Sourdough Bread: Part 2 – The Finished Loaf

Welcome to part two in this series for how to make your own sourdough bread, using nothing more than flour, water, a little salt, and a whole lot of time. 

Yes, making your own sourdough does take a while, but the amount of actual work is minimal, and the bread you’ll get is spectacular…at least in San Francisco. Your results may vary.

While I’ve made sourdough before, I’ve never actually had to provide specific measurements, which is why I’ll credit Northwest Sourdoughonce again, since the amounts below were slightly adapted from there. Speaking of which, anything you’re not sure about after watching this, can be cleared up by visiting Teresa’s amazing channel.

If you don’t have a banneton, you can simply line a similarly sized bowl with a tightly woven cotton kitchen towel, which has been generously coated with rice flour. I’ve used that before, and it works exactly the same. The only difference is the wooden basket “breathes,” unlike a metal bowl, but I don’t think that’s a huge deal.

Since the wild yeast and bacteria that make this bread work vary from one part of the country/world to another, I can’t guarantee you’ll get the same results I did, but nevertheless, I really do think you should try anyway. In fact, if you do have some success, I’d love to see the results posted on Twitter for all to see.  Good luck, and as always, enjoy!

Ingredients for one loaf:

100 grams starter

250 grams water

8 grams kosher salt

394 grams white bread flour

(You’ll also need rice flour for the 10-inch banneton)

- Let ferment for 4 hours, “folding” at the 2 hour mark

- Form loaf and transfer into prepped banneton

- “Retard” dough in fridge for 10-12 hours

- Let rise in warm spot for 3 to 5 hours or until it passes “poke test”

- Bake at 450 F. for 25 to 30 minutes

Categories: Breads, Tips and Techniques