The Beginners Guide to making Dutch Oven Sourdough Bread
This is a comprehensive guide for beginners to make dutch oven sourdough bread.
Servings 10
Ingredients
- 50 grams Active Fed Sourdough Starter
- 350 grams Water Use filtered water. Tap water will have chlorine and can kill your starter.
- 500 grams Bread Flour King Arthur brand recommended.
- 10 grams Salt I used kosher salt.
Instructions
- PLEASE MAKE SURE you refer to the post headings for exact instructions and questions. They provide a much higher and necessary level of detail. This section will simply review steps.
- Feed your starter. About 6-8 hours later it should be active and ready to make dough.
- Mix together starter and water in a large bowl. Make sure you are using a kitchen scale. Place the bowl on the scale and hit the tare button. Pour in starter. Hit tare again and add water. Mix together to combine.350 grams Water, 50 grams Active Fed Sourdough Starter
- Hit the tare button again and add flour. Hit the tare button again to add and measure the salt. Mix together until you have a shaggy dough.10 grams Salt, 500 grams Bread Flour
- Allow the dough to sit covered with plastic wrap for 1 hour and then perform your first set of stretch and folds. You'll perform 20-25 this first time. Work your way around the bowl and pull sections of dough up from the outside and fold it in on itself.
- Cover and wait another hour. Perform stretch and folds again. This time 5-6 is plenty.
- Perform 2 more sets (for a total of 4) spaced about an hour apart. This doesn't need to be totally exact, but an hour is good.
- After stretch and folds are completed, you'll cover the dough after turning it smooth side up. Leave to bulk ferment for 6-8 hours. The temperature of your home is crucial. See post above for details.
- After bulk fermentation shape the dough into a round boule shape. Turn it into a bowl lined with a towel (dust towel with rice flour) or a banneton if you have it. Make sure to dust the banneton or the towel with the rice flour to prevent sticking. Refrigerate for a minimum of 3 hours and a max of 24.
- Remove from the refrigerator and turn dough onto parchment smooth side up.
- Score the dough with at least one cut down the center about a 1/2 inch. This is to allow gasses to escape and to get a good oven spring.
- Take the dough on the parchment from the counter into the dutch oven. Place the lid on and place it in a cold oven. Turn the oven to 425 and bake for 55 minutes. You will NOT preheat the oven or the dutch oven. This is known as a cold start.
- After 55 minutes move the bread off the parchment from inside the dutch oven and place on a cooling rack for at least 2 hours.
- Do not store warm bread. Make sure you allow it to cool completely before wrapping in foil or parchment and placing in a zip top bag. This will keep 2-3 days on the counter or you can freeze it!