Greg's Sourdough Bread Recipe
Makes 1 Loaf
Greg's Tried and Tested Sourdough Bread
This recipe was inspired and modified from The Perfect Loaf. Multiday process: start with feeding starter, next day prepare dough, last day bake. Good activity for over a weekend.Ingredients (by weight)
- 500 g All Purpose Flour
- 135 g Heavy Flour
(Rye, Whole Wheat, Buck Wheat, Pumperknickel) - 30 g Vital Wheat Gluten
- 13 g (~2 Tbsp) Kosher Salt
- 80 g Sourdough Starter
- 425 g Purified Water
heated to ~90 - 105 °F
Instructions
- In big ceramic bowl, combine Dry ingredients (flours and salt). Mix with hands or dough whisk to evenly distribute dry ingrdients.
- Mix in sourdough starter. Crumble in dry ingredients by hand.
- Mix in water to form raggy dough. More water may be needed for different heavy flours.
- Stretch and fold 6 times with 15, 15, 15, 30, 30, 30 minutes between each stretch and fold. Between each fold, cover bowl with proofing bag.
- Pre-shape: form on a floured counter.
- Form into boule or batard loaf using envelope method. Add toppings if desired. Place formed loaf in banneton, place banneton in proofing bag, overnight in fridge.
- Preheat Oven to 450°F with Dutch Oven for ~1 hr.
- Place dough in preheated Dutch Oven, cover with lid for 30 min. Uncover and bake for 25 more. Loaf should be 200°F when fully finished baking.
Tips:
- Feed starter the day before, do not discard a portion to allow it to grow quickly overnight.
- Stretch and Fold Reference:Perfect Loaf
- Shaping Reference:Perfect Loaf
- Top with black and white sesame, sunflower, flax, caraway, or chia seeds. Wet hand with water and rub over top to help toppings adhere.
- Works well with squid ink to color the bread black. Do not add salt then as squid ink is saline.
Feeding Sourdough Starter
Ingredients (by weight)
- 60 g All Purpose Flour
- 5 g Rye Flour
- 5 g Vital Wheat Gluten
- 40-50 g Purified Water
heated to ~90 - 105 °F
Instructions
- Discard half of the sourdough starter.
- Add in dry ingredients and mix until crumbly.
- Add in water and mix. Dough should be at the stage that still retains shape but not too dry.
- Let sit out of direct sun until next feeding, 2-3 days.
Tips:
- There are many options of what to do with the discard, I make a pancake with mine and feed to our chickens to reduce waste.
- I no longer weigh the added water, it is done by eye to the consistency I have learned works well.