Sourdough Bread: Easy Step by Step Guide for Beginners.
From scratch baked goods are by far my favorite sides for nutrient dense meals, and sourdough is my first choice for any weeknight meal. Sourdough is all the rage right now. It's no wonder it's become so trendy because crafting your own wild yeast and baking fresh artisan style bread in your own kitchen is such a satisfying feeling, there’s honestly nothing quite like it.
Sourdough starter isn’t just for bread making either, the discard can make everything from tortillas and pancakes. I even have my own personal favorite recipe: sourdough discard banana bread which you can find in my e-book. I’m looking forward to learning how to make sourdough cinnamon rolls as it looks so delish. Point is, you can bake and craft a huge variety of baked goods with sourdough starter.
Now if you're anything like me you may be intimidated by the process of getting a bubbly starter and many sourdough guides out there really complicate the process. To their own credit most sourdough guides are just trying to be thorough and answer as many FAQ's as possible. But it certainly can feel overwhelming to a beginner who just stumbled across sourdough bread on Instagram or Pinterest. But have no fear it's actually not as scary as it looks. Just follow the step by step instructions down below and you will be crafting perfect sourdough bread in no time.
What is a sourdough starter?
In short, sourdough starter is a naturally fermented wild yeast.
It's the traditional way of making bread, and it's much healthier than store bought yeast.
How to make a sourdough starter
What you need:
Clear medium to large size mason jar
½ cup unbleached wheat flour or unbleached organic all purpose flour or organic rye flour
¼ cup water
Week one days 1-7
Day 1 mix flour and water together.
Day 2 discard about half of the starter and repeat step 1
Then repeat step 2 twice a day for 1 week
The second day you may notice a slightly unpleasant smell, that's part of the process, just keep discarding and feeding twice a day. Preferably once in the morning, and again before bed.
Day 3-4 you won't notice much activity, that's okay, just keep going it's part of the process.
By day 6-7 you should start to notice bubbles forming and a sweet and slightly sour aroma
After day 7 go down to feeding just once a day to keep your sourdough starter active.
At this point you can try your hand at your first sourdough bread
Tips: you have to use an unbleached flour, the bleached flour will kill off any good bacteria and prevent that wild yeast from ever forming.
You can check to see if your starter is healthy and active by doing a float test, when the starter has doubled in size after a feeding ( which a healthy starter should) take a small spoonful and place it in a bowl of water to see if it floats, if it floats it is healthy and active.
Also if it doesn't float, don't despair, just feed it again, eventually it will bounce back.
Where did I learn sourdough from? All the credit goes to theclevercarrot.com they have a beginners guide to sourdough that helped me to learn how to get started. But truly experience is the best teacher. Just get started and you will learn as you go.
WET INGREDIENTS
200 grams or ¾ cup of active bubbly sourdough starter
300 grams or 1 ⅓ cups warm water
35 grams or ¼ cup olive oil
30 grams or 2 tsp honey
DRY INGREDIENTS
525 grams or 4 cups of unbleached all purpose flour or bread flour
10-12 grams or 2 tsp quality sea salt
Preparation
Pour the bubbly active starter, water, olive oil, and honey into a large mixing bowl & Whisk together well.
In another separate large mixing bowl, mix flour and salt together, and stir.
Move flour over to one side of a large mixing bowl, Pour wet ingredients into open space besides flour mix.Once poured begin to mix together wet and dry ingredients with baking spatula or wooden spoon until well incorporated.
Should start to form a wet dough. (it should NOT be dry and shaggy and it shouldn't be runny) It should be slightly moist and shaggy. But still with a dough like structure.
Cover the bowl with a tea towel (I like to set a plate over the bowl as well to ensure nothing gets in) you can also cover with plastic wrap.
Let rest for 30 mins to an hour ( this is the first resting period known as autolyse)
After the dough has rested, flip dough out onto a well floured surface.
Stretch and fold the dough a couple of times (3-5) while working into a ball, it doesn’t need to be kneaded at this stage.
Once you have worked the dough into a ball, put the dough back into a large mixing bowl that has been coated in olive oil.
Now is time for the second rise, let the dough sit and rise for 5-10 hours depending on your temp. You will know when it is done rising when it has doubled in size. You can leave it to rise overnight as long as you do this step right before bed, and bake upon waking.
Once it's risen, punch down the dough in the bowl, and put out onto a well floured surface.
Knead the down as you shape and fold. (I prefer the stretch and fold method here as well). you don't have to Knead long, this recipe doesn't call for a lot.
Preheat oven to 425
Once kneaded, flip dough over and make sure the seam is facing down.
Put parchment paper into your dutch oven. Then place dough inside the parchment paper. Let rest while the oven is preheating.
Once the oven is preheated it's time to score, lift parchment paper and dough back out onto the counter and score with a bread knife or razor blade, or score dough while inside the dutch oven. I prefer to take out as it's easier to craft a design that way.
Place bread back in the dutch oven after scoring, and then into the oven with lid on
Let bake for 25-30 mins with lid
Then take the dough out, and take the lid off and let it bake for the remaining 15 mins or until the outside of the bread is a nice golden hue.
Take the dough out and let it rest for at least two hours before cutting.
Serve with butter or on the side of a nutrient dense meal.
Tips
Always let your dough rest before cutting into it as it will become dense if left enough time to properly cool.
Make sure to place dough in the center rack to ensure proper distribution of heat.
Having the parchment paper already under the dough ensures you can easily grab the edges and lift the dough safely into the dutch oven without messing up the scoring.
Sourdough Starter FAQ
How often do I feed my starter?
Once your starter has been established after following the steps above. You can feed your starter once a day or every other day. When your starter reaches maturity you can feed once every 3-4 days.
How do I know my starter is ready to bake with?
There are two ways of determining whether a starter is ready to bake with. One way is that it will have active bubble formation and look very porous. The second way is by dropping a small amount of starter into a bowl of water if it floats your starter is ready to bake with.
Do I need to keep my starter in the fridge?
I personally store my starter on a shelf in my kitchen. You can store your starter out on the countertop as long as it is being fed every few days and occasionally used. If you are not using your sourdough it can be stored in the fridge for a few weeks, this will cause it to go dormant. To bring it back to life you would feed it once maybe even twice and allow it to rise up to room temp. Starter can be stored for long periods of time on the countertop as long as it is being fed occasionally and the fermentation process continues to take place it should not go bad.
What is the liquid forming on top of my starter?
The sour smelling clear liquid that forms on top of sourdough starter is known as hooch. It's safe to either pour off or stir back into your starter.
Why does my starter smell really sour like alcohol?
The very sour smell occurs due to fermentation and is a sign that your sourdough is hungry and needs to be fed.
What type of flour can I use to feed my starter?
You should use an unbleached all purpose or unbleached bread flour. It's essential that it is not bleached as it will kill off the good bacteria growing in your starter.
Sourdough Bread FAQ
Do I have to scour my bread?
Yes if you don't scour your bread the pressure of the rise will crack open the outer crust of the bread. When scouring this allows an intentional release of that pressure.
Why isn't my bread rising?
There are a couple reasons why your bread may not rise fully.
It could be that you missed one of the essential rises before the braking process. The first and second rise are essential to good bread height.
It could also be that your bread was not given enough time to rise in the second rise.
Also,Putting your bread in the fridge before rising can also stunt the rising process and prevent the bread from rising to its fullest size. It's important to note that sourdough rises best in warm temps, cold temps will slow down this process.
Another possible reason is over fermentation. If your bread is left out for too many hours (approx anything over 18 to 24 hours) over fermentation can take place and your wild yeast could have eaten through all the nutrients in the bread and start to become hungry again. When this happens your bread will fall, similar to when you feed your starter, it rises and bubbles up then falls again. This process can take place within your bread.
How do I get a more sour taste in my bread?
If you really desire the sour taste of sourdough bread you can allow your starter to get hungry, once it has a sour aroma you can use this to start your bread. It will still rise as your starter will be fed by the flour and water in the recipe. It is essential to use a mature starter for this or you may not get the results you're looking for.
Why is my bread so dense?
If your bread is coming out dense each time. It is likely that your starter needs to be fed more frequently. It also will need adequate time to rise in a warm environment. Try letting it rise for at least 10 to 12 hours and be sure that its rising in a warm place like on top of your stove. Make sure not to place it in front of a cold window as this can stunt the rising process.
How do I get bread with lots of holes?
This is accomplished by having a very healthy and active starter. When your starter is healthy, mature and well fed the bubble formation creates the beautiful holes seen in well made sourdough bread. This aids in creating a fluffy porous bread.
Why is the outer crust getting so hard?
It is essential that your bread be covered through at least half of the baking process to ensure that it rises without the outer crust of the bread being browned before the inside is fully baked.
Cover the bread for the first 30 to 40 mins of baking, then remove the lid for the last 15 to 20 mins to allow the crust to come to a golden brown color. Then promptly remove the bread and let cool.
Why does my bread have a gummy wet texture after cutting?
It's important not to cut into your bread too soon. A good rule of thumb is to wait at least 2 hours before cutting. Steam is still trapped within the bread and it will continue to bake even after it has been taken out. It must rest so it can fully cool before you cut into the bread.
Sourdough becomes rather simple once you understand the mechanisms. It's a fun skill to learn, try not to take it too seriously. You will inevitably make a few duds throughout your time baking sourdough and the trial and error will help you to develop a deeper understanding of the process.
I hope this Sourdough Guide is a useful tool for you to get started with sourdough.
Take care, Danielle
