Our classic original sourdough sandwich loaf. It’s important to have a healthy & active sourdough starter for this recipe – you can see how to feed your starter and keep it active here.
Sourdough Loaf
Note: Since this bread rises slowly, it will take 12-15 hours from the time you mix up the dough until the bread comes out of the oven.
Ingredients
- 40 grams active Sourdough Starter
- 280 grams warm water 80℉
- 400 grams all purpose flour or bread flour Can substitute 50-100g of flour for whole wheat, spelt, or other flours.
- 12.5 grams (2 Tablespoons) Vital Wheat Gluten if using all-purpose flour
- 6-7 grams salt
- 20 grams agave syrup, maple syrup, or sugar
- 16 grams oil canola, vegetable, or other bland-flavored oil
Instructions
- You need to make sure your sourdough starter is bubbly and ready to go. It should be bubbly enough to float easily in water. if it has not been fed recently then feed it with flour and water and let it ferment for 4 – 8 hours.
- A few hours before bedtime (2 ½ to 3 hours) or early in the morning, add the bubbly sourdough starter, warm water, sugar, and oil to a large bowl. Mix them together with a whisk until well combined.
- Add the flour, wheat gluten, and salt and combine together with a stiff spoon or spatula. You can also use your hands to get the flour fully incorporated. The dough will look a little scraggly, feel dense, and stick to your fingers. Try and scrape off as much dough from your hands as possible but don't over mix it at this point. Then cover the bowl for 30 minutes.
- Using your wet hands pull the dough from under the dough ball up and stretch it gently as you pull it over the dough ball top. Release. Repeat this process as you give the bowl quarter turns until the dough is stretched and pulled from each quarter of the bowl.
- Over the next 2 1/2 hours, repeat the stretch and fold every 30 minutes for a total of five times.
- Place the dough back in the bowl and cover it. Let it rise overnight for 8-10 hours at room temperature. The next morning, the dough will have risen in the bowl and look much puffier than it did the night before, and it should be a bit jiggly.
- After the bread has risen, use your spatula and gently pull the dough from the bowl onto a lightly floured work surface. De-gas the bread by rolling out with a rolling pin or just pressing it down by hand until flat and in a rectangular shape.
- Once in a rectangle shape, fold 2 opposite sides in to meet at the center. Then fold the bottom corners in and roll from that edge up to make into a roll that fits into the loaf pan.
- Place the dough into a lightly oiled loaf pan, seam side down. Cover it with a cloth or towel and let it rise for an hour or so, until the dough has risen to fill the loaf pan.
- Once the bread has risen, preheat your oven to 400° F (for about 10-15 minutes). Put the broiler pan on a lower shelf and put ½” of water in it. Place a cookie sheet on the upper rack where you will place the bread.
- Using a razor blade or sharp knife, make a few slashes in the top of the bread ¼ to ½ inch deep. This will let the bread expand more easily as it bakes.
- Bake the bread for 15 minutes, remove the broiler pan and lower the temperature to 375° F, and bake for 20 more minutes or until the internal temperature has reached 200° F.
- Remove the bread and let it cool for at least an hour before cutting into it.