ cup water). Mix thoroughly to form a thick batter. Cover and let stand at room temperature overnight, for about 12 hours.
3. Test that the leaven is ready: Generally, if the surface of the leaven is very bubbly, it’s ready to be used. To double check, drop a small spoonful of the leaven in a cup of water; if the leaven floats, it’s ready. (And by floats I mean some of it is at the top, not that the entire piece is floating exactly on the top of the water.)
4. Dissolve the salt: Combine the 1 tbs salt and 50 grams (about 1/4 cup) of the water for the dough in a small bowl. Set aside, stirring every so often to make sure the salt dissolves.
5. Mix the leaven and water: Combine the leaven and the remaining 475 grams (2 + 1/4 cups) of water for the dough in a large mixing bowl. Stir with a spatula or use your hands to break up and dissolve the leaven into the water. It’s OK if the leaven doesn’t fully dissolve and a few clumps remain.
6. Add the flour: Stir the flour into the water and leaven with a spatula until you see no more visible dry flour and you’ve formed a very shaggy dough.
7. Rest the dough (30 minutes, or up to 4 hours): Cover the bowl tightly with saran wrap, or the more environmentally friendly beeswrap, and let the dough rest for at least 30 minutes — 6+ hours. This is the autolyse stage where the flour is fully absorbing the water and enzymes in the flour begin breaking down the starches and proteins. I have no idea if this actually makes a difference, but in my brain the longer it has to break this down the less things I don’t want in it will be there (like gluten). I typically do this in the morning before work and start on the next phase right when I get home. I’ve even left it in the fridge in this stage for a day and half before and the bread came out beautifully.
8. Mix in the salt: Pour the dissolved salt over the dough. Work the liquid and salt into the dough by pinching and squeezing the dough. The dough will feel wet and loose at this point.
9. Begin folding the dough (2 1/2 hours): To fold the dough, grab the dough at one side, lift it up, and fold it over on top of itself. Fold the dough four times, moving clockwise from the top of the bowl (or turning the bowl in between folds). Let the dough rest 30 minutes, then repeat. Do this a total of 6 times, every 20 min to half hour for a total of 2 1/2 hours. The dough will start out shaggy and very loose, but will gradually smooth out and become tighter as you continue folding.
10. Let the dough rise undisturbed: Once you’ve finished the folds, let the dough rise undisturbed for 30 to 60 minutes until it looks slightly puffed. This dough won’t double in size the way regular, non-sourdough breads will; it should just look larger than it did when you started.
11. Arrange your oven. Probably one shelf in the middle.
12. Place the dutch oven in and make sure it clears the top when covered.
13. Find a timer, a bowl, colander, basket or something lined with a clean cloth to put the finished loaf in for final proofing
14. Sprinkle flour on that cloth and on your work surface.
15. Get the bread and dump it carefully without deflating it too much on the table. Divide it in half with a bench scraper (or knife) gently.
16. Use your hands and a bench scraper to shape them into a rough ball. Lightly flour and cover with a cloth. Set timer for 25 minutes and leave them alone!
17. If you only have one dutch oven then shape ONLY ONE of the rounds now, if you have two then go ahead and do both. Shape the loaf much like you folded the dough earlier: Grab the lip of the dough at the bottom, pull it gently up, then fold it over onto the center of the dough. Repeat with the right and left side of the dough. Repeat with the top of the dough, but once you’ve folded it downward, use your thumb to grab the bottom lip again and gently roll the dough right-side up. If it’s not quite round or doesn’t seem taut to you, cup your palms around the dough and rotate it against the counter to shape it up. The final step is the MOST important. After you do the four-way stretch and fold and have the round loaf, you MUST stretch the top to create tension in the dough. That’s what makes it POP in the oven and give it a good crumb with holes and texture. To do this, sprinkle some flour on top of the loaf, flour your hands and place them together on top of the loaf. Stretch the dough around and down until the edges of your hands meet under the loaf. Rotate 90 degrees and do it again until you go all the way around. You should be using the edges of your palms to seal the bottom with each turn This shouldn’t deflate the dough, but it should smooth tighten the dough. “This is not easy and you will get better at it with each loaf you try. This step is the one I always have to go back and teach everyone over again when they complain that their bread “comes out too flat!” -Frank
18. Place it upside down in the floured bowl.
19. NOW turn on your oven and set it for 500 degrees.
20. When the oven reaches temperature, take the flat bottom of the dutch oven out, carefully turn the bowl over and dump the bread in, slash the top in at least an x but a star works, too. Put the bottom in the oven and cover. Set a timer for 15 minutes.
21. After 15 minutes, reduce the temperature to 450 and set a timer for 15 minutes again.
22. After the second 15 minutes, remove that cover and leave the bread in the oven until it reaches 206 degrees in the center. This should be about 8–10 minutes longer if you don’t have an instant-read thermometer. This step is also when you should shape your second ball of dough if you have only one dutch oven.
23. If you are cooking your second wait until your first is done and then take it out and reset your oven to 500. By the time it is preheated again your second round will be ready to go in the oven. Don’t forget to slice the top of the second one. Follow instructions as for the first one.
24. Wait 30 minutes after it comes out of the oven, or as long as you can, to slice the end off and try it with garlic ghee!

Congrats! You just made your very own sourdough!