Simple Overnight Sourdough Bread
Simple Overnight Sourdough Bread (makes one 900 g loaf or two smaller loaves)
(For ease of timing, mix & fold the dough prior to going to bed. The dough will ferment overnight and could be shaped & baked in the morning or shaped and placed in a basket to cold ferment in your fridge for up to 24 hours before baking.)
***Prior to mixing your dough, you need to confirm your starter is bubbly and ready to use. If it has not been fed recently then take a few spoonfuls of starter from your fridge and add equal amounts of flour and water. After mixing it well, let it sit on your countertop for a few hours to get nice and bubbly. You will see your starter level rising in the jar and you will know the starter is ready to use when a spoonful floats in a measuring cup of water. If it sinks, it is not yet ready to bake with.***
Maintaining your sourdough starter
There is much information regarding care and feeding of sourdough starter, it can feel overwhelming to know what to follow and what to disregard. Here are some tips to maintaining your sourdough starter so you can confidently bake with it, without losing your mind, wasting time and ingredients only to be frustrated with the outcomes.
1. Firstly, you may wish to store your starter in your fridge. This will simplify the steps of feeding it. Starters that live in fridges and are used to bake at least once or twice a month, need only be fed when they come out to bake. If a starter is left longer than a month unfed, it will begin to diminish and may eventually die from neglect. So monthly feeding or as needed for baking will keep your starter alive and available with minimal fuss for both of you.
2. You will want to maintain at least 25 g or 1 tablespoon of starter so you can use it to bake when you want to. There is no need to maintain a larger volume of starter on a regular basis. A small amount of starter can be multiplied fairly quickly (like perhaps within 3-8 hours) so you can plan your baking with that in mind.
3. As you will feed your starter prior to preparing to bake, you can use a 1:1:1 ratio to start with and adjust according to your preference as you gain mastery. This means you would add equal parts starter, flour and water and mix to combine and then wait for a few hours to see evidence of activity i.e. bubbly texture, rising volume and lovely yeasty aroma.
4. After you feed your starter and get it activated, you will refer to the notes on doing a float test prior to mixing ingredients to begin bread production. If a spoon of starter floats in a measuring cup of water, the starter has been activated and will be good to bake with.
5. After you have portioned the amount of starter you need for the recipe, place the remainder back in your fridge until you wish to bake again. Then repeat the cycle at step #1.
***You can increase your volume of starter at any time by adding equal amount of flour and water and waiting until you observe evidence of activity.***
Equipment:
5 quart dutch oven
Kitchen scale (or use Imperial measures in parentheses)
Dough/bench scraper
Parchment paper
Bread lame (or other sharp edge for scoring dough)
Wire rack
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Ingredients:
500 g flour (4 cups + 2 tablespoons)
350 g water (1 1/3 cups plus 2 tablespoons)
50 g sourdough starter (1/4 cup)
9 g Himalayan or Celtic sea salt (1 1/2 teaspoons)
Method:
1. Before bed:
Measure flour and salt into large bowl.
Add water and starter.
Mix ingredients into a shaggy dough.
Let rest covered for 30 minutes.
Uncover and fold dough 4 times. This means pulling the dough up and folding it down on itself, turning it a quarter turn and doing the same thing 3 more times.
The dough will become a bit firmer and hold a shape a bit better.
Once you have folded it 4 times, form it into a smooth ball and it is ready to ferment, covered for about 8-10 hours.
Putting the bowl in a warm place will help speed up the fermentation process.
2. In the morning:
You will notice your dough has risen in the bowl and may be a bit wiggly if you jiggle the bowl.
Turn the dough onto your countertop and perform the same 4 folds you did before. Let the dough rest 5-10 minutes.
Line an 8 inch bowl/ basket/banneton with a tea towel and place your loaf inside.
Cover and let rest for 30-60 minutes.
3. Preheat your oven to 450F:
Place your dutch oven inside the oven to preheat as well.
When you and your oven are ready to bake, uncover and place a sheet of parchment paper over the dough. Turn the dough upside down and it will release to the parchment paper.
With your bread lame or small razor blade or serrated knife, score the bread as you wish. One long slash down the length of the bread will suffice, you can get fancy if you would like.
Use the parchment paper to pick up the loaf and place it in the preheated dutch oven. Cover and set in the oven to bake for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove the lid and bake another 18 minutes or until the bread crust is the colour you like.
When the loaf is baked, remove it from the oven and set it on a wire rack to cool, wait at least 4 hours (preferably several hours) for the bread to cool before slicing and/or bagging.
Notes:
If you prefer to let your dough cold ferment, take it out of the fridge and score it as your oven is preheating. Cold dough will be easier to score and fancier patterns more achievable.
You will have more consistent results if you use a kitchen scale to measure your ingredients.
Warm water will enhance the fermentation process however water that is too hot will diminish it.
If you do not have a dutch oven, you can use a casserole dish, as long as it has a good fitting cover and is large enough for your expanding loaf. Corningware cookware works well, too.
If your bread is more dense than you would like, try folding a bit more before shaping. A longer fermenting time after shaping, preferably in the fridge, will help to improve bread crumb texture as well. Be sure your starter passes the “float test” before mixing your dough to achieve a light loaf.
Your bread does not have any preservatives so will spoil quicker than commercial bread. If not eaten within a couple of days, it is best frozen. Slicing prior to freezing means you can enjoy sourdough toast very quickly, even with frozen bread.