Soudough Bread

Items you will need
2 - banneton bread proofing baskets with liners
2 - mason jars
Scoring Lame
Dough scraper
Dough cutter

Starter and Leaven

500 grams white-bread flour
500 grams whole-wheat flour

You will need to maintain a 50/50 mixture of bread and whole wheat flours to continuously feed your starter.

2 Loaves of Bread

200 grams leaven
900 grams white-bread flour
85 grams whole-wheat flour, plus more for dusting
15 grams spelt-flour (if you do not have you can skip and use 100 grams of whole-wheat flour)
20 grams fine sea salt
100 grams rice flour

Starter Process

Make the starter: Combine 500 grams white-bread flour with 500 grams whole-wheat flour. Put 100 grams of warm water (about 80 degrees) in a small jar or container and add 100 grams of the flour mix. Use your fingers to mix until thoroughly combined and the mixture is the consistency of thick batter. Cover with cheese cloth and let sit at room temperature until mixture begins to bubble and puff, 2 to 3 days. 

Note: It will really stink, but that is how you know it is working. I keep mine on my seed starter heat pad as we keep our house cool and the granite counter tops are also cold to the touch. You can also warm your oven to about 100 degrees and store it in there. 

When starter begins to show signs of activity, begin regular feedings. Keep the starter at room temperature, and at the same time each day discard 80 percent of the starter and feed remaining starter with 50 grams of warm water and 50 grams of white-wheat flour mix 

Note: You can use the discarded starter for some quick fry bread. You can add a little oil to a pain, add some garlic and herbs, let sit for about an hour and then fry on a cast iron pan/skillet. You will definitely taste the changes each day you make this. 

When starter begins to rise and fall predictably and takes on a slightly sour  and earthy smell, it’s ready; this should take about 7-14 days. 

At this point you might need to make more of your 50/50 white-bread flour and whole wheat flour mixture. 

Leaven Process:

The night before baking, take 1 tablespoon of the mature starter and add to another jar. Added  50 grams of white-wheat flour mixture to 50 grams of water. Place the starter in the refrigerator. 

Mix 1 tablespoon of starter in your new jar with 150 grams of warm water and stir with your hand to disperse. Add 150 grams of the white-wheat flour mix and combine well. Cover with cheese cloth and let rest at room temperature for 12 hours or until aerated and puffed in appearance.

Note: To test for leaven for readiness, drop a tablespoon of leaven into a bowl of room-temperature water; if it floats it’s ready to use. If it doesn’t, allow more time to ferment.

Bread Process

Make the dough: In a large bowl, combine 200 grams of leaven with 700 grams of warm water and stir to disperse. 

Add 900 grams of white-bread flour,  85 grams of whole-wheat flour, and 15 grams of spelt flour to the bowl and use your hands to mix until no traces of dry flour remain. The dough will be sticky and ragged. Cover bowl with a clean towel and let dough rest for 40 minutes at room temperature.

Add 20 grams fine sea salt and 50 grams warm water. Use hands to integrate salt and water into dough thoroughly. The dough will begin to pull apart, but continue mixing; it will come back together.

Cover dough with the clean towel and transfer to a warm environment, 75 to 80 degrees ideally (like near a window in a sunny room, or inside a turned-off oven that has been warmed). Let dough rise for 30 minutes. 

Rinse or dip hands in warm water. Fold the dough by taking hold of the underside of the dough at one quadrant and stretching it up over the rest of the dough. Repeat this action 3 more times, rotating bowl a quarter turn for each fold. 

Repeat step every half-hour for 2 1/2 hours more (3 hours total). The dough should be billowy and increase in volume 20 to 30 percent. If not, continue to let rise and fold for up to an hour more.

Dust work surface with flour and transfer dough. Use a dough scraper to cut dough into 2 equal pieces and flip them over so floured sides are face down. 

Fold the cut side of each piece up onto itself so the flour on the surface remains entirely on the outside of the loaf as this will become the crust. Work dough into taut rounds. Place the dough rounds on a work surface, cover with a towel, and let rest 30 minutes.

Mix 100 grams whole-wheat flour and 100 grams rice flours. Line two 10- to 12-inch bread-proofing baskets . Use some of the flour mixture to generously flour the liners (reserve remaining mixture).

Dust rounds with whole-wheat flour. Use a dough scraper to flip them over onto a work surface so floured sides are facing down. Take one round, and starting at the side closest to you, pull the bottom 2 corners of the dough down toward you, then fold them up into the middle third of the dough. Repeat this action on the right and left sides, pulling the edges out and folding them in over the center. Finally, lift the top corners up and fold down over previous folds. (Imagine folding a piece of paper in on itself from all 4 sides.) Roll dough over so the folded side becomes the bottom of the loaf. Shape into a smooth, taut ball. Repeat with other round.

Transfer rounds, seam-side up, to prepared baskets. Cover with a towel and return dough to the 75- to 80-degree environment for 4 hours. 

Note: You can let dough rise for 10 to 12 hours in the refrigerator. Bring back to room temperature before baking.

About 30 minutes before baking, place a Dutch oven or lidded cast-iron pot in the oven and heat it to 500 degrees. Dust tops of dough, still in their baskets, with whole-wheat/rice-flour mixture. Place on a piece of parchment paper.

Use a lame to score the top of the bread a few times to allow for expansion, cover and transfer to oven. 

Reduce temperature to 450 degrees and cook for 20 minutes. 

Carefully remove lid (steam may release) and cook for 20 more minutes or until crust is a rich, golden brown color.

Transfer bread to a wire rack to cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing. The bottom of the loaf should sound hollow when tapped. 

Increase oven temperature to 500 degrees, clean out pot and repeat this process with the second loaf.



Recipe was modified from Tartine's Country bread.