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Sourdough Recipe for Beginners

Sourdough Recipe for Beginners

Ingredients

Ingredients:

Recipe for a 1kg dough

Torsten JunkerTorsten Junker

Sourdough Recipe for Beginners

I’ve kept this recipe as simple as possible, with all the details you need for a really good sourdough. It may look daunting at first, but the steps are straightforward. Don’t be put off if your first loaves aren’t “Insta-worthy” you’ll soon get the hang of it.

Everyone’s bake turns out differently, and that’s part of the fun. The key is ending up with a loaf you’re happy with. From there, you can play with timings, shaping, or starter to suit your style.

I usually make double the recipe, either to share or to slice and freeze (slices go straight from freezer to toaster). If you’d like to scale up or down, the BakeryBits Dough Calculator will help keep ingredient ratios spot on.

Making sourdough is a journey to enjoy, not rush. Feeling the dough change through each stage is one of the most satisfying parts. If you’re unsure about your sourdough starter, take a look at our Sourdough Starter Care Guide

This recipe makes 1kg of dough, perfect for one 1kg proofing basket or two 500g baskets.

Method

1. Make your dough: Measure your 1st water, your starter, and the flours into a mixing bowl.
Gently mix together using the bean scraper or dough whisk (if you have a mixer then use this on a low speed for about 3-4 mins) until it becomes a homogenous shaggy sticky dough.
Cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave for 30 minutes.


2. Add the 2nd water: After the 30 minutes, add the second water to the dough and mix/knead until the dough comes together and seems elastic, smooth and becomes less sticky. (15-20 mins by hand or 8 in a mixer on a medium speed) Then add the salt and mix again (5 mins by hand or 2 in a mixer on medium speed), you will be able to notice that the dough becomes tighter and comes away from the mixing bowl without leaving a sticky mess on the bowl.

3. Leave to rest (known as bulk fermentation): Tip the dough out of the bowl and a little splash of neutral cooking oil to your empty bowl and wipe it over the surface of the bowl (this will help with the turns)
Place the dough back into the bowl, cover and leave for three hours.

If you have started late in the day, you can put it in the fridge until the next morning.


4. Turn 1:
After three hours uncover the bowl and wet your hands.

The aim here is to fold your dough in on itself.

Think of your dough as a clock face. Start by lifting the top of the dough by taking hold of 10 and 2 o’clock lift the dough up and flip the top part in under itself. Then repeat this procedure until the dough is wrapped up from top to bottom like a Swiss roll. Turn the dough or the bowl 90° and repeat the folding movements from top to bottom, the dough should feel taught. Cover and rest for half an hour.
Turn 2:
After the dough has rested go through the stretches again then cover the bowl and leave for another half hour.
Turn 3:
Repeat the 8 stretches.
This is where you judge if the dough is good for shaping or if it needs another rest.
If the dough still seems like it is a bit sloppy then let it rest for another half an hour and turn it again by using the stretches and resting period until it is ready for shaping.
If the dough seems elastic and has some nice bubbles then you should be good for shaping.


5. Pre-Shaping: Tip the dough out onto your worktop. Use the flexible scraper by holding the curved side, slide it slightly underneath the dough at 3 0’clock and twist the dough around on itself so that your scraper is at 9 o’clock (you want the bottom of the dough to stick to the worktop so that the twisting motion causes the dough to create some tension). Continue to do this until you have a nice tight ball of dough.
Dust the top of the dough ball with flour and cover it with a clean tea towel. Let rest for half an hour, (this is called the bench rest).

6. Prepare for shaping: After half an hour get your banneton ready by giving it a good dusting of rice (or any other preferably non-wheat) flour, making sure it gets into all the crevices. Put your banneton on the worktop within arm’s reach.
Dust your worktop with flour (about the size of a roasting dish) and dust your hands with flour as well.

7. Shaping:

Step 1 - make it round:  Uncover your dough and using the flexible scraper, holding the curved side, slip it under the dough and flip it over onto its top (using your other hand to steady it).
Now you want to gently pull the dough so that it stretches out into a nice circle shape but not pulling it so much that you rip or tear the dough. Only practice will help you determine how far you can go so don’t overdo it the first time. 
Do this by grabbing two opposite edges (e.g. 3 o’clock and 6 o’clock) and gently pulling, keep going until you have a nice circle.

Step 2 - folding: Now you need to create some tension in the dough so it “springs” up in the oven giving you a nicely shaped loaf. Do this by taking hold of 9 o’clock and folding it slightly over the middle of the dough circle. Then take hold of 3 o’clock and fold that slightly over the middle of the dough circle. 
Repeat with both 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock.
Take the flexible dough scraper and turn it over again so the seam is now underneath your dough on the worktop.

Step 3 - tension: Using the flexible dough scraper gently twist it about itself like you did for the bench rest. (Slide it slightly underneath the dough at 3 0’clock and twist the dough around on itself so that your scraper is at 9 o’clock. Continue to do this until you have a nice tight ball of dough) 
This will create tension in the dough but again, be careful not to split the dough by taking it too far

Step 4 - transfer: Now you are going to transfer it to your banneton by flipping it over, once more aided by your scraper so that the top of the dough is at the bottom of your banneton and the seam is showing. If the seam opens up and reveals sticky dough, you can “stitch” it together by gently pulling the floured dough up and pinch together covering the sticky dough (this can end up looking a little like a pasty seal)
If you have a lot of sticky dough showing you can “stitch” it together by covering up any sticky parts of the dough with the dry dough beside it.
Finally give it a good dusting with rice flour and cover the bowl with your tea towel. You can either wait for it to proof in the basket which should take a few hours at room temperature or pop it in the fridge overnight and bake it the next day.

How to check if it is proofed enough:
Gently press your finger into the dough and it should spring back within 2 seconds. If it takes longer than this, it’s over-proofed and you need to bake it straight away.
If it springs back straight away it needs more time to proof.

8. Preheat and prepare: Put a couple of trays in the oven about a third of the way up from the bottom. Place a small pot into the bottom of the oven (this is for creating steam whilst baking). Heat your oven to as high as it will go - When the oven is at full blast then you are ready to bake.

9. Baking: Uncover your banneton and make sure that the dough has a good dusting of rice flour. Take a tray out of the oven and turn your dough out of the banneton onto the tray.
Slash the dough with your lame by holding your lame at a 45° angle to the dough. Make a simple cross across the top or score a square by slashing halfway up the dough on four sides.
Quickly put the tray back into the oven on top of the other tray. (A thicker layer of metal will hold more heat for the base of the bread).
Pour a small amount of water into the hot pot in the bottom of the oven.
Shut the oven door and turn the temperature down to 220°C. Bake for 20 minutes then being careful, turn the tray around to ensure even baking. Shut the door and bake for a further 20 minutes.
When it is dark and golden, take the bread out and let it cool completely on a cooling rack before tucking in.

 

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