The Best Sourdough Bread Recipe

By Preppy Kitchen

Ingredients

Instructions

1. Whisk the warm water (90°F) and starter in a large bowl until mostly combined. Add the flour and salt and stir until shaggy with most of the flour mixed in.
2. Cover and rest at room temperature for 1 hour.
3. Stretch and fold: wet your fingers, lift one edge of the dough from the bottom and stretch it over the center, pressing it down. Turn the bowl a quarter turn and repeat 3 more times for 4 folds in total. Cover and rest 20 minutes.
4. Repeat the stretch and fold once more, or two more times if you prefer a chewier loaf with a finer crumb, then move on to the rise.
5. After the last fold, shape the dough into a ball and cover it. Let it rise until well puffed, 6 to 12 hours, ideally at 68°F to 75°F.
6. Test the rise by poking the dough lightly with a floured finger: it is ready when it mostly springs back. If the indentation stays without moving or the dough feels very dense, let it rise another hour and test again.
7. Shape: wet your hands, lift the dough over the counter so it drapes over your hands, then place it on the counter. Flour the top, flip it floured side down, and pinch the edges into the center. Flip it seam side down and rotate it, pulling toward you, 8 to 10 times until it forms a tight ball.
8. Place the ball smooth side down in a floured towel-lined bowl or colander. Cover and rise at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, put the loaf in the fridge while the oven heats (at least 1 hour), or refrigerate it in a sealed bag for up to 36 hours for a more sour flavor.
9. Preheat the oven to 500°F for 1 hour with a large lidded cast-iron Dutch oven inside. Take the loaf out of the fridge when the oven is nearly ready (if it was chilled more than 1 hour), then flour it, invert it onto parchment, and score a shallow cut on top.
10. Lower the loaf into the hot pot on the parchment, cover, and bake for 20 minutes. Reduce the oven to 450°F, remove the lid, and bake about 20 more minutes until deep golden brown or the internal temperature reads 195°F to 205°F.
11. Lift the bread out of the pot with the parchment and cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

Summarized from Preppy Kitchen's video. Watch it for the details.

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