Sourdough Loaf
A single-loaf schedule built around one long bulk ferment and an overnight retard, baked cold from the fridge in a preheated pot.
- Prep
- 40m
- Cook
- 45m
- Waiting
- 19h
- Total
- 20h 25m
- Serves
- one large loaf
- Effort
- Involved
Method
Tap a step number to mark it done. Tap an ingredient once for got it, twice for need it.
| 450 g | Mix flour and water, autolyse 45 minutes, then work in starter and salt 1h | Bulk ferment 4 to 5 hours with four sets of folds in the first two 4h 45m Done when the dough is domed, jiggly and up by about half. | Shape into a tight round, basket it, and retard overnight at 4°C 12h The cold slows the yeast but not the bacteria, which is where the sourness comes from. | Score cold from the fridge and drop straight into the screaming-hot pot 5m Chilled dough holds a clean cut and springs harder once it warms. | Bake lidded at 250°C / 480°F for 20 minutes, then uncovered at 230°C / 450°F for 25 45m Pull it when the crust is properly dark. Pale sourdough tastes of nothing. | |
| 50 g | ||||||
| 360 g | ||||||
| 100 g | ||||||
| 11 g | ||||||
| for dusting the banneton | ||||||
| 1 tbsp | ||||||
-
Mix flour and water, autolyse 45 minutes, then work in starter and salt
1h- strong white bread flour 450 g
- wholemeal flour 50 g
- water 360 g
- active sourdough starter 100 g
- fine sea salt 11 g
-
Bulk ferment 4 to 5 hours with four sets of folds in the first two
4h 45m- from 1 Mix flour and water, autolyse 45 minutes, then work in starter and salt
Done when the dough is domed, jiggly and up by about half.
-
Shape into a tight round, basket it, and retard overnight at 4°C
12h- from 2 Bulk ferment 4 to 5 hours with four sets of folds in the first two
- rice flour for dusting the banneton
The cold slows the yeast but not the bacteria, which is where the sourness comes from.
-
Score cold from the fridge and drop straight into the screaming-hot pot
5m- from 3 Shape into a tight round, basket it, and retard overnight at 4°C
Chilled dough holds a clean cut and springs harder once it warms.
-
Bake lidded at 250°C / 480°F for 20 minutes, then uncovered at 230°C / 450°F for 25
45m- from 4 Score cold from the fridge and drop straight into the screaming-hot pot
- semolina (optional) 1 tbsp
Pull it when the crust is properly dark. Pale sourdough tastes of nothing.
Acid, gluten and time
A stiff starter is a culture of wild yeast and lactic bacteria running in parallel. The yeast makes the gas; the bacteria drop the pH, and mildly acidic conditions tighten gluten and slow the enzymes that would otherwise chew the dough to soup over a long ferment. That is why sourdough tolerates fifteen hours where a commercial-yeast dough would degrade. The folds do the work kneading would, aligning gluten sheets in stages while fermentation gas inflates them.
Notes
- Judge the bulk by the dough, not the clock. At 20°C it may take seven hours; at 26°C, three and a half.
- The pot must preheat empty for a full 30 minutes. Trapped steam keeps the crust flexible so the loaf can expand before it sets.
- Wait an hour before cutting. The crumb is still setting as it cools.