You can have bakery quality rustic sourdough bread right at home with the use of a dutch oven and a good sourdough starter.
This no-knead recipe has minimal hands on time and each loaf is extremely cheap to make.
Tips for success
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It is important to note that you should only be baking with a very active and bubbly starter. If it’s not active, then the dough will not rise and bake properly. To test if your starter is active enough you can drop a little bit of sourdough into a glass of water and if it floats it is good to go.
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You can change the consistency of the starter by changing the ratio of water/flour when you feed it. I tend to like a thicker consistency so I will feed my starter at a ratio of equal parts starter/water/flour. If you have one cup starter, then feed it one cup water and one cup flour. Need it thicker? More flour, less water.
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Need more time between making your dough and baking? Just leave the dough in the refrigerator for longer and then remove it from the refrigerator 8 hours before you want to eat it (this time includes the fermenting, stretching/folding, baking, and cooling so you will need to be available).
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For a more rustic loaf, don’t smooth the top of the dough ball before putting in the dutch oven.
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There are many designs you can score into the top of the loaf prior to baking to control the expansion. Getting these beautiful designs involves first carefully shaping the dough prior to baking. To see some helpful tips on this click here.
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The key to that perfect crust and chewy center is the dutch oven. It mimics commercial baking by capturing the steam released from the bread while it bakes. It’s amazing. There are other ways to mimic this but I haven’t had the same success.
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You can alter the taste of your sourdough by
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it’s maturity: using a the sourdough soon after feedings will have a less sour taste than using a more mature starter.
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the flour used to feed it: rye, wheat, and white flour can all be used to feed your sourdough and each has it’s own distinctive tastes
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Equipment
Dutch oven
metric kitchen scale (highly recommended but not essential)
parchment paper
plastic wrap
Cost
Under $1.00 per loaf (depending on purchase price of flour)
The steps
Make the dough:
Set a bowl on top of a kitchen scale. Zero it out so the weight of the bowl is not measured. Add 100 grams of starter to the bowl. Make sure your starter is nice and active. See the bubbles? That’s a great sign. Not sure if your starter is active? You can test this by dropping a small amount into a glass of water. If it floats, it’s ready to go. If it sinks, it is not active enough and you will need to continue to let it ferment at room temperature.
Zero the scale once more and add 375 grams of VERY WARM BUT NOT HOT water to the starter. You may want to use filtered water if you have chlorine or other treated water.
Stir the starter mixture until well combined. Zero the scale once again and add the flour and salt and stir until combined. Cover with plastic wrap.
1st ferment, stretch and fold (room temp):
Let sit at room temp, covered with plastic wrap for 3 hours and then give a quick stretch and fold around all edges. Stretching and folding the dough sounds complicated but it is really very simple and it’s necessary to improve the texture of the dough and to add air bubbles. This will result in those signature little air pockets in the baked loaf. To fold and stretch the dough you wet your fingers, grab the underside of the dough, lift and then pull the dough to the opposite side. You will repeat these steps all the way around the dough, about 5-6 times total.
2nd ferment (cold):
Cover with plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator overnight for about 11-12 hours.
3rd ferment and second stretch and fold (room temp):
Remove from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 2.5 hours. Perform the second stretch and fold around all edges. Allow to sit at room temperature, covered with plastic wrap for 30 minutes.
3rd stretch and fold (room temp):
Stretch and fold the dough around all edges. Allow to sit at room temperature, covered with plastic wrap for 30 minutes
1st “form”:
Dump the dough ball onto a well floured surface that somewhat resembles a ball. Allow to sit for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, turn oven on to 500 degrees with dutch oven inside with lid on.
The final “reshape” and bake of this easy homemade sourdough bread:
After 30 minutes, reshape the dough into a ball again by tucking the ends under (if it flattened), spread a little additional flour over the top, score the top by cutting 3-4 lines on the top of the bread, and transfer to a sheet of parchment paper. CAREFULLY remove the HOT lid from the dutch oven and use the parchment paper to gently set the dough into the dutch oven (parchment paper and all). Cover with the lid.
Bake at 500 degrees for 30 minutes in dutch oven with lid on then remove the lid (VERY CAREFULLY FOR IT’S VERY HOT) and bake for another 10-15 minutes. Watch carefully as the top may burn easily. Remove from the oven and CAREFULLY remove the bread from the dutch oven. Allow to cool for at least 2 hours. Listen to the little crackles as it cools. So cool!
Example Timeline for making the best easy homemade sourdough bread:
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Before starting:
Get your starter ready for use. -
5 PM:
Make the dough. -
5ish to 8 PM:
Let sit at room temp, covered with plastic wrap for 3 hours -
8 PM:
give a quick “stretch and fold” around all edges. -
8 PM to 7 AM:
Put in the refrigerator overnight for about 11 hours. -
7 AM:
Remove from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 2.5 hours. -
10:30 AM:
“stretch and fold” around all edges. Allow to sit at room temperature, covered with plastic wrap for 30 minutes. -
11:00 AM:
“stretch and fold” around all edges. Allow to sit at room temperature, covered with plastic wrap for 30 minutes -
11:30 PM:
”stretch and fold” around all edges. Dump the dough ball onto a well floured surface. Allow to sit for 30 minutes. Meanwhile place a dutch oven inside the oven and preheat to 500 degrees. -
12:00 PM:
Reshape the sourdough into a ball, top with additional flour if needed and score the top by cutting lines in the top to control the expansion. Transfer the bread dough to a large sheet of parchment paper, CAREFULLY remove HOT lid from the dutch oven using heat proof oven mit and gently set the dough into the dutch oven. Cover with lid. Bake at 500 degrees for 30 minutes in dutch oven with lid on then for 10 minutes with the lid off. -
12:40 PM:
Remove from the oven and CAREFULLY remove the bread from the dutch oven. -
12:40 PM to 3 PM:
Allow to cool for at least 2 hours. -
3 PM:
Ready to eat.
Why use sourdough?
The process of making sourdough is definitely more time consuming than using commercial yeasts, however the distinctive sourdough (and often considered superior) flavor can’t be created using commercial yeasts.
Sourdough is also thought to be a healthier alternative to traditional breads due to it’s easier digestion, presence of healthy bacteria/microbes, and it’s ability to (possibly) help decrease the usual blood sugar spike that is associated with carbohydrate intake.
How do I get a sourdough starter?
There are 3 ways that you can get a sourdough starter starter:
1. Make your own.
2. Get an established starter from a friend/neighbor/family
3. Purchase from a reputable company
Making your own starter isn’t difficult, but it is a time commitment and requires patience. To get your starter going you basically combine flour and water then allow it to capture the bacteria and yeast that are naturally in the air. Then you discard some of the mixture and “feed” the remaining sourdough additional water and flour to keep all the microbs in balance. There is a bit of a learning curve to this but if you are interested in learning more then I recommend checking out this tutorial by the Pioneer Woman, which will take you step by step through the process.
Taking care of your sourdough starter
Once your starter is well established, you can evaluate how often you plan on baking and using your starter. If you are a regular baker, then it makes the most sense to keep the starter on your counter at room temperature so that you always have sourdough starter that is ready to go. The biggest con of this is it’s a huge commitment and you have to make sure your starter is getting consistent and daily feedings. Which means using LOTS of flour. If you are planning on using it less regularly, then you can decrease the amount of feedings required by sticking it in your refrigerator. This will allow it to go into a temporary dormant state which will require MUCH less feeding (every 1-4 weeks) instead of daily. As you can see there is a wide variance in the recommended feeding time frame.
When you are ready to bake, you can take it out of the fridge, feed it, and allow it to “wake up” before using again.
For additional information on maintaining your sourdough starter, check out this tutorial by the Perfect Loaf
My first attempt at making an easy homemade rustic sourdough bread
Bread has been my nemesis for years. It’s the one thing I have had a difficult time mastering. I think part of the problem is how high I set the bar. I want that perfect, crusty crust with a super soft, airy center with the perfect texture… made at home in my own oven.
I also want as little fuss as possible. Anyone who has ever dove into the world of sourdough bread knows that is a tall order, indeed.
My first venture into sourdough was several years ago. I made my own starter from scratch and nurtured that baby for months.
Yes, your sourdough starter is a child. You must care for it and feed it for it to thrive. But there is good news, the child can go to grandma’s for extended breaks when you need a break. I’ll tell you how later.
I ended up with a good loaf of sourdough that first attempt but was left feeling a little underwhelmed at the end product vs the effort it took to get there.
My second sourdough attempt and “accidentally” perfect homemade rustic sourdough bread.
Fast forward several years and the itch was back. I have made many “good” loaves of bread but I had yet to bake THE ONE.
I had been contemplating beginning a new sourdough starter when one literally landed on my doorstep, courtesy of a neighbor.
And the sourdough craze began once again.
I read several tutorials on how to make the perfect sourdough loaf because, really, isn’t that the ultimate goal of having a sourdough starter… to make the most fantastic bread ever right at home?
I was quickly reminded that making a perfect sourdough can be a bit overwhelming and there are a LOT of different opinions and techniques on how to go about it.
So I set out one afternoon with the best of intentions. I was going to nail this bread-making business once and for all.
However, sometimes life has other ideas… or I just got busy and forgot about my dough.
So at the time I was supposed to be stretching and folding the dough, I somehow wound up in the garden with dirt on my hands. Then in the workshop building a table. I believe there was a walk around the neighborhood in there as well.
You can probably start to see why my husbands nickname for me is “butterfly”.
I finally remembered my poor forgotten sourdough HOURS later and it was starting to get late in the day.
I wasn’t about to throw the dough out, so instead I gave it a quick stretch and fold then stuck it in the refrigerator in hopes that I could salvage it in the morning.
When morning came, I set the dough out to warm up to room temperature and went about my usual morning routine. A few half hearted “stretches and folds” later (you can see I was not overly hopeful I was going to have a successful product) I put it into my preheated dutch oven and threw it into the oven.
40 minutes later… I pulled a promising loaf of sourdough from the oven. The outside looked amazing. However I tried not to get too excited because I’ve made bread in the past that looked fantastic on the outside, but was a huge disappointment on the inside.
I waited another two hours to let it cool enough to cut into and…
Sigh. Double Sigh.
It was absolutely perfect in every way. A crispy crust with a light and airy (but chewy) inside.
Reminiscent of my favorite sourdough bread from by favorite bakery.
This was THE bread that I’ve been trying to achieve for years.
I was so excited that I turned around and immediately started another loaf, again with perfect results.
Now that you know all the tricks and tips for the best sourdough you can learn how to make perfect Homemade Cinnamon Rolls.
Enjoy!
Rustic Sourdough Bread [No Knead, Dutch Oven Recipe]
Equipment
- dutch oven
- metric kitchen scale (highly recommended but not essential)
- parchment paper
- plastic wrap
Ingredients
- 100 grams active sourdough starter (mine is the consistency of thickened pancake batter) (about ½ cup)
- 375 grams very warm (but not hot) water (about 1.5 cups
- 500 grams all purpose flour (about 3.5 cups)
- 5 grams salt (about 1 tsp)
- Extra flour for dusting
Instructions
Make the dough:
- Add the starter to a large bowl.
- Add the water and stir until well combined.
- Stir in the flour and salt.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
1st ferment, stretch and fold (room temp):
- Let sit at room temp, covered with plastic wrap for 3 hours then give a quick stretch and fold around all edges.
2nd ferment (cold):
- Put in the refrigerator overnight for about 11-12 hours.
3rd ferment and second stretch and fold (room temp):
- Remove from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 2.5 hours.
- Perform the second stretch and fold around all edges.
- Allow to sit at room temperature, covered with plastic wrap for 30 minutes.
3rd stretch and fold (room temp)
- Perform “stretch and fold” around all edges.
- Allow to sit at room temperature, covered with plastic wrap for 30 minutes.
Final stretch and fold, prepare for shaping/baking:
- Turn the dough out onto a well floured surface into somewhat of a shape of a ball.
- Allow to sit for 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, turn the oven on to 500 degrees and place the dutch oven inside with lid on.
Shaping and the Bake:
- After 30 minutes, reshape the dough into a ball again by tucking the ends under (if needed), spread a little additional flour over the top, score the top, and transfer to a sheet of parchment paper.
- CAREFULLY remove the HOT lid from the dutch oven.
- Gently set the dough into the dutch oven (parchment paper and all). It’s useful to use the parchment paper to carefully lower the dough into the HOT dutch oven.
- Cover the dutch oven with the lid.
- Bake at 500 degrees for 30 minutes in dutch oven with lid on then remove the lid (VERY CAREFULLY FOR IT’S VERY HOT) and bake for another 10-15 minutes.
- Watch carefully as the top will burn easily.
- Remove from the oven and CAREFULLY remove the bread from the dutch oven.
- The bread is done when it makes a hallow sound when the bottom is tapped on.
- Allow to cool for at least 2 hours.
MBG says
This bread! Can’t wait to make it again! Wish I could share a picture. I thought it didn’t rise enough before baking. It’s gorgeous!
Melinda says
So glad you enjoyed it!
John says
Well, I read thousands of recipes (slight exaggeration) before choosing this one for my first ever sourdough loaf, made with my first and virginal home made starter (9 days, medium rye, fed once daily). I found the webpage a little long and repetitive and, until it was too late, I didn’t see anything about overnight in the fridge and, so, my dough reached that stage at 11:00 a.m. Anyway, it went into the fridge then, and I gave it a couple of extra folds before going to bed at 9p.m..
This morning, after feeding the dog and cats, I picked up the recipe again. The dough did feel wet, so I added an extra fold as well as those prescribed, and fired up the oven, with the 4.5 quart dutch oven and lid inside. I also cut a tic-tac-toe pattern in the very soft disc as the oven heated and then, holding the parchment paper carefully, dropped the disc into the D.O. and put it all in the oven. I am not allowed to run the oven over 450, so I gave the final, lid open, stage an extra five minutes.
The crust didn’t look very artistic, the bottom was nice and hollow, but the overall impression was promising with a massive dome. Two hours passed slowly until the final test, the knife.
Amazing, bubbles in the crumb the size I have been striving for but failing to achieve in my baguettes. I will take them, even though some seem to rate them as faults.
The taste? Very slightly lactic, but certainly not objectionable.
John, four months off my eightieth birthday.
Rebecca says
Does the bowl need to be covered in any way during the 2nd rest/the 11-12 h one in the fridge?
Melinda says
Yes! Thank you for asking. I will update this information in the post.
Melody A Fuhrman says
I’m just giddy! It’s my first sourdough to turn out after all other recipes I’ve tried failed. Thank you for your detailed instructions and the words of encouragement in them too. It is possible to do it from scratch!
Melinda says
That’s fantastic! I’m so glad. I remember my first successful sourdough loaf. It’s the best feeling!!!
Melody A Fuhrman says
Can I double or triple the batch? I would think to cut dough in half or 3rds before the 1st stretch and fold?
Melinda says
To be honest I have never doubled or tripled this recipe. In theory it should be fine to scale the recipe as needed however you would need a REALLY large proofing bowl. My advise would be to do a single loaf first so you can see how it should turn out and then double the recipe later. Let me know how it turns out!
Sharon Stachler says
How on earth can you make bread without yeast.?? Sharon
Melinda says
That is the beauty of sourdough. The natural fermentation process replaces the need for yeast.