Directions: |
Directions:
To make the preferment:
In a bowl, mix together 150g active starter, water, and brown rice flour. Mix until smooth, and then cover and let rest at room temperature for anywhere between 4 and 18 hours. The longer it ferments, the more sour your loaf will be.
To make the dough:
Whisk together the psyllium husk, sweetener, and water. Whisk until combined and let gel while preparing the flour mixture.
In a large bowl or stand mixer, combine all of the flours + starches, plus yeast and salt. Add any herbs and other dry seasonings if you want to flavor your dough.
Whisk the psyllium gel mixture into the preferment, along with the olive oil, and any other wet seasonings (like garlic, soaked nuts or seeds, etc.).
Add the wet ingredients to the flour mixture. Use a spoon and then your hands to bring the dough together, or use your dough hook to mix all of the ingredients until a smooth dough forms. It will take a few minutes in a stand mixer (approx 3 min with Kitchenaid). If you’re using your hands, you will likely want to knead the dough together for a few minutes to make sure all the flour is hydrated and the dough is smooth.
Once your dough is soft and smooth, turn it out onto a clean, smooth work surface. Lightly flour it if your dough seems sticky – mine usually doesn’t need any flour. Knead into a smooth ball, and use your hands to shape the dough into a round (or whatever shape you’re making).
Dust your banneton or tea towel-lined bowl generously with brown rice flour. You can place the dough directly into the banneton if you want the horizontal lines you see on my round loaves, or you can use the liner for a smoother look. Transfer the dough into your banneton, or a bowl lined with a clean tea towel. Put the smooth side facing down, so the “seams” of the loaf are facing up. Since we’ll flip the loaf before baking, the seams will be on the bottom after baking.
Cover, and let the dough proof for about 4+ hours at room temperature, or overnight in the refrigerator. (sometimes 6 to 8 hours to rise well). Remember to look for the soft, puffy texture instead of relying strongly on the exact timing. Conditions of weather, your starter, ingredients, etc. can vary this timing pretty widely!) If you let rise overnight, let rise again at room temp for 2-3 hours before baking if possible.
Bake:
Preheat the oven to 425°F, may take 30+ minutes. Make sure your Dutch oven or pizza stone is preheating inside of the oven if you’re using one.
When your oven is preheated and your dough is well proofed, carefully flip the dough onto a sheet of parchment paper. Score the bread as desired, making sure your cut is deep enough, otherwise, you’ll still have cracking where you didn’t cut through.
Remove your hot Dutch oven, carefully, from the oven. Carefully lower your loaf into the Dutch oven, being careful not to drop it in, which will cause gumminess and reduce the loaf’s rise. Replace the lid, and put your bread into the oven for 45 minutes. Or, place loaf on pizza stone and cover with foil.
After 45 minutes of baking, remove the lid or foil and let it finish baking for 25 to 40 minutes. The exact timing will depend on your oven and how golden brown you want your bread. If doing 2 small loaves, bake covered for 25 minutes and uncovered for another 25 or so. Bread should be 205-210* internal temp.
Once the bread is golden brown to your liking, remove it from the oven. Very carefully remove the bread from the Dutch oven and let cool completely at room temperature before slicing into it. This is the hardest part, but worth the wait!
To store your sourdough bread:
It will keep well at room temperature for two or three days. You can store it in a linen bread bag to extend its life. If your loaf gets a bit stale, put it in a 300°F for 10 minutes to refresh the crust. You can also slice and freeze the bread. It toasts from frozen perfectly!
General Notes
If you’re in a very warm climate, you may want to use less starter, around 125g, to get a longer rise.
For a loaf shape
If you’re wanting to bake your sourdough in a loaf pan, follow the same instructions up until you’re placing the dough in the banneton. Instead, shape the dough to a longer oval shape and place the dough seam side down in the metal loaf pan you’ll be baking in. The one I use is 8.5″ x 4.5″.
Allow the dough to rise in the loaf pan. When ready to bake, bake for an hour. Check on the loaf and if it’s firm enough, remove it from the pan and bake directly on the oven racks for another 20 minutes or so, until golden all around and hollow-sounding when you knock on the sides or bottom.
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This recipe for Sourdough Bread is from