Rustic Sourdough Bread
This gorgeous bread is so good, your friends will be asking where you hide your wood-fired oven (even though you're not!). Between the special blend of our three strong, nourishing flours and the young, active sourdough starter, this recipe produces a loaf with a deliciously chewy crust and the wonderfully airy, clean and robust-flavored crumb speckled with the tiniest flecks of gold and brown.
BY: CLAUDIO URCIUOLI @SALTATO2020
Prep Time
60 minutes
Bake Time
40-42 minutes
Total Time
1 day 40 minutes
Yield
Two 1-pound loaves, or one 800-gram loaf and one 200-gram pizza crust
Ingredients
2½ cups (400g) Trailblazer flour
2½ tablespoons (50g) Skagit flour
2½ tablespoons (50g) Glacier Peak flour
½ cup (100g) sourdough starter (at 100% hydration)
2 cups (390g+10g) water, divided
2 teaspoons (10g) salt
Optional: rice flour, for dusting
Baker's Notes
* Although this dough can be mixed in an electric stand mixer, it is just as easy to mix by hand. And oh, so satisfying!
** After 4 hours, if desired, use the "windowpane test" to determine if the dough is ready for shaping. To do this, pinch a walnut-sized bit of dough, hold it between your thumb and first two fingers as if you're holding a pinch of salt. Then, gently stretch the dough into a thin semitransparent membrane ("windowpane") by pulling to the sides and spreading apart your thumbs and fingers. If the dough doesn't tear when you do this, that means that the gluten is well-developed and your dough is ready for shaping.
*** You can use all of the dough to make two 1-pound loaves. Alternatively, you can make one 800-gram loaf and use the remaining 200g of dough to make a lovely, light pizza crust.
**** A baking stone and Dutch oven are highly recommended for this recipe. They both ensure an equal distribution of diffused heat that gets a home baker as close to a true hearth bread as possible without actually baking it with wood.
Instructions
- If storing your starter in the refrigerator, take it out and let it "wake up" on the countertop at room temperature, up to 12 hours ahead. Feed it 3 hours before mixing the bread.
- In a bowl of an electric stand mixer (*see Baker's Notes below), combine the three flours. Stir them with a whisk to get rid of the clumps.
- In a separate bowl, make "levain" by mixing 390g of water with the starter. Add this to the flour mix.
- If using an electric stand mixer, mix on low speed with a paddle attachment for 4 minutes, just until the flour is hydrated and the dough looks shaggy.
- Cover with a tea towel and set aside for 45 minutes to allow the dough to rest ("autolyze").
- After 45 minutes, combine the remaining 10g of water with salt. Add this to the dough.
- With the dough hook, mix on low speed for 4 minutes until the dough starts looking smooth.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Fold it by lifting one side and bringing it to the opposite side. Repeat on all sides like you would if wrapping a parcel.
- Transfer the folded dough to a container with a tight-fitting lid. Let rest for about 30 minutes.
- Repeat the fold/rest cycle every 30-45 mins, until you have completed 6-8 folds, for the total fermentation time of about 4 hours (**see Baker's Notes below).
- When the dough is ready for shaping, divide it into two equal parts*** and pre-shape each half a round "boule" by gathering the sides of the dough and folding them to the center.
- Flip the dough, so the smooth surface is now facing you.
- Prepare the proofing baskets ("banetton") by generously sprinkling them with rice flour. If rice flour is not available, use any wheat flour.
- Gently transfer your shaped boules into your banettones, placing them smooth side down.
- Cover with tea towels and place in the refrigerator to proof for 12-15 hours (we recommend doing this overnight).
- When the dough is ready to bake, preheat the oven (for 1 hour) to 500°F. If using a baking stone, preheat with the baking stone in, positioned in the bottom third of the oven. If using a Dutch oven, preheat with the Dutch oven in as well.
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator.
- Remove the hot Dutch oven from the oven and gently flip each loaf into your Dutch oven. If baking them one at a time, keep the other loaf in the refrigerator until its turn.
- Using a lame, an old-fashioned double-edge razor blade, or a sharp knife, score the top of the loaf in your favorite way.
- Cover the Dutch oven with the lid and place it on the baking stone.
- Bake at 500°F for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, reduce the oven temperature to 450°F. Bake for another 10 minutes.
- After a total of 20 minutes of baking under the lid, remove the lid from the Dutch oven and bake the loaf for a further 21-22 minutes, or until the loaves are dark golden-brown and sound hollow when tapped.
- Allow to cool completely on a cooling rack before cutting and serving.
Baker's Notes
* Although this dough can be mixed in an electric stand mixer, it is just as easy to mix by hand. And oh, so satisfying!
** After 4 hours, if desired, use the "windowpane test" to determine if the dough is ready for shaping. To do this, pinch a walnut-sized bit of dough, hold it between your thumb and first two fingers as if you're holding a pinch of salt. Then, gently stretch the dough into a thin semitransparent membrane ("windowpane") by pulling to the sides and spreading apart your thumbs and fingers. If the dough doesn't tear when you do this, that means that the gluten is well-developed and your dough is ready for shaping.
*** You can use all of the dough to make two 1-pound loaves. Alternatively, you can make one 800-gram loaf and use the remaining 200g of dough to make a lovely, light pizza crust.
**** A baking stone and Dutch oven are highly recommended for this recipe. They both ensure an equal distribution of diffused heat that gets a home baker as close to a true hearth bread as possible without actually baking it with wood.