In a quart size jar with a lid (this is your Levain)
150gramsActive sourdough starter
60gramshot water
60gramsbread flourI use King Arthurs
In a large bowl (this is your Autolyze)
420gramsbread flour
300gramshot water
In a small jar or ramakin
10gramssalt
20gramshot water
Additonal
Rice flour for dustin
Bread flour for shaping and surface
Instructions
Day 1:
Take out your Mother, let her warm up. This will take a few hours, I put mine in the oven with the light on)
Once warm, in a jar, measure 150 grams of starter, 60 grams of hot water and 60 grams of four. Stir til all combined, place lid on tightly, mark hight of starter with a rubber band to track growth. Let sit for 2-4 hours or until the starter more than doubles in size. Put in a warm, draft free place. (oven with light on)Depending on how active your starter is, (how often you use it and feed it) depends on how long this will take. You might need to repeat this step if you don't have a very active starter. Repeat in a new clean jar and discard what you don't use. You need to get to know your starter for an accurate time schedule. *Friendly reminder: put a note on the oven, that you have dough in, it so no one accidentally turns on the oven!
After you get the starter jar going, in a large bowl, combine your 420 grams of flour with 300 grams of hot water. I combine and mix with my hands. It will look a bit dry when it comes together. As long as all the four is fully incorporated, it's good. Place a lid or cover it with plastic wrap and set it in the oven or warm draft fr-e area.In a small jar add the 10 grams of salt and 20 grams of hot water. Give it a stir to let the salt dissolve in the water. I usually let this set for about 30 minutes, give it a few stirs as I walk by.
Feed your Mother
After I get the starter, and bowl of flour/water mixture done. I feed my Mother and get her back in the fridge until next time. I feed her 100 grams of flour and 100 grams of hot water. Give her a good stir til all the flour is combined, screw lid on tight and get her back in the fridge.*I bake once a week and this keeps my starter fed and nice and active.
Add in the salt water
After about 30 minutes or so, I take the salt water and dump it into the bowl of four/water mixture. Using my hands, I mix in the salt water until all is combined. Then place the lid back on and let the dough rest until my starter has more than doubled.
Once our starter had more than doubled
Once we see that our starter had more than doubled, is active, (big and bubbly) and has not fallen down, (literally meaning the level isn't falling down the jar yet) pour the starter into the bowl of dough. Mix together until full combined. It will be a little sticky.Once combined, cover tightly with lid if you have one for your bowl, or plastic wrap, and place in fridge over night or 12-18 hours.
Day 2
Take your bowl out of fridge and get it warm up. Again, I put it in the oven with the light on. This will take a 1-2 hours. *Remember to put a note on the oven that you have dough in it so no one accidentally turns on the oven!
Once it's about room temp, this is when you will do a series of stretch and folds. Do a minimum of 3, but I try to get in 6. This is what helps build up the gluten, and gives it the texture and consistency you are looking for.
Stretch and fold
To perform the strech-and-folds, leaving the dough in the bowl, sprinkle the top with four, use one hand to hold the bowl and the other hand to pick up the edge of the dough farthest from you. Stretch it up as far as it extends without tearing; then fold it over itself. Turn the bowl, and repeat all around the perimeter of the bowl. Sprinkle the top with four again, cover, and place the dough back in the warm area for each rest.Do this 3 times, 20 minutes apart. *Note: As you learn your starter and your dough, you will learn little ways to tweak and help yourself. The dough gets less sticky as you do stretch and folds. I have had my dough be super wet and seemed like it was still an active starter. So I did 6 stretch and folds, I add a nice sprinkle of flour on top each time I do the stretch and fold, and poke my fingers in and around to get the flour in the dough a little, then start my stretch and folds. Then another sprinkle of flour on top, cover it with the towel until the next stretch and fold, repeat. It tamed down the bubbles and grew the gluten to where it baked up perfectly. I wasn't sure what I was doing when I first started this, but it's working for me.
Proof
After you have performed your last stretch-and-fold, gently turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface (I find a little flour helps with the stickiness of the dough) Shape the dough by gently folding the bottom third of the dough up to the middle, then the left third up and over the middle, then the right side up and over, and finally fold the top up and over the bottom of the dough. Carefully roll the dough over so the seam side is down (rolling away from you) and pull lightly toward you to tighten the seam if needed. Using a banneton (woven basket with lined cloth) or a medium size bowl with a cotton cloth; lightly dust with rice flour or bread flour. Carefully place your dough, seam side up in the banneton (so the bottom of the dough is facing up). Pinch the seam so that the bread dough is all closed up. Seal the bowl with plastic wrap and place in fridge for an hour to proof. *OR I typically put put mine in the fridge until the next day to bake. I feel this works good for busy schedules. But it does end up a 3 day process.
Baking
Preheat the lid and base of a cast-iron combo cooker or Dutch oven to 500℉ for 25 minutes. Or 10 minutes after the oven comes to temp. My oven takes forever to get to temp. You want your cooker uniformly hot!Leave your dough in the banneton or bowl, in the fridge right up til the time you're ready to bake. When ready, remove the plastic wrap, lightly dust the exposed side of your loaf with rice flour, and turn out onto a large square of non-stick parchment paper. (You can dust the parchment with semolina or rice flour also if you'd like) Using a single razor, score the dough lengthwise from the top to bottom, about ¼ inch deep at about a 45-degree angle. Carefully place the loaf into hot Dutch, place the lid on, and bake for 20 minutes at 500℉.Remove the top of the Dutch, lower the oven temp to 470℉, and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes, or until the loaf is a deep golden brown color. (It is okay if there is a little bit of char; it should be very well done)Remove the bread and cool completely on a wire rack. *If you're baking more than one loaf, give the pot another 10 minutes preheat at 500℉ and repeat the process.Let the loaf set for at least an hour before you slice and enjoy. Store on the counter loosely wrapped in a kitchen towel for up to 2 days and then in a resealable bag up to a few days more. Or you can slice and freeze. I find my sourdough is easiest to cut a day later and after being in the fridge.