Sourdough Bread

Making the Dough

Inputs

Procedure

1. Combine flour and 325g of water in a large bowl. Use the hands tool to mix until no dry flour remains. Do not over-process. This step is called autolyse.
2. Set idle-wait to 30-60 minutes.
3. Add starter and salt plus remaining 25-50g water. Use the hands tool in pinch-and-fold mode: squeeze the dough between thumb and fingers, then fold it over itself. Repeat for 5 minutes.
4. Over the next 4 hours, perform stretch-and-fold operations every 30 minutes. For each operation: wet your hands (this prevents the dough from bonding to your skin), grab one side of the dough, stretch it upward until resistance is detected, fold it over the top. Rotate the bowl 90° and repeat. Execute 4 folds per cycle.
5. After the final fold, set idle-wait to 8-12 hours at ambient temperature, OR move the dough to a 3-5°C environment (refrigerator) for a cold retard of 12-18 hours. Cold retard produces superior flavour.

Shaping

1. Flour a work surface. Invert the bowl to release the dough. Use the hands tool and a bench scraper to shape the dough into a round (boule) or oval (batard). The goal is to create surface tension — the outer membrane should be taut.
2. Place the shaped dough seam-side-up into a floured proofing basket (banneton).
3. Cover and set idle-wait to 1-2 hours at room temperature, or 8-16 hours in the refrigerator.

The Poke Test (Validation Check)

Before baking, run the poke test to validate proof status:

1. Call the index-finger tool: press gently into the dough surface to a depth of approximately 1cm.
2. Observe the response:
   • Dough springs back immediately: Under-proofed. Extend idle-wait by 30-60 minutes. Retry.
   • Dough springs back slowly, leaving a slight indentation: Ready. Proceed to baking.
   • Dough does not spring back at all: Over-proofed. This is a non-recoverable state for the current shape. You may re-shape and re-proof, but expect degraded output quality.

Baking

1. Preheat oven to 230°C with the dutch oven inside. Allow 45-60 minutes for the vessel to reach thermal equilibrium. Do not skip this step.
2. Carefully remove the dutch oven. WARNING: all surfaces are at 230°C. Use the oven-mitts tool for ALL interactions with the vessel. Failure to do so will trigger an immediate pain response and may cause permanent damage to the hands tool.
3. Invert the dough from the banneton into the dutch oven. Optionally, use a razor blade or sharp knife (lame tool) to score the surface — this controls the expansion vector during baking.
4. Replace the lid. Bake at 230°C for 20 minutes (lid on), then remove lid and bake for an additional 20-25 minutes until the crust reaches the desired colour (deep golden to dark brown).
5. Remove loaf and place on a wire rack. Set idle-wait to minimum 1 hour before slicing. Cutting into hot bread is a common failure mode — the interior is still setting and will be gummy. The bread will emit audible cracking sounds during cooling. This is expected behaviour ("singing") and indicates success.

Troubleshooting