Sourdough
Full bag makes one 8-9” round boule
It can be both difficult & expensive to find the right flour combination for that bubbling sourdough starter you’ve got. After numerous trials, this mix worked a treat & mixes up in minutes.
A sourdough loaf is only as good as its starter of course, but I’ve added my copious notes from all those trials I’ve mentioned with schedules to choose from.
Happy baking!
Ingredients:
What you’ll need:
1 pack Gusto Artisan Bread Mix flour
300-115 g filtered water* depending on how loose or wet your starter is
110 g active sourdough starter (see notes)
2 tsp honey, maple syrup, agave or sugar (don’t skip)
2 tsp Apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp oil or melted butter
Notes:
You will need a preheated Dutch oven for this recipe. See Dutch Oven options.
Directions:
In a glass, ceramic or wooden bowl combine Gusto flour mix, filtered water, starter, sweetener of choice, vinegar & butter
Mix will be very wet to start and then stiffens. Allow mix to sit 2-3 minutes to gel up after adding the water.
Knead a few times on a floured board to smoothen and bring dough together, about 30 seconds.
Turn dough seam side up and pinch seams together in the center of the boule. You can also roll the dough like a log and then tuck the tapered ends into the center to create a ball. (Shaping is not the artistic endeavor seen with regular sourdough. The goal here is to form a smooth ball with seams pinched together.)
Turn boule over, smooth side is now up.
Click on images to enlarge & swipe left to view.
6. Cup the ball of dough with the side of your palms, pushing inwards, to create a tight round shape.
7. Place seam side up in a well floured basket/banneton or towel-lined bowl. Cover with a clean towel & elastic. See notes on proofing options.
8. The dough is ready when the surface is cracked a little, springy and shaggy looking.
9. When ready to bake:: Place a Dutch oven on middle shelf of oven. Preheat to 475°F. (Best to preheat for 45 minutes - 1 hour before baking.
10. Invert boule carefully onto a piece of parchment, about 12” square. Do not drop or bang the dough as it could deflate it. Spray/brush boule with water, dust on flour. Make 1/2” slits with blade/lame or very sharp knife.
11. Using edges of the parchment carefully lift & lower the boule into the preheated Dutch oven. Spray the sides of the parchment with water and cover with the lid quickly to prevent steam escaping. Place in the oven.
12. Reduce temperature to 450°F Bake 35 minutes with the lid on. Remove cover (use mitts!) lower heat to 400°F & bake a further 10-15 minutes more to darken. (Time will depend on how big the boule was.)
Proofing time options.
Note: Your sourdough bread is only as good as your starter. Check out the post on starters here.
Take your starter which has been fed twice in a short period and mix the dough when starter is at peak.
For example, feed starter at 8 am, allow to rise. Feed again at 1 -2 pm or whenever it’s peaked and allow for a second rise until 6-7 pm. Mix the dough with the peaked starter. Cover. Allow to sit at room temperature for an hour. Place in the fridge overnight. Remove the next morning and allow to proof outside for 4-6 hours until shaggy on top and springy to touch. Bake in the preheated Dutch oven as per instructions above. You’ve now got fresh bread for lunch, dinner and toast for breakfast the day after.
If I want fresh & warm bread for breakfast, say on a weekend, I take my starter which was fed the night before, on Thursday. I feed again in the morning (Friday) and allow it to reach peak by late afternoon. I then mix my batch of dough and allow to proof until bedtime, so 4-6 hours outside. I then retard overnight in the fridge. The next morning (Saturday) I preheat my Dutch oven for an hour, say at 6-7 am and then bake as per above instructions. I’ve now got fresh bread to eat by 9 am with tea and jam!
Proofing time 2:
This last option is my personal finding with my starter which happens to be very active and I keep out all week. I have fed at night, every 12 hours for a day or two, and actually used the starter the following morning when it has peaked and fallen.
For example I fed at 10 pm at night and then used at 8 am the following day, or within 12 hours, and in the morning mixed up my dough. It was then proofed for 5-7 hours (winter time) and then placed in the fridge overnight. Bread was baked the following morning as per instruction in # 2 schedule and with great results.
Notes:
Cutting the bread too early may result in a gummy texture but I find slicing the ends after 20-30 minutes is just fine. I have sliced this bread warm so many times and spread with melting butter. It’s a revelation for GF bread.
Freeze slices of leftover bread and pull from freezer to be toasted in minutes!
When adding butter to the mix make sure it’s warm so as not to form lumps.
Use butter for best results but if you must use oil use a neutral oil like avocado and not olive oil as the latter can create a strong flavor here.