Simple Sourdough Artisan Bread

This bread is made with a newly cultivated, 5 day old starter.  The starter is active enough to produce good oven spring.  My first starter cultivated 2 years ago, produced very sour bread/pancakes during the first half year when it was used.  This time, this new starter produces mildly sour bread, so mild, compared to my first starter.  I'm pleasantly surprised and really satisfied with the results.

The recipe is a really simple one, comprising only the basics - active sourdough starter, flour, water and salt.  Instead of 20min of kneading to get really soft crumb, but losing all flavours, I have chosen the middle path, approximately 10min  of kneading, followed by 4 stretch and folds.  However, without the butter, the bread falls short of buttery fragrance and the crust and crumb is also more chewy, typical of classic sourdough bread.

Further reading:  Health benefits of sourdough & HOW TO make sourdough starter


Ingredients

  72g      Active Sourdough starter
102g      Cold Water
180g      Bread flour
    2g      Salt

Instructions for bread dough

1.    Add sourdough starter and water into the stand-mixer bowl (I'm using KitchenAid)
2.    Using a wooden chopstick, stir to mix well.
3.    Add in bread flour and stir well.

4.    Use our hands to briefly knead the dough until a shaggy mass is formed. 

5.   Autolyse for 45min - 1hour.
6.   Add salt.
7.   On speed 1, using the dough hook, knead the dough for 2min.
8.   On speed 2, further knead the dough for 8min.
9.   Test for windowpane.

10.  Transfer the dough into a glass bowl.  

11.  Cover the dough.  After 30min, perform a stretch & fold and repeat 4times.

12.  Cover the bowl.  Retard the dough (put into the fridge) for 16hr-20hr.

13.  Take the dough out from fridge.  Pre-shape the dough into a boule.

14.  Cover and rest the dough for 30min.

15.  Final shape the dough into boule, using tension pull.

16.  Dust a proofing basket with rice flour.  This is my homemade proofing basket, a plastic bowl and a linen cloth fastened to it.

17.  Place the boule into the proofing basket with its seams facing upwards.

18.  Final proof the dough for 1hr to 1.5hrs, or until doubled in size.  I placed the proofing basket into my oven with the light switched on.

19.  30min into proofing, put a dutch oven into the oven and preheat the oven at 240°C (this is my oven highest temperature).

20.  Tip the proofed dough onto parchment paper.

21.  Score the dough.

22.  Take the dutch oven out from the oven.

23.  Remove the lid of the dutch oven and carefully lower the baking paper together with the dough, into the dutch oven.

24.  Put the lid back and put the dutch oven in the oven. 

25.  Bake for 30min at 220°C (the highest my oven can reach with a dutch oven in it).  As I don't like my bread to brown too much, I normally won't bake my bread too long.

26.  Transfer the bread onto a cooling rack.  Cool for at least 2hrs before slicing.

27.  Voila!  A Simple Sourdough Artisan Bread is served!