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Sourdough
Starter
the starter - if you keep it in the fridge it'll be fine for about 7-10 days but in general you want to keep it refrigerated and feed it once a week, I feed mine once a day
to feed it - If it was refrigerated, take it out of the fridge and let sit at room temp for a few hours, otherwise you can get right to it
in a clean jar keep ~15 grams of starter
add 45g of flour and 45g of water (you can use any type of flour you want... bread flour or whole wheat makes it easier to work with because it absorbs water easier)
let the mix of starter rise and ~ double in size at room temp (about 70-75 degrees) after ~12 hours (this is when you have fully active starter)
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if you aren't making bread, keep the starter in the fridge and feed it every 10-14 days, if you keep it on the counter feed it every 24 hours
Autolyse
​when you have active starter -
mix 500g of flour (any mix you want, I've found that 400g bread flour and 100g whole wheat is nice to work with) with 400g of room temp water... mix this together in a bowl and let it sit for ~30 min
this gives the flour and water time to form a better bond for the next step, it isn't required, but makes mixing easier later
Adding Starter
add 75g of the active starter to the mixed flour and water as well as 10g of salt... mix is all together and shape into a ball... i use my hands to do this... getting them wet first makes it a lot easier so it doesn't stick to you
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set it back in the bowl to sit (seam down) for 1 hour, cover the bowl with a tea towl or some kind of cloth (this is the 1st stretch and fold)
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Stretch and Fold
after an hour, wet your hands again
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get your hands wet and stretch it out a bit and refold into a ball... i kind of think you are just taking the existing ball and making a new ball (this is the 2nd stretch and fold)
after another hour, 3rd and last stretch and fold (same process) and set for 1 hour
Proofing
line a bread pan or banneton with a towel and flour it so the dough won't stick when you let it proof (sit to establish a shape)... put the dough into this seam side up (this is so the seam will be down when you take it out to bake
I'll generally put it in the fridge over night and bake the next day, but you can bake it after a 2-3 hour proof at room temp, i've found that cooling it over night makes it A LOT easier to take out of the shaping pan
Baking Prep
preheat oven to 450F and if you have a dutch oven, put that in when you start heating so it'll be hot. If you don't have one put a pan at the bottom of the oven.
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take a sharp knife or bread lame and score the bread (can get creative with designs) this helps when the bread expands in the oven.
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Bake
Dutch Oven - Put the scored loaf into the dutch oven and cook with the lid on for ~18 min. Remove the lid and cook for ~10 more min. The lid on helps keep steam in and keep the bread moist, and cooking without the lid helps give you the brown crust.
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No Dutch Oven - put the loaf into the oven and pour boiling water into the pan you put at the bottom of the oven, this will help create the steam you missed out on in the dutch oven. Cook for ~18 min then take the water out of the oven and finish for another ~10 min.
