This beginner homemade sourdough bread recipe is naturally fermented with sourdough starter and has a light, chewy crumb with a super crispy crust and all that classic sourdough tang!
Feed your starter about 6-12 hours before you want to make the dough. The time is highly dependent on your specific starter and how long it typically takes to reach its peak. Once your starter is active, bubbly, and more than doubled in size it's time to mix the dough!
In a large bowl, whisk together the ripe sourdough starter and water until the starter is mostly dissolved in the water.
Then add in the bread flour and using a dough whisk, mix together until the dough comes together in a cohesive mass. The dough will still be very sticky.
Cover the bowl with a towel or plastic wrap and let rest for 1 hour at room temperature.
Then add in the salt and gently massage into the dough. Then turn the dough out onto a clean surface and knead using the "slap and fold" method for 5-7 minutes until the dough is much smoother and more supple.
To slap and fold: Using slightly wet hands, pick the dough up and slap the end down onto the counter so that it sticks slightly. Stretch the end that you are holding towards your body, then quickly fold it over onto the side that is stuck to the counter. Keep slapping and folding the dough, rotating the dough 90 degrees each time so that the dough is kneaded evenly.
Place the dough back in the bowl, cover, and let the dough rise at room temperature. While the dough is rising do a set of stretches and folds every 30 minutes (3-5 total sets as needed).
To do stretch and folds: Using slightly wet hands, grab the top edge of the dough and stretch upwards as far as you can without the dough breaking. Then fold it over on the bottom. Repeat the same motion from side to side around the entire bowl.
After the 3rd set of stretch and folds, I like to do the "window pane test" to see if the dough is sufficiently strong. Grab the edge of your dough and gently stretch it with your fingers. You should be able to stretch a thin membrane that you can see your fingers through without the dough breaking. If the dough still isn't strong enough to pass this test, do one more set of stretches and folds and then let the dough rise for another 30 minutes to an hour.
The dough is done bulk fermenting when it has roughly doubled in size, is very light and airy, has a very smooth surface with bubbles starting to form, and has a slightly domed surface and be slightly pulling away from the edges of the bowl.
Shaping
Gently turn the dough out onto a slightly floured surface. Use a bench knife to gently shape into a loose round. Then let rest uncovered for 20-30 minutes.
Before final shaping, be sure to dust your proofing basket with flour (preferably white rice flour as it's more nonstick and less likely to burn in the oven).
Take your preshaped round and gently flip it over. Then gently stretch the dough into a large rectangle.
Fold the bottom side of the dough up to the middle of the dough. Then fold in the left and right sides over to the middle of the dough as well. Then fold the top of the dough down to the middle of the dough.
With two hands, grab the top of the rectangle and gently fold the dough over on itself, pressing to seal the bottom together. You can also then pinch the ends together. The top of the dough should be smooth and taut.
Using your bench knife, flip the shaped oval into the floured proofing basket seam side up.
Proofing
Then cover the proofing basket and immediately transfer to the fridge to cold proof. I find cold proofing for 12-18 hours to be ideal, but this largely depends on the temperature of your fridge and the activity of your dough. The dough should be able to keep in the cold fridge for 24-48 hours before baking and the longer it proofs the more sour it will taste.
The dough is ready to bake when it is light, puffy, and has doubled in size.
Score & Bake
Preheat oven to 450°F prior to scoring your bread. Once the oven is preheated, add your covered dutch oven and let it preheat for 15-20 minutes (don't exceed 20 minutes or the dutch oven might be too hot for the bread to rise properly).
Place dough sling or a piece of parchment paper on top of your proofing basket. Flip over and gently lift the basket off of your proofed dough.
You can make scoring as simple or as intricate as you like! To keep it simple, for oval batards use your bread lame to just cut one big slash longways down the center of the dough (or slightly off to one side).
After scoring, immediately transfer the bread to your preheated dutch oven. If desired, place a small ice cube in the bottom of the dutch oven (this helps add more steam), then cover tightly with the lid and bake covered at 450°F for 20 minutes.
Then remove the lid and bake for another 20-25 minutes or until the crust is deep golden brown.
Remove from the oven and immediately transfer to a wire cooling rack to let the bread cool for at least 1 hour before slicing.
Notes
* Instead of just bread flour you can substitute all purpose flour (I often do half bread flour and half all purpose flour). You can also substitute 30g (¼ cup) for whole wheat flour for a little extra flavor and color!