Sourdough Bread

Using a mature sourdough starter that has been to Washington DC, back to California, up to the mountains and back to the Pacific, create a sponge using 4 oz starter, 4 oz water, and 5 oz flour. I use King Arthur flour but a good quality flour with higher protein will do. Mix the sponge with a wooden spoon until no flour remains. Cover with plastic wrap.

Allow the sponge to sit in a draft-free spot for 8 to 12 hours. If you need more time, you can put the sponge in the fridge. I’ve left it as long as 12 hours and the bread came out just fine.

Using a wooden spoon, combine the sponge with 10 oz of bottled, room temperature water, 15 oz of flour, and 1 3/4 tsp of salt until it forms a shaggy ball. Then, in the bowl, knead about 4 times. I like to use a folding action - fold the dough in half, turn 1/4, and fold again, and so on. The dough will not be smooth. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the warm draft-free place for 8 to 12 hours. Again, if you need more time, or the timing is off, you can put the bowl in the fridge for up to 12 more hours.

Once the dough has risen, turn it out on a well-floured counter top and with floured hands (the dough will be sticky) knead 15 times. Again, I like to use the folding action. The dough should form a tight ball. Place the ball, smooth side down, in a floured banetton. Brown rice flour works nicely. Loosely but completely wrap the banetton with plastic wrap and put in the fridge for 8 to 12 hours.

Setting your oven on the proof setting, place the wrapped banetton with dough in the oven and allow to rise for 2 to 3 hours. If you don’t have a proof setting, put a bread pan with 3 cups of boiling water in the oven on the rack below the dough.

Remove the dough from the oven and unwrap the banetton. Spray a piece of parchment paper with olive oil (Mediterranean diets are very healthy) and place, oil side down, on top of the banetton. Using the big spatula you use to take pizza out of the oven - a baking peel - turn the banetton over so the dough is sitting all lovely on parchment paper on the peel. Carefully lift the dough using the edges of the parchment paper and place in a Dutch oven. I use a beautiful orange Le Creuset Dutch oven. Score the top of the bread - you can get creative here. Be sure to make the score deep enough or your bread can explode out the bottom. It still tastes great but is not as pretty.

Cover the Dutch oven with the lid and place in a cool oven. I have put it in the oven that was proofing the bread and it worked just fine. Turn the temperature to 425 degrees F and bake for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the lid and bake another 30 minutes until the bread is 210 degrees F according to Thermopen.

When the bread is finished - the crust should be a deep brown - take it out of the Dutch oven, carefully using the parchment paper. Allow to cool for at least 2 hours before slicing. Enjoy!