Directions

1. About 5-10 hours before you are ready to make your dough, feed your sourdough starter. Time will be dependent on the temperature of your house.

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2. When your starter is ready, place a large bowl on top of your kitchen scale. Tare to 0g. Add 100g active starter with 350g of room temperature filtered water. Whisk until combined.

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3. Take the kitchen scale to 0g and add 500g of bread flour and 10g of sea salt. Stir until combined - you may have to use your hands for this part. 

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4. Cover and let the dough rest on the counter for 20-30 minutes.

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5. Do a series of stretch and folds. Use wet hands and pick up one side of the dough, stretch it up, and fold it over towards the center. Next, rotate the bowl 180 degrees and repeat on each side of the dough.

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6. Cover and let the dough rest on the counter for 30 minutes. Do 3-4 series of stretch and folds every 30 minutes for the first 2 hours.

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7. Cover and let dough rest on the counter for 5-9 hours. This is called bulk fermentation. Time will vary on several factors, including the temperature of your house. 

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I let mine rest anywhere from 5-12 hours. Your dough is done with its bulk fermentation when it has grown by 50%.

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8. Once the dough has grown by at least 50%, remove it from the bowl and place it directly onto a lightly floured work surface. Pre-shape your dough by loosely gathering up each piece of dough into a form that will help facilitate final shaping. Let it rest on the counter for 20 minutes.

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9. For final shaping, start on the left (or right) side, stretch the dough outward and fold it over toward the center. Repeat on opposite side. Stretch and fold the dough from the bottom to the center. Repeat at the top. Flip the dough over and let it rest for 5-10 minutes to relax the gluten. With floured or wet hands, gently cup the dough and move it around in a circular motion to tighten the shape.

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10. Place the dough into a lightly floured lined bowl or proofing basket, seam side up.

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11. [Optional] Cover and place in the refrigerator overnight. The dough is ready to bake, but I have found it much easier to score and bake cold dough so I prefer to let it rest in the fridge for a few hours.

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12. When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven with the dutch oven inside with the lid on at 485F for 30 minutes. Score the sough. Place the dough inside the dutch oven with the lid on for 20 minutes. Lower the temperature to 450F, remove the lid from the dutch oven and bake for an additional 20 minutes. 

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Try to let the bread cool down prior to slicing it - the hardest part! Enjoy!