Sourdough Loaf

Sourdough Loaf

Based on Tartine's recipe.

Ingredients

Makes 1 loaf

  • 20g sourdough starter
  • 490g white bread flour
  • 90g whole wheat bread flour
  • 475g water (at 29.5°C)
  • 10g salt (2tsp)

Make the leaven

  1. Around 1:00pm, mix 20g sourdough starter, 40g white bread flour, 40g whole wheat bread flour and 85g water in a small takeaway container or wide 500ml jar.
  2. Cover with a kitchen towl and allow to rise for 6 hours
  3. The leaven is ready when it floats in room temperature water.

Bulk fermentation

  1. Around 7:00pm, put 365g water at 29.5°C in a large mixing bowl
  2. Add 100g of the leaven and stir it to disperse
  3. Add 450g white bread flour and 50g whole wheat bread flour to the water, and mix thoroughly by hand until you don't see any bits of dry flour. Clean your hands and the sides of the bowl with a dough spatula
  4. Let the dough rest for 30 minutes
  5. Add salt and 25g water to the dough. Incorporate the salt by squeezing the dough between your fingers. The dough will first break apart and then will re-form as you turn it in the bowl
  6. Fold the dough on top of itself and transfer it to a 1.5L+ clear plastic container. Put the dough in a proof box and maintain a temperature between 25°C and 28°C for the bulk fermentation process
  7. Bulk fermentation will take 2hrs. Every 15 minutes during, dip one hand in water then grab the underside of the dough, stretch it up, and fold it back over the rest of the dough. Repeat this action two or three times so that all the dough gets evenly developed.

Shaping and proving

  1. Pull all the dough out of the container onto an unfloured work surface. Lightly flour the surface of the dough then flip it so the floured side rests on the work surface
  2. Fold dough onto itself so that the flour on the surface of the dough is sealed on the outside of the loaf. The outer surface of the dough will become the crust, so you may use more flour on your hands to avoid sticking
  3. Using the bench knife and one hand, work each piece of dough into a round shape. Tension builds when the dough slightly anchors to the work sorface while you rotate it. By the end of shaping, the dough should have a taut, smooth outer surface
  4. After the initial shaping, let the dough rest on the work surface for 30 minutes (the bench rest)
  5. Lightly flour the top surface of the dough rounds. Slip the bench knife under the loaf and flip it so that the floured side is now resting on the work surface. What was the underside is now facing up.
  6. Fold the third of the dough closest to you up and over the middle third of the round. Stretch out the dough horizontally to your right and fold this right third over the center. Stretch out the dough to your left and fold this third over the previous fold.
  7. Finally, stretch out the third of the dough farthest from you and fold this flap towards you, over the previous folds, and anchor it in place with your fingers. Then grab the dough nearest to you and wrap it up and over, rolling the whole package away from you so that the smooth underside of the loaf is now the top and all the seams are on the bottom. Cup your hands around the dough and pull it toward you, rounding it against the work surface to tighten the tension and stretch the other surface to close the seam. Let the shaped loaf rest for a minute
  8. Brush a loaf-shaped pan with olive oil and place the dough into pan.
  9. Allow to rest for overnight (~8 hours) at a cool room temperature

Baking

  1. Pre-heat the oven at 225°C
  2. Score the loaf.
  3. Bake covered by an upturned loaf pan for 30 minutes.
  4. Remove the cover and bake for another 15 minutes.