Ingredients
- 1000 g Heritage White Flour or Heritage Bread Blend (*These two flours are easy to work with and will make great bread to get you started. After you get familiar with this process you can use this same recipe to replace some of the flour Heritage White Flour or Heritage Bread Blend Flour with Heritage Whole Wheat Flour or Rye Flour to make whole wheat or rye bread).
- 720 g Water, chlorine-free, 90F (if you have city water you can boil it and let sit for 24 hours)
- 1 tbsp (20 g) Salt - Real Salt or other unrefined salt
- 250-300 g Active sourdough starter
Instructions
- Tip: if your starter is watery and runny, use less water. If your starter is thick, you can increase your water.
- Presoak the flour by combining all 1000g of flour with all 720g of water. Mix for 3-5 minutes into a shaggy dough, then cover for one hour (this is called an autolyze).
- After the presoak, add the salt to the dough and mix enough to combine it. Add the sourdough starter and mix thoroughly. After about 3 minutes of vigorous mixing, it should start to look like bread dough. After 3 minutes of mixing with a dough whisk, switch to your hands and mix for another minute or until you have a smooth bread dough.
- Tip: wet your hands to help the dough not stick. If you flour your hands, you risk incorporating too much flour into the dough.
- Mixing the sourdough into the pre-soaked flour is a little challenging part of this recipe. It can be done by hand or mixer. By hand you should use the “pincer method” of pinching and turning the dough. If you use a mixer, you may have to stop the mixer and use a wooden spoon to stir the pre-soaked dough and starter together. This will help the starter and presoak begin to combine and then you can continue mixing. Once you get the combination started with a wooden spoon, the mixer will be much more successful.
- When mixed into a smooth bread dough, place the dough in a large mixing bowl and cover for a bulk ferment of several hours depending on the temperature of the room. If the temp is more than 70F it will double in size in a few hours. If it is less than 70F, it will take longer so keep an eye on it.
- Once about doubled in size, stretch and fold by grabbing the dough and pulling it up and toward the center in four stretches at 90 degrees each, top, left, bottom, right. Cover and repeat the same stretch and fold in twenty minutes. (The dough needs twenty minutes to relax between stretch and folds). You can decide how many stretch and folds to do, anywhere from 2-5 is common. The dough will get stronger with each stretch and fold.
- Divide into two equal portions, shape and place in bannetons (or greased bowls), or greased bread pans. Cover with a plastic bag and place in the refrigerator for 12 hours.
- After the 12 hours, If the dough looks fully proofed (has nearly doubled in size) you can bake it right away. If it looks like it could use more proofing time, keep it in the plastic wrap and set it on the counter to proof a bit more before baking.
- Heat oven to 425F – 450F. If you are using a Dutch oven, place the Dutch oven in the oven when you start the preheat. A good half hour preheat is required for Dutch ovens.
- Dutch oven method- slash the dough with a razor blade and place it in the preheated Dutch oven. Cover and bake for about 25 minutes. For a darker crust, remove the cover from the Dutch oven after 15 minutes.
- Bread pan method - slash the dough and place in the oven. Reduce the heat to 350F and bake for about 40 minutes. For a darker crust, cover the pan with foil and remove the last 10-15 minutes. For a softer (and lighter) crust, cover the loaf the whole time.
- At the end of the bake time check the inside temperature of bread with a thermometer. It should read 195-205F when done.
- Remove from pan or Dutch oven immediately and let cool on a rack that will allow air to circulate under the bread.
- It is important to understand that it takes practice to get the feel of sourdough baking. If you are not getting the results you desire, you can increase the amount of starter or adjust the hydration. Every time you combine flour, water, salt, and starter, it is an experiment so have fun with it.
Tried this recipe?tag #sunriseflourmill
This has been super helpful for me. I have not made sourdough bread before and it took some time to get the hang of it but I learn new things every time I try. We have been enjoying bread again for the first time in 5 years.
My first loaves are now in the pans to rise. I am super excited and hopeful that I can eat this sourdough bread without the issues caused by gluten.
I hope I have my measurements right as I had to use a converter chart to change from grams to cups in the sourdough recipe.
I bought an inexpensive scale on Amazon about a year or two ago, and I use that more than just about any other baking tool other than my Cuisinart food processor. You can measure by grams or ounces, and it has a “tare” button so you can zero out the weight of the container you’re putting your ingredients into. A very worthwhile investment!
I agree completely. It’s a worthwhile investment.
I also bought a small scale and it is very easy to use and I think makes a big difference with the sourdough measuring.
If you are baking in a Dutch oven, do you line it with parchment or brush it with oil? Or do you put your round loaf directly into the Dutch oven. My Dutch oven is ceramic coated cast iron.
Most recipes use parchment cut larger than the size of the oven but that’s to use the overcut section as handles to assist in dropping the loaf into the hot pan. In truth it messes up the edges of the bread as the dough rises into it during the bake and these marks show up on the bread. If you feel you can do without, I’m guessing a well used Dutch oven would not require any release agent. I’m going to try it myself. People bake on pizza stones frequently.
I flip my banneton over onto the parchment paper in my hand, then score the dough on my counter. I lower the bread into the Dutch oven with the parchment paper, then carefully press the paper to the sides. I then cut the paper down so it doesn’t interfere with the bread rising.
Did you preheat your Dutch oven before adding dough?
Yes absolutely. Your dough will collapse if you put it in a cold oven and a cold Dutch oven.
I hear my Dutch oven for about 15-25 minutes when I turn the oven on to preheat it. Its a better bake if it’s real hot.
I bake my dough cold from the fridge in a preheated Dutch oven (and preheated oven).
Many people are successful placing dough into a cold Dutch oven and cold oven and raising the temp once it’s in. There’s not just one right way to do it.
I made bread today in my cast iron pot that is smaller than a full dutch oven. Anyhow, I did nothing to the pot, it came out fantastic, didn’t stick at all, and I can eat it with no health problems. I have missed bread from my wheat problems. This heritage wheat is a wonderful discovery.
Can this be made in a bread maker?
Has anyone ever had success adapting this recipe for a bread machine?
Do you need to line the Dutch Oven with parchment paper? In my previous wheat eating life, I used to make sourdough bread in my Dutch Oven, but I always lined it, which I don’t see in your instructions. I’m very excited to try this. I have been eating the Eat Wheat book by Dr. John Douillard and have been following his protocol to prepare my digestion for wheat, which I have not eaten in 6 years. I am SO sick of cardboard gluten free bread!
reading the book, not eating it! 😉
The first time, I made the sourdough bread recipe that came with my order, it turned out poorly. (We ate it anyway.) The second time was not perfect, but pretty good. I LOVE this flour! I have been unable to eat even organic flours and it has been awful! After eating the bread with this flour, I felt like I had been starving to death previously. The bread is SO delicious and satisfying. It reminds me of being a kid and eating bread fresh out of the oven. I thought I was gluten intolerant. Turns out it was not the gluten, but the flour, even organic. I am SO delighted to have bread to eat again. Thank you!
This flour makes amazing sourdough, I substitute about 30 grams of whole wheat with the bread flour. I have been gluten free for about 25 years and I am so amazed I can eat this bread and feel so satiated and healthy. Thank you !!!!!
My question is about kneading. The Video from French kneading is pretty aggressive. The stretch and fold with rests, does that resemble the shaping video ?
Does the gluten break down if over handled as in einkorn?
I only use the stretch and fold method and it comes out great. No kneading.
Is there any difference between the white flour and pizza flour when making pizza dough or use pizza flour for bread? I just want to get the best bang for my buck.
My first attempt didn’t rise, my dough was stiff and dry. I’m trying again today and will limit to five stretch and folds with resting this time and I need to improve on my shaping technique. Hoping my adjustments will improve the results on the second try.
Sounds like my first attempt at making sourdough bread. When I carefully measured ingredients using grams instead of oz it worked much better.
It had suggested that in the recipe I used but I ignored it the first time.
Where do I get a sourdough starter
Sunrise offers it free with an order. Sometimes they are out of the starter. I was able to get a starter one week ago. (April 16-17 approx)
The first time I tried this recipe I followed it to the letter. Though my bread did not rise well. The second time, I used another persons tip of putting it in the oven to rise, with the oven light on. That worked very well! I also skipped the refrigeration step, due to timing and fear that the cold would interfere with the rising. I baked it in a bread pan, that I set inside a covered pan in the oven. The bread tasted amazing! Mine never looks like the pictures I see, but I absolutely love the flavor! Baking again today.
When you put it in oven to rise, is that the step when the directions say to put it in the refrigerator? So you use the oven INSTEAD of the refrigerator? How long did you keep it in the oven?
Help, I don’t have a scale that measures grams. Can someone tell me the measurements in cups??
I also would like the see the measurements in cups and oz.
Is there any way to cut this recipe in half? I don’t have enough flour as the recipe calls for…
sure, just half all the ingredients and make 1 loaf instead of 2
My dough was very sticky and difficult to work with. Should I add more flour?
Wet your hands? Don’t ad more flour!
i have a no-knead bread recipe that I love. Is there a trick to using the starter in recipes that don’t use starter?
Just wondering, since the recipe says to divide the dough into 2 portions, this means that this recipe makes 2 loaves? Is it possible to bake the whole amount as one loaf? If not, then what is the best way to save a loaf for later. It will only be me eating this, so I would not want a whole loaf to go to waste. I guess my question is, can I freeze the dough, or is it better to freeze a loaf after it has baked? Thank you for your input!
I freeze baked loaves all the time. Works great. I’ve even sliced them before freezing so I can take out just what I need each day. It won’t last as long in the freezer when presliced but I like the convenience.
i’m making this for the first time, and am LONGING for there to be a youtube video. please please please film the steps on this for us all to follow along with!!
After I did the stretch and fold, the dough did not rise anymore even after 12-24 hrs. Bread stayed flat when cooked. What am I doing wrong?
Can I make this recipe with finely ground flour from your Sonora White Wheat berries? I should just try it, but I wanted to see if you have suggestions like adjusting the flour or water amounts. Thank you!
I don’t have a Dutch Oven or bread pans. Can I use this recipe to make a rounded loaf on a cookie sheet?
Do you have any video tutorials we novices can watch?! I’m attempting my first loaf and have so many questions!
I’ve tried this a few times now, and after the pull and stretch, it no longer rises, in the fridge for 24 hrs or out on the counter, and when cooks, they are tasty, but flat disks. What am I doing wrong?
Very interesting that this recipe does the bulk ferment before the series of stretch and folds. I’ve never seen a sourdough recipe do it this way. Just curious as to why you do bulk ferment before stretch and folds? Oh, I do love your flour!
This is my go to recipe for Sourdough Bread. SFM flours work wonderfully and reliably with less gastric upset.
I am an experienced bread baker, but this is my first time with sourdough and this starter and flour. The dough was so wet. Instructions said to use water on my hands, not flour, when handling the dough so that is what I did. The dough was so wet that it didn’t release from the banneton liner even after I heavily floured he liner. I scraped the dough together somehow and got it into a parchment lined hot dutch oven. It just spread out and completely lost its shape & structure. The texture is a bit off tho it tastes ok. I will try again, but what am I doing wrong? Thanks for your help!
My bread sticked to my bannetons too when I first got them. I got frustrated with this and did a quick google search, and it turns out you have to flour the banneton with rice flour to keep it from sticking, as the rice flour does not absorb into the dough.
I’m currently using a GF flour which works great. My bread doesn’t stick anymore!
I’ve been making sour dough for almost 3 years and have experienced many ups and downs like everyone. My main issue is that I cannot get the risen dough out of the banneton without destroying it-it sticks or doesn’t release easily. I’ve tried everything with mixed results and decided to go to the bread pan method because I don’t have to handle it once it has risen. I have used this recipe a dozen or more times with good success until we get to the end. This time I used a sandwich loaf pan and followed the directions for that. I found that the baking time needed to be increased to get to 195 degrees and that 350 degrees wasn’t sufficient to brown it and bake it in 40 minutes. Next time I’ll bake at 375 to 400 and see if my results don’t improve. It could be my oven but I wanted to let anyone know that this might be an issue if you use a bread pan. I ended up increasing the time (10 minutes) to get to 195 and increased the temperature to 375 for the last 5 minutes. It never got very brown. Just an fyi.