No-knead sourdough bread
from https://www.feastingathome.com/

"Why I love this Sourdough Bread Recipe: The dough is made the night before and proofs overnight on the counter (10-12 hours). In the morning it’s stretched, folded and shaped, with 1 hour more of rising time before baking for 35 minutes. Because my schedule allows me to be home in the mornings this bread really works well for me. It’s very flexible too, and can be placed in the fridge if plans change and something comes up and I can’t bake in the morning, slowing the process down.

Inversely, you could mix the dough early in the morning and bake it that night. Up to you.

Keep in mind that bread rising time is affected by weather and seasons. In winter, cold kitchens will lengthen the rising time. In summer, or warm weather, hot kitchens will shorten the rising time. So this is a rough estimate."

  1. 8 to 10 am: Feed the sourdough starter. 8-12 hours before you plan to mix up the dough, feed your starter - leaving it out on the counter and using it slightly after it peaks. Always use a slightly “hungry” starter. (Or feel free to use an unfed starter for a more “sour taste”, straight from the fridge at 8 pm).
    2. First Stretch and Fold
  2. 8 pm: Mix. Mix the dough. It will be heavy, thick and sticky to begin with, but will loosen up as it rests and proofs. Cover for 15 more mins, stretch and fold. Repeat one more time.
    • For this stretch and fold, she pulled the dough from the edge of the bowl [reach under the dough], lifted it up [to the point of resistance], fold over the remaining dough, and pushed it down in the center of the dough - more like kneading. She went around the bowl several times for about 30 seconds.
  3. 8:30 pm: Proof [Bulk ferment]. Cover with a damp kitchen towel, let proof (rise) overnight, 8 - 12 hours at 65 - 70F on the kitchen counter.
    • This is the tricky part that gets easier as you practice. Every environment is different. And seasons will affect proofing time. Warmer homes proof much faster, colder homes, much slower. In midwinter in the Northwest, I’ve even proofed for as long as 18 hours on the counter. Here in Santa Barbara, in summer, the dough was ready in 7 hours. You can’t always look at the clock, you MUST look at the dough. It should be slightly domed, springy, bouncy, jiggly like a happy, full belly, almost doubled. Do the poke test: Carefully poke the dough with a floured finger, 1/2 inch deep. If it is easy to indent, and the dough springs back, this is a good sign it has risen enough.
      If the dough feels very firm and hard to indent, it probably needs to proof longer.
      If the dough doesn’t spring back, holding the indentation, or feels overly soft, liquidy or loose - it is probably over-proofed.
    Second Stretch and Fold
  1. 6-8 am: Shape. Check your dough when you awake, and when it has almost doubled in size, stretch, fold, and shape. Place in a parchment-lined bowl seam side down. Place this in the fridge for 1 hour for a final rise while you preheat the oven (heating up your dutch oven or bread baker too, for 50 - 60 minutes at 475 - 500F)
    • Use a different “stretch and shape” technique AFTER the dough has proofed. Loosen the dough from the edges of a bowl with a wet spatula or wet plastic dough scraper, sliding it down the sides of the bowl. With wet hands, carefully pull the dough up on each side, lift it straight up in the air about 1-2 feet high and place it back down, folding it on top of itself, gently. Wet your hands again and give the bowl a quarter turn and do this again - the dough will not be as slack as for the initial stretch and fold and she shook it a bit to get it to stretch. (You could repeat this 20 minutes later) Then the 3rd time you lift and stretch, you will either lift it all the way up into your parchment-lined bowl seam side down. (EASIEST) or into the floured proofing basket, seam side up (pinching it closed). Sprinkle with seeds if you like.
  2. 8-9 am: Place & Score. Pull your heated dutch oven out of the oven. Lift your shaped dough, lifting out by the parchment, carefully place into the hot dutch oven. Score the bread using a sharp knife (lightly oiled) or razor blade or bread lame, cutting a single slash, a crescent-shaped slit into the dough at a 30-45 degree angle, one inch deep, or smaller tiny cuts.
  3. 9:00 am Bake with the lid on for 20-25 minutes. Remove lid, lower heat to 450F and bake 15 more minutes, until very deeply golden, and internal temp reaches 208F. You will want it darker than you might think. Let it cool on a rack before cutting. If you like a softer crust bake covered 25 minutes, uncovered 10 minutes.
  4. 9:45 Cool and enjoy!

FMM: This was the first loaf of sourdough bread that came out good for me. I spent a lot of time watching how long my starter took to double and at what stage my dough was at during bulk fermentation and after shaping the loaf. When I got up in the morning, my starter had collapsed, so I refreshed it, mixed my dough when the starter doubled, and made my loaf when my dough seemed light and bubbly. Sprinkled the loaf with sesame seeds. I then preheated the oven and my Dutch oven and put the loaf in the refrigerator. The one thing I had problems with was scoring the loaf before putting it in the oven. The dough was so soft that after making the cuts, the dough closed them up. Maybe I should have cut them deeper. Still, the crust was light, crispy and crunchy, and the crumb had a lot of good holes in it. I sprinkled the loaf with water and baked it in my cast iron Dutch oven, 500 degrees (475 degrees convection), and got good oven spring. It could have tasted more sour, but that was because I did all of this in one day. It needed more time to ferment, but I was afraid of over-proofing. Plus, I had added twice as much starter and adjusted the water and flour to account for this. I just hated to waste more starter by washing it down the drain.

My Bread - Timing

Recipe Ingredients:

[I calculated the hydration of this dough and it is around 76%.]

4 cups organic white bread flour, spooned and leveled (520 grams total flour)
2 teaspoons fine sea salt (12 grams)
1 7/8 cups filtered water (385 grams)
1/3 cup sourdough starter (90 grams) fed 8-10 hours earlier, using it slightly after peaking (or use an unfed starter, 3–6 days after feeding if refrigerated - for a more “sour” taste - see notes.)

rice flour (my favorite) or extra flour for dusting
seeds for flavoring: fennel seeds, anise seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds, caraway seeds, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, dill seeds, celery seeds, nigella seeds, etc. (optional, but tasty)

Other optional additions:

Instructions:

8 am. Twelve hours before mixing your dough, feed your sourdough starter, leaving it out on the counter making sure it doubles in size within 6-8 hours. OR, if you keep your starter in the fridge and fed it in the last 7 days - it is OK to use it straight from the jar, cold, without feeding. Best to use starter after it peaks, when it is “hungry”.

8:00 pm Weigh the flour in a medium bowl (***zeroing out the weight of the bowl). Then add salt, spices, seeds. Mix starter and water in a small bowl until cloudy and well mixed. Pour the starter-water into flour incorporating all the flour using a fork or wood spoon. It should be a thick, shaggy, heavy, sticky dough. Mix for about 1-2 minutes using the wood spoon – it will be hard to mix. Don’t worry about tidy dough here, just get the flour all mixed in and cover with a wet kitchen towel and let rest 15 minutes. It will loosen up as it rests. (Alternatively, mix starter and water in the bowl first, then add the salt and flour - either way works.)

8:20 pm: Do the first set of stretches and folds. (See first photo above) With one wet hand (put a bowl of water next to you) pull the dough from one side and stretch it upward, then fold it up and over to the center of the dough. Quarter turn the bowl and repeat, stretching up and folding it over the middle, repeat for about 30 seconds or until the dough gets firm and resists. This helps strengthen the gluten. Cover, rest, and repeat the process 15 minutes later. With wet fingers, stretch up and fold over, turning, repeating, for 30 seconds until the dough gets firm and resists. Then turn the dough over in the bowl. Yes, you could do this a couple more times if you would like to build the gluten, but not imperative.

8:35 pm Proof overnight, at room temp. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, wax wrap, or a damp kitchen towel (to keep the moisture in) and place it on your kitchen counter for 8 - 12 hours. 68 - 70F is the ideal temp. (If it is warmer, check at 6-8 hours. If it is very cold, it may take up to 18 hours in winter.)

6-8 AM Check the dough in the morning. The dough should have expanded, with a slight springy dome to the top. It won’t necessarily double in size (maybe 1.5 -1.75 times bigger) but will have expanded. Do the POKE TEST: With a floured finger, poke into the dough. If it indents easily and mostly springs back to its original shape, it has probably risen enough. If it feels firm or very hard to indent, let it rise longer. If it feels loose, runny, or indents too easily or doesn’t spring back, it is most likely over-proofed (bake it anyways).

Line a high-sided bowl with parchment. (If you are a seasoned bread baker, you do not actually need parchment - this is only for easier transport only, bread will not stick to the inside of a dutch oven.) I like using a high-sided medium-sized bowl versus a flat or shallow bowl to help shore up the sides. You can also use a rice-floured Banneton (bread proofing basket) if you have one.

2nd Set of STRETCH and SHAPE : (See second photo above). Loosen the dough from the all edges of a bowl with using your wet fingers, a wet spatula or wet plastic dough scraper, sliding down the sides of the bowl. With both wet hands, carefully pull the dough straight up, in the middle and lift it, stretching straight up in the air - about 1 - 2 feet (see photo) and place it back down, gently folding it on top of itself. In this first stretch, the dough may feel quite loose and runny. This is OK. It should firm up as it stretches and folds. (Note: If your dough breaks here, it is probably over-proofed, bake it anyways. If your dough won’t stretch like the photo and feels too tight or firm, it needs to proof longer).

After the first stretch, give the bowl a quarter turn, wait 30-60 seconds, wet your hands again and stretch it up high again, folding over itself in the bowl. Wait 30 - 60 seconds. (You could repeat this one more time, 15 minutes later). Then, the third time you lift and stretch, you will lift it all the way into your parchment-lined bowl, folding over itself like you’ve been doing. [Using damp hands, try to shape the dough by pushing the sides down and under to get a tight skin on top.] (Alternatively, lift it into your floured proofing basket seam side up. (If seam up, pinch the seam closed). Sprinkle top with seeds and flour (get the sides too) gently rubbing it to even coat – and add seeds if you like. If using a banneton, sprinkle the seeds in the banneton before adding the dough. This side of the dough will become the top.

FINAL RISE and PREHEAT OVEN: Place the bowl in the refrigerator for one hour uncovered which will firm up the bread, and make scoring easier and help boost “oven spring”. It won’t rise in the fridge. (You could also keep it in the fridge for 3-4 hours if you want to bake later.) Preheat the oven (for 1 FULL hour) to 500F with your dutch oven inside and lid on (see notes). If you have convection - use it. You can also bake the bread at 450F or 475F. You want your oven as hot so don’t skimp on the preheat. I usually preheat for 1 full hour.

SCORE & BAKE When ready to bake, place dough by the stove. Pull out the dutch oven, close the oven, remove lid. Score the bread in the bowl, using a very sharp knife, lame, or razor blade, score the dough swiftly and deeply, at a 45-degree angle, 3/4- 1-inch deep. One deep slash is just fine. Or criss-cross, or crescent shape. (Or feel free to add other designs, for ideas - google “scoring bread”). Oiling the knife helps as well as using a lame. You want to score where you want the dough to puff out from. You can also cut with kitchen scissors. Carefully lift the parchment by the corners and place both bread and parchment directly into the dutch oven. [Sprinkle the dough with water.] Cover quickly. It is OK if parchment peaks out. You want to score and transfer as quickly as possible. (Alternately, if using a proofing basket, cover the basket with parchment, carefully flip the dough into the parchment in the palm of your hand and then center the parchment and dough into your dutch oven, then score).

BAKE. Place dutch oven in the middle of the 500F oven for 20 mins with convection on, 25 minutes w/no convection (or 28 minutes at 450F). Remove lid. It should be puffed and just lightly golden and internal temp close to 200F (if not, put lid back on for a few more minutes). Lower heat to 450 F, continue baking 10 - 15 minutes until deeply golden and internal temp reaches 204 - 208F. No pale loaves please, let them get golden! (For a less “crusty” loaf, increase covered baking time, lower uncovered baking time. You can play with this for desired results.)

COOL: It will smell heavenly. Remove from the dutch oven, let it cool 1 hour on a rack or tilted up on its side, before slicing so you don’t let the steam out and don’t smash it - be patient. This is the hardest part. Take a picture! Feel proud. You did it!

SERVE: This type of bread is always BEST, served toasted! Then lather it with butter, ghee or olive oil. Add mashed avocado and salted tomatoes, almond butter, honey or jam. A piece of toast can turn into a great meal.

STORE: Store the bread wrapped in a kitchen towel for the first day or two to keep the crust nice and crispy, then move it to a zip lock bag to keep it moist for longer. Bread can also be sliced and frozen. Make sourdough croutons with leftover bread - great in salads and soups!

Makes 1 loaf