
In the event you love making sourdough however you by no means fairly get the fluffy texture you are going for, that is the bread recipe for you! It is the proper mix of ethereal and tangy, with a texture so gentle you will really feel such as you’re biting right into a cloud (with a superbly crunchy crust, in fact). I’ve examined this recipe over 50 instances, and it’s at all times a crowd-pleaser. It is positive to develop into considered one of your favourite bread recipes. Give it a strive at present!
Soar to:
Why You may Love This Bread:
It is DELICIOUS: I can inform you for sure that that is the perfect sourdough bread recipe I’ve ever made. I’ve perfected it after testing quite a few batches and the result is at all times probably the most wonderful bread with a superbly crisp golden brown crust and the softest, most flavorful inside.
SIMPLE Components: It is really unbelievable which you could make such a scrumptious loaf of bread utilizing solely flour, water, salt, and wild yeast. No industrial yeast or different leavening brokers are wanted! It amazes me each time!
CONSISTENT Outcomes: This recipe has been tried and examined many instances. In the event you comply with the photograph tutorial beneath and follow usually, you are nicely in your option to making excellent sourdough bread, each time!
Ingredient Notes:

- Sourdough Starter: Sourdough starter can both be made at dwelling or bought in numerous kinds (sometimes dried). I used this information for making a sourdough starter and it hasn’t failed me but. You too can ask a baking buddy to share some! It is necessary to notice that sourdough starters are all totally different in yeast cultures, consistency, yeast exercise, and so forth. and it could take time to determine how your starter works with particular recipes.
- All-Function Flour: When selecting a flour to feed your sourdough starter, choose an unbleached flour. Bleached flour seemingly will not destroy your starter, however I get good outcomes with unbleached all-purpose flour.
- Bread Flour: Not all bread flours are created equal. The protein content material and kind of wheat used can drastically have an effect on the result of your bread. I get the perfect outcomes with King Arthur bread flour which has the next protein content material than most bread flours. That is to not say you may’t use any sort of bread flour, however you might have to check the recipe just a few instances and modify it to your liking.
- Salt: I exploit Redmond Actual Salt for bread, which is unrefined and has a decrease sodium content material per gram than common desk salt. If you’re utilizing refined desk salt, minimize the salt right down to 8-9 g to make up for the upper sodium content material.
Specialty Gear Notes:

- Dutch Oven: A forged iron Dutch oven is the proper vessel for making a crisp crust whereas additionally permitting the bread to rise throughout the baking course of. You too can use a stoneware bread baker.
- Kitchen Scale: A digital kitchen scale is a baker’s greatest buddy. Certain, you may measure out the elements with measuring cups. However, to get extra exact, constant outcomes, a digital kitchen scale must be used.
- Lengthy Silicone Spatula: You may stir your sourdough starter with any clear kitchen utensil that works for you. However this lengthy silicone spatula is simply the best measurement and form to successfully stir the starter and scrape down the perimeters of the jar.
- Dough Whisk: A dough whisk is nice for mixing dough but it surely is not mandatory. You may combine this dough along with your arms or one other clear kitchen utensil as nicely.
- Silicone Bowl Scraper: A silicone bowl scraper is a useful software for eradicating sticky dough from a bowl. I extremely suggest getting one!
- Bench Scraper: A bench scraper is a useful software relating to shaping sourdough. However, you too can form sourdough along with your arms.
- Bread Lame or Razor: A bread lame is basically a flowery razor blade holder and is not mandatory for scoring bread. Nonetheless, a razor blade or sharp knife is crucial for scoring the dough.
- Banneton: A banneton is a basket particularly made for proofing bread dough. You too can use a cloth-lined bowl rather than a banneton. Bannetons are available in two shapes boule (spherical) and batard (oval). There are a lot of sourdough kits that comprise bannetons and different instruments listed above.
- Parchment Paper: Parchment paper is tremendous useful for baking sourdough. It makes a terrific floor to switch the dough from counter to Dutch oven to cooling rack and in addition retains the dough from sticking to the Dutch oven.
- Bread Knife: sourdough loaf will be exhausting to slice with a typical bread knife on account of its crusty exterior and mushy inside. I like to recommend a pointy knife with scalloped enamel like this scalloped offset bread knife. As an added bonus, the offset form retains you from rubbing your knuckles on the chopping board!

What’s Sourdough Starter and The place Do I Get It?
Sourdough starter is a reside tradition made by combining flour and water and cultivating the wild yeast current in flour. Starters are sometimes made starting with complete wheat flour and step by step switching to all-purpose flour. Wild yeast is extra current within the exterior of the wheat kernel which is current in complete wheat flour and creates a extra strong starter.
You may make your individual sourdough starter by following this information from King Arthur Flour: find out how to make your individual sourdough starter. You too can buy sourdough starters from numerous retailers like this starter named “Willa” from Ballerina Farm. Or the best route to acquire a starter is to ask a sourdough-baking buddy for some!
Step-by-Step Directions:
How To Feed Sourdough Starter:
Many recipes will inform you to feed your sourdough starter with equal components starter, flour, and water. However in case you begin with an excessive amount of starter, your bread will be overly bitter from the lactic acid within the outdated sourdough starter. Starters must be fed as soon as every week (whether or not you bake with them or not) and saved within the fridge in between feedings. Comply with the easy directions beneath to feed your sourdough starter for a mild-tasting bread.






Professional Tip: Use a rubber band to mark the extent of your starter once you fed it so you may see when it has doubled in quantity.
How you can Make Sourdough Bread Dough:
Making the dough might be the best step in sourdough bread baking. Comply with the easy steps beneath!






Professional Tip: Cowl the bowl with a bathe cap as a substitute of plastic wrap to chop down on plastic waste. They’re simple to wash, match over the bowl nicely, and preserve the dough from drying out. Simply be sure to use a devoted bathe cap for kitchen use. 🙃 Alternatively, a moist kitchen towel may also be used.
How you can Stretch and Fold Sourdough Bread Dough:
Stretching and folding is the time period used for a no-knead methodology for making bread dough. The method is kind of actually what it seems like: a sequence of stretching the dough and folding it over itself till the specified texture is achieved. The aim is to develop the gluten fibers by stretching them which provides your bread construction.
First Spherical:




Second Spherical:


Third Spherical:


Fourth (Remaining) Spherical:




Professional tip: The everyday schedule for stretching and folding is 4 rounds over 2 hours. Nonetheless, you are able to do it in shorter or longer time intervals. The dough wants no less than quarter-hour to relaxation between stretching and folding, however you too can let it relaxation for as much as an hour in between.
How you can Form a Sourdough Boule (spherical loaf):
Boule interprets to “ball” in French and is the time period used for loaves of sourdough formed right into a spherical form. That is the basic form that most individuals use to make artisan sourdough bread.












Professional Tip: When you have bother along with your dough sticking to your banneton, strive rice flour to flour the banneton as a substitute of all-purpose flour.
How you can Form a Sourdough Batard (oval loaf):
Batard loaves are my favourite to bake as a result of they sometimes end up fluffier than boules. The distinction within the shaping course of leads to a extra structured loaf.
The time period batard in French means “bastard”. At first, French bakers used to form their bread into solely two kinds: baguette and boule. Using time period “bastard” in French is usually used extra like “cross-breed.” Since batard loaves are someplace in between baguettes and boules, the title batard was used.










How you can Rating a Sourdough Loaf:
Scoring your sourdough loaf is the place you get to let your creativity run free! A sourdough loaf wants no less than one deep rating (no less than ½” deep) to permit it to increase within the oven.
However, you too can do some ornamental scoring if you would like (1/16-â…›” deep). I love to do one giant rating on the best facet of the dough and several other small ornamental scores that speak in confidence to appear to be leaves when the bread bakes. You are able to do as little or as a lot scoring as you’d wish to make your excellent loaf!




Professional tip: Most recipes will counsel you employ a bread lame to attain the dough. I discover that I will be extra exact with only a razor blade. In the event you select to go this route, watch out the way you maintain it so you do not minimize your self!
How you can Bake Sourdough Bread with a Dutch Oven:
The magic that makes this sourdough so fluffy is a fast oven-rising course of below very excessive warmth. The bottom line is to ensure the Dutch oven is absolutely preheated earlier than baking the bread.






Professional Tip: Let the bread cool absolutely earlier than slicing it. The bread continues to bake and arrange because it cools. As tempting as it could be to chop into it instantly, do not do it! You may seemingly find yourself with gummy slices of bread.
Baker’s Schedule:
With longer recipes like this, it may be exhausting to image how lengthy it’s going to actually take. See beneath for my typical sourdough baking schedule. In fact, you may modify the instances to suit your schedule.
- 10 am: Feed the starter.
- 6:30 pm: Make the dough. Cowl the starter with the lid and refrigerate for as much as every week earlier than feeding once more.
- 7 pm: Stretch and fold the dough, and canopy the bowl.
- 7:30 pm: Stretch and fold the dough, and canopy the bowl.
- 8 pm: Stretch and fold the dough, and canopy the bowl.
- 8:30 pm: Stretch and fold the dough. Cowl the bowl and depart it on the counter in a single day.
- 6:30 am (subsequent day): Form the dough and place it in a floured banneton or cloth-lined bowl. Cowl and refrigerate.
- 10 am: Place the Dutch oven within the oven and preheat the oven.
- 11 am: Rating dough, scale back the oven temperature and bake. Let the bread cool fully on a wire rack.
- 3 pm: Place the bread in a zippered bag to melt the crust (non-compulsory).
- 6 pm: Eat!

How you can Retailer Sourdough Bread:
In the event you can keep away from consuming the complete loaf in at some point, you are going to need a option to retailer it! There are a number of methods you may retailer sourdough bread relying on how lengthy you wish to preserve it. Moreover, the humidity the place you reside will play an enormous function in how lengthy your bread stays contemporary in case you select an air-permeable choice like a cotton bread bag or bread field.
- Plastic Zippered Bag: A plastic zippered bag will preserve your bread contemporary for a lot of days at room temperature. Nonetheless, the moisture contained in the bread will penetrate the crust and the crust could have a extra chewy texture as a substitute of being crispy.
- Cotton Bread Bag: A cotton bread bag will preserve your bread contemporary for 2-3 days. The surface will keep crispy however the inside will dry out rapidly.
- Bread Field: A typical bread field will preserve bread contemporary for 3-5 days, but it surely relies on the field and the kind of air flow used.
- Freezer: To freeze sourdough bread, slice it first. Then, freeze the slices on a sheet pan. As soon as they’re frozen strong, retailer them in a zippered bag or vacuum-sealed bag for as much as 3 months.
What to Serve with Sourdough Bread:
Sourdough bread is improbable by itself or served with a beneficiant smear of butter. If I can save sufficient to make use of for dinner, here is how I wish to serve it:


Recipe FAQ’s:
A scorching Dutch oven is the proper surroundings to bake sourdough as a result of the hermetic seal permits the steam to increase within the dough to assist the bread rise. Moreover, the forged iron holds warmth very nicely which helps in each the rising course of and crisping of the crust.
The baking time for sourdough relies on a whole lot of components: the kind of oven used, the temperature of the oven, the dimensions of the loaf, and so forth. For a 500 g (the load of the bread flour) loaf, at 450 levels F, the full baking time is often between 35-45 minutes, however will rely on the components listed above.
Sure! Enameled and uncooked forged iron Dutch ovens can be utilized to bake sourdough. The looks of the enamel could develop into browned over time, however it’s secure to make use of.
No, you don’t want to grease your Dutch oven to bake sourdough. Place your dough on a chunk of parchment paper contained in the Dutch oven to assist preserve it from sticking. However in case you use a uncooked forged iron Dutch oven, it is best to oil it after baking to keep up the looks of the cooking floor.
Sourdough baked in a Dutch oven must be baked each with the lid on and off. First, bake it with the lid on to permit the bread to rise. Subsequent, bake it with the lid off to permit the crust to brown.
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Recipe:

Fluffy Dutch Oven Sourdough Bread (+ Picture Tutorial)
Fluffy sourdough bread with the proper mix of ethereal and tangy, with a texture so gentle you will really feel such as you’re biting right into a cloud (with a crunchy exterior, in fact).
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DirectionsÂ
Feeding Starter:
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Take away all however a few tablespoons of the starter from the jar. You should use the discard for different recipes or you probably have chickens you may feed it to them!
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Add 150 g of all-purpose flour and 150 g of lukewarm water to the jar and stir it with a protracted silicone spatula or one other clear kitchen utensil till nicely mixed. It must be the consistency of a thick pancake batter. Loosely place the lid on the jar and let rise in a heat spot for 6-8 hours. I wish to put mine on prime of my fridge.
Bread:
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To a big mixing bowl, add 125 g of lively starter and 350 g of lukewarm water. Whisk the combination with a dough whisk till the starter is considerably dispersed within the water. It would not should be a homogenous combination.
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Add 10 g of salt and 500 g of bread flour. Stir with the dough whisk till a shaggy dough kinds. Cowl the bowl and let it relaxation for half-hour. I like to make use of a bathe cap to cowl my bowl and banneton so I do not use a bunch of plastic wrap and so they’re simpler to suit across the bowl.
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Use a silicone bowl scraper to drag the dough away from the bowl edges. Gently stretch the dough between your arms. Then fold the dough in half, seize the perimeters with the seams, and stretch it in the other way. Repeat till dough begins to really feel tight and resists stretching, about 3-4 instances. Cowl the bowl and let the dough relaxation for half-hour.
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Repeat the stretching, folding, and resting course of 3 extra instances. Cowl the dough and let it sit on the counter in a single day, about 8-12 hours.
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Within the morning, form the dough into your required form (boule or batard) with a bench scraper and place it top-down in a floured banneton or cloth-lined bowl. Seal the underside edges of the dough ball collectively. Cowl the banneton and refrigerate for no less than 1 hour or as much as 24 hours for a very crispy crust. The candy spot is round 3-4 hours for this recipe.
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Place the Dutch oven in a chilly oven and preheat it to 500°F. Preheat for no less than 1 hour.
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Place the dough ball, seam facet down, on a chunk of parchment paper. Rating it with a razor blade or bread lame. It wants no less than one huge slash on the facet of the dough ball to let loose steam because it rises. You may add ornamental scoring as nicely, but it surely is not mandatory.
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Place the dough on parchment paper within the preheated Dutch oven and canopy it with the Dutch oven lid. Scale back the oven warmth to 450°F. Bake for 23 minutes.
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Take away the lid and bake for a further 12 minutes.
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Take away the bread from the oven and let it cool fully on a cooling rack.
Pattern Schedule:
-
10 am: Feed the starter.
-
6:30 pm: Make the dough. Cowl the starter with the lid and refrigerate for as much as every week earlier than feeding once more.
-
7 pm: Stretch and fold the dough, and canopy the bowl.
-
7:30 pm: Stretch and fold the dough, and canopy the bowl.
-
8 pm: Stretch and fold the dough, and canopy the bowl.
-
8:30 pm: Stretch and fold the dough. Cowl the bowl and depart it on the counter in a single day.
-
6:30 am (subsequent day): Form the dough and place it in a floured banneton or cloth-lined bowl. Cowl and refrigerate.
-
10 am: Place the Dutch oven within the oven and preheat the oven.
-
11 am: Rating dough, scale back the oven temperature and bake. Let the bread cool fully on a wire rack.
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3 pm: Place the bread in a zippered bag to melt the crust (non-compulsory).
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6 pm: Eat!
Notes
- When feeding the starter, I exploit approximations with a measuring cup. It would not should be excellent.
- Stretching and folding ought to happen 4 instances, each half-hour however this does not should be actual. You may let the dough relaxation for as little as 20 minutes as much as an hour between stretching and folding in case you overlook about it.
- Shaping is tremendous necessary to creating floor pressure on the surface of the dough to assist the dough rise throughout baking. See the recipe submit for a full photograph tutorial of stretching and folding.
- Oven instances are what works for my oven. I’ve a fuel oven. Your oven is probably going totally different and it could take a while to get the timing proper!
- Inserting the bread in a zippered bag or hermetic container lets the moisture from the within of the loaf soften the crust so it is simpler to slice. It is not a mandatory step however will be useful.
Vitamin
Energy: 1919kcalCarbohydrates: 387gProtein: 63gFats: 9gSaturated Fats: 1gPolyunsaturated Fats: 4gMonounsaturated Fats: 1gSodium: 3905mgPotassium: 501mgFiber: 13gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 10IUCalcium: 88mgIron: 5mg
Vitamin Data Disclosure