Roots of a Southern Kitchen

I finally got around to making a loaf of sourdough with my new starter that I brought to life last month. It came out absolutely perfect!! The crumb was nice and airy and the crust was crispy! Make sure you feed your starter a few hours before you prepare your loaf!

Your sourdough starter is ready to use if it is bubbly and stretchy. It should rise every time you feed it, showing that it’s alive! If you’re unsure, you can add a tiny bit of starter to a bowl of water. If it floats, it’s ready to use!

Ingredients:

• 500g unbleached all purpose flour (I used King Arthur)
• 350g water
• 50g sourdough starter
• 10g salt

Steps:

1. Mix starter and water together briefly. Add the flour and salt and combine into a shaggy dough. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and rest for one hour.
2. After the hour has passed, you will do your first set of stretch and folds. You will do this 4 times, 30 min apart. You will take the outside edge of the dough, stretch it, then fold over towards the middle. Repeat 20-30 times. Recover between each stretch and fold session.
3. After you have completed all 4 stretch and folds, your dough is ready to proof. Leave covered, and place in a warm area for 6-12 hours or until it has doubled in size.
4. Once your dough has doubled in size, pour dough onto a floured surface and use a bench scraper to fold edges towards the middle once more. Only fold outside edges into middle, no need to do it 20-30 times this go around!
5. Flip dough over so that the seam is on bottom. Let rest for one hour while your dutch oven preheats in a 450 degrees oven.
6. When it’s time to bake, lower temp to 400 degrees. Place a sheet of parchment paper in your dutch oven and add the dough. Score the top of your bread about 1/4 inch deep with a sharp knife.
7. Bake for 40 min with lid on, then 20 min with lid off.
8. Immediately remove bread from dutch oven by lifting the parchment paper out. Place on a cooling rack and cool 1 hour before cutting.