Recipe

Step 1 - Mix 810g of all purpose flour with 490g of water and 250g of starter in a large mixing bowl. Mix with a spoon or spatula and then with your hands to get all the ingredients to come together. This is the most time consuming step. Keep working it together. It will eventually all be incorporated but it will be fairly dry and shaggy. This is normal.

*Tip: Put the flour in the bowl first. Make a well in the middle and pour in the water. Add the starter to the water and mix it together first before you start to pull in the flour.

If you're following my timeline it is 8am on day 2.

Step 2 - Cover with plastic wrap and set aside (in a warm place) for 1 hour. This is the autolyse step.

I like to try and reuse my plastic wrap several times so I put a towel over it as well to keep the plastic wrap in place. After the first use it loses all of its cling due to the flour.

Step 3 - Uncover and sprinkle 16g of sea salt on the dough. Pour the remaining 40g of water on top. Work this with your hands until all the salt is incorporated and there is no residual water. At this point it will feel wet and slimy. This too is normal.

Step 4 - Cover with plastic wrap and set aside for 30 minutes.

Step 5 - Perform a stretch and fold of the dough (See Amy in the Kitchen for a better explanation). Cover and wait 30 minutes. Repeat this 3 more times for a total of 4 stretch and folds. After each stretch and fold the dough will feel more and more smooth and elastic.

If you get distracted and 45 or 60 minutes passes between a stretch and fold don’t worry. It’s very forgiving.

Step 6 - After the last stretch and fold (2 hours after you finished step 3) cover and set aside for about 3-5 more hours. This timing is pretty flexible. It should have bubbled up nicely. If it hasn’t I’d suggest finding a warmer spot or maybe just give it more time.

Step 7 - Gently remove the dough onto the counter. Be delicate so as not to knock out too much air. Divide the dough into two equal parts.

If you're following my timeline it's now around 5pm on day 2. 

Step 8 - Using a scraper cut and gently form the dough into two round balls. You don’t need to make them too tight at this point. Cover and let rest for about 30 minutes.

I use the term 'ball' loosely here. At this stage the sourdough barely has the structure needed to hold its shape.

In this image I was making 1 full loaf and 2 half loaves.

Step 9 - One at a time, dust the top with flour. Using the bench scraper flip the dough ball over. Fold the top down. Fold the bottom up. Fold the left in. Fold the right in. Flip the ball back over so the seam side is down. You can find lots of videos on how to do this step. Here’s one that is a little more elaborate – Joshua Weissman video. 

Step 10 - In order to get a tight skin on the top pull the dough towards you on your work surface using cupped hands. Rotate the dough ball and repeat a few more times.

Step 11 - Prepare the banneton by coating the inside generously with flour.

Step 12 - Flip the dough ball and gently place it in the banneton with the seam side up.

Step 13 - Sprinkle flour on the seam side of the dough ball and cover with plastic wrap. I like to wrap the entire banneton, dough ball and plastic wrap with a clean towel.

Step 14 - Put in the refrigerator over night. (repeat steps 9-13 with the other dough ball)

Step 15 - The next morning preheat the over to 450-460 degrees F. (I set my oven to 460). Put a cast iron pan (or metal baking pan) on the lower rack. I also keep my pizza stone in the oven and bake the loaf right on the stone.

If you're following my timeline it is now 8am on day 3.

Step 16 - Flip out the loaf out onto a lightly dusted pizza peel (or something you can use to transfer it to the oven).

Step 17 - Using a razor blade or lame score the bread. This takes some practice but with each loaf you’ll become more confident so get creative. I like to make at least one relatively deep, long cut - about 1/4 inch deep and across the entire loaf.

Step 18 - Transfer the loaf to your oven.

Step 19 - Pour about 1 cup of hot water into the cast iron pan.

Apparently professional bread ovens inject steam into the oven. Since most of us don’t have ovens like this pouring water into the hot pan generates the steam to let the bread rise and develop a nice chewy crust.

Step 20 - Close the oven and bake for about 30-35 minutes. I've found rotating the loaf after about 25 minutes helps but that may just be my oven. Definitely don't open the oven too early because you don't want to lose all that precious steam.

Step 21 - Remove and let the loaf cool completely (1 hour) before cutting. And repeat steps 15-21 with the other loaf.