Sourdough Bread for Beginners
There's a lot to know before baking perfect, delicious, artisan sourdough bread. Unlike most breads that use yeast as a leavening agent (to make it rise), sourdough relies on a sourdough starter made up of flour, water, and natural occurring bacteria. Everyone has their own way of making sourdough bread. This is just how I learned from my friend, Brandi. And, it's the best I've ever had.

Ingredients for 1 loaf of sourdough bread
Must know information
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It all starts with your starter
If you can't find someone to give you a Sourdough Starter, you can order one from: https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/sear... You can also make one from scratch. King Arthur also shares this recipe: https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/reci...
Once you have a starter, it's recommended you feed it once a week to keep it alive. Keep it in a glass container that you can cover with a lid. Using a food scale, weigh your starter in grams, and add to it equal parts filtered water and all purpose flour. (It' important to use filtered water and not tap water because the chlorine in tap water will kill your starter.) Mix only to combine, cover and let sit on your counter 6-8 hours until it doubles in size. (It may take longer if you live in a colder climate). Once it doubles in size, your starter is ready to use. Take out the portion you plan to use and store the rest in the refrigerator.
Once your starter has been placed in the refrigerator it becomes what is called "discard." You can use discard to bake any number of things; like crackers, pizza dough, and bagels. A quick search on the internet for "sourdough discard recipes" should give you lots of ideas. If you don't use it up, you'll still need to continue feeding it to keep it alive.
A good indication that your starter is starving and should be fed is when it forms a grayish liquid on top, called "hooch." You can empty that liquid out, but that's where the tangy flavor in sourdough bread comes from. So, if you like your sourdough bread extra sour, leave it in, or only pour a little out.
When you're ready to bake a loaf of sourdough bread, make sure your starter has been fed. It's best to only take out a small amount of starter from your discard jar in the refrigerator and feed that in a separate, smaller glass jar. (Again, you weigh it on a food scale and add equal parts filtered water and flour.) Cover and leave it on your counter until is doubles in size and then use it to make your bread dough.
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To make your sourdough bread
Place a large mixing bowl on your food scale and zero it out. Add 100 grams of starter and zero out scale. Add 390 grams of filtered water and zero scale, add 10 grams of salt and zero scale. Finally, add 500 grams of flour. (Should any of your measurements be slightly off, sourdough bread is very forgiving and it should still work for you.) Mix with spatula and/or clean hands only to combine. Do not knead. It should be wet and shaggy and break when you pull it apart.
Wet a tea towel (You can also warm the wet tea towel in the microwave for a few seconds) and place the towel over the dough in bowl. At this point, set your timer for two hours. Every half hour stretch and fold your dough, (Watch video to see how) then cover and let stand again. After the fourth and final fold, cover and let rise for 8 hours, leaving it on your countertop.
After the 8 hours of rising, sprinkle flour onto a clean, flat surface. Take your dough out of the bowl, and pinch and form into a ball. (Again, do not knead. Just fold into a smooth ball.) Sprinkle flour onto a damp tea towel to keep the dough from sticking to it, and place the dough ball onto the towel. Wrap the dough in the towel, place it back in the bowl, and this time place the bowl in the refrigerator to "Cold Proof" for a minimum of 2 hours and a maximum of 36 hours. Your dough will rise in the refrigerator and will be ready to bake at your convenience.
When you're ready to bake, place your empty dutch oven with the lid on in the oven and preheat to 500º. Take your dough out of the refrigerator and place it on a piece of parchment paper. Sprinkle flour on top of the loaf and lightly rub it on with your hands. Score the bread with a blade. Then lift the loaf using the parchment paper and carefully place it into the dutch oven. (Be careful not to burn yourself!) Brandi likes to add an ice cube inside the dutch oven next to the loaf to ensure the crust is a little softer. Use pot holders to place the lid on and return the dutch oven to the oven. Bake 30 minutes at 500º Lower to 450º, remove lid from dutch oven, and bake an additional 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and set loaf on trivet to cool for 2 hours before cutting into it.