The World’s Simplest Sourdough Bread Recipe!
Hi Bold Bakers, recently I made my first eversourdough starter.
Well that’s not technically true, I’vemade it before but this is the first time
I’ve kept it alive.
It’s really easy and I did a recipe videoon how you can do it too.
So here’s the thing, I made this a few weeksago and now it’s ready to use.
So I’m gonna take this and make the world’seasiest loaf of sourdough bread.
Simple technique, bare bones, I guaranteeeveryone out there can make it.
And joining us behind the camera this weekis my husband Kevin.
Yep, I’m right here again and George isdefinitely asleep.
So for accuracy with sourdough I do like touse a digital weighing scale, but I do have
the cup measurements on my website.
Whatever you like.
So the first thing we’re gonna weigh outis our sourdough starter.
Now come here to me Kevin, I want you to seehow good this guy is looking.
This is Breaddie Vedder.
We called him Breaddie Vedder because we lovePearl Jam in this house.
And look how bubbly and alive this is.
So we’re going to scoop this into our nicebig bowl.
So once you use your starter you’re goingto have to feed him again and all of that
information is on my website.
So the next thing we’re going to add inis the water, now you want blood temperature
water.
Now how you can tell that is you put yourfinger in, and you can’t really feel your
finger around the water, that means it’sthe same temperature as your blood.
Yeast loves this sort of warm water to helpit grow.
And then what I like to add into my breadis a little bit of olive oil.
And then all you want to do is just mix theseingredients together.
So now let’s talk about flour.
I’m using a bread flour for this sourdough.
So here’s the thing, that little bit extragluten as compared to all purpose flour gives
you a better crumb, a butter texture, it’schewier.
Definitely use bread flour for this.
Now I know I’m gonna get a lot of questions,can I use all purpose flour?
Technically yes, you can use all purpose flour,you might need a little less liquid, but for
best results go with bread flour.
And then a nice bit of salt, salt is reallyimportant for the flavor of your bread.
There you go, the simple ingredients you needto make bread.
And as you can see there’s no dairy in hereso it’s vegan which is great.
So now I’m gonna remove the scales.
So now the mixing of the dough, this is thesimplest part.
This is a no-knead dough so you don’t needa kitchen mixer to make it.
So here’s what I’m going to do, I’mgoing to remove my rings because i’m going
to mix it by hand.
You can use a wooden spoon or spatula, butthe reason I use my hand is because I can
see exactly what’s going on in the dough,if it needs more water or anything like that.
It always varies because your flour is differentfrom my flour, things like that, so if you
go in with your hands you can tell what’sgoing on and you can make your adjustments
early before you’ve mixed it too much.
So my dough is all coming together, I havea nice clean bowl and a big ball of dough.
So here’s what I’m gonna do, I’m gonnaput this over to the side.
I’m gonna bring in a little bit of oliveoil, just a drizzle.
And then just coat your bowl with olive oiland then pop back in your dough.
The reason that we do this is because we’regonna proof our dough in this bowl.
And we want to make it easy on the dough torise, we don’t want to stretch out the dough.
So putting a little bit of oil there willjust help it glide up the bowl when it’s
proofing.
Ok perfect, you can tell early on when youget your hands in there if it’s a good dough
and I can tell that this is.
So right now I’m gonna cover this with clingwrap, nice and tight, just to keep the air
off the dough.
And then I’m going to lay over a towel.
So here’s what you want to do, this is ano knead dough remember, so you’re going
to have to ferment it.
So we’re going to let our dough rest foraround 12-18 hours, and over this time period
the gluten will get stronger, the bubbleswill form, the flavor will develop, then we’ll
be able to shape and cook off our bread.
So because this takes a long time, I preparedone yesterday so it’d be ready in time for
this.
Gemma question for you: what is Sourdough?
So that’s a good question.
Sourdough is bread that’s leavened withwild yeast found in the atmosphere, and that’s
what your starter is.
It is wild yeast that you fermented over time,it’s just flour and water.
You feed it and it creates this yeast, sofor your bread there’s no need for commercial
yeast you’ve actually made your own.
So it’s really fantastic, it adds betterflavor, texture.
Sourdough is just the superior bread, whenyou make a loaf, there’s just something
really rewarding about it.
So this has been fermenting for over 18 hoursroughly.
If you don’t use this after at least 24hours pop it into the fridge and you can use
it for up to three days.
But definitely put it into the fridge after24 hours.
So now I want you to see this, this is thebeauty of sourdough bread.
Look at this, do you see that Kevin?
Do you see all those lovely bubbles?
All the gasses?
I can smell it too.
This is what time yields us, these lovely,big, pockets of air.
And this is why we want to use a bread flourbecause bread flour holds those much better,
it’s stronger.
So here’s a question I get a lot about breaddough, maybe somebody left it for 24 hours
it starts to get a smell, they say to me,can I use this it smells kind of bad.
But that’s the thing, that’s not a badsmell, that’s a good smell.
That smell is booze, fermentation, flavor.
That’s exactly what your dough should smelllike.
So you can still use it, there’s nothingwrong with it, it’s great.
So now our dough is ready to be turned outof the bowl.
Do you see that?
Do you see those gluten strands?
This is beautiful.
So often when you turn a bread dough out ofa bowl I say knock out the air, but for this
one we’re not going to.
We are kind of but differently, I’ll showyou.
We’re just gonna fold the dough onto itself.
The reason I do this is to strengthen thedough.
You’ll see this method a lot in sourdoughmaking, people talking about folding their
dough.
And it’s just to make it that little bitstronger.
And now what I want to do is form it intoa ball and you can do that by pushing it into
your table and turning it into a ball.
Now, the majority of time I say to use a flouredsurface, but when it comes to shaping bread
I actually don’t put flour on my surface.
It’s so much easier to shape it withoutflour because it kind of gives it that traction.
So now let’s talk proofing.
So you can get one of those fancy proofingbaskets online if you want, they’re like
$50.
Here I have a nice little bread basket thatI found in the dollar store.
You can also use any kind of a bowl.
And what I’m going to do is line this witha nice clean napkin.
And I’m generously gonna flour this up thesides and on the bottom, be generous with
this because it not only stops your doughfrom sticking but it’ll give it a lovely
finish at the end.
There we go.
So pick up your loaf, put the seam side facingupwards and the smooth side facing down, and
lay it into your basket, just like that.
Lovely.
Then fold over the napkin so all the breadis sealed, we don’t want any air to get
in at the bread because it will form a skin.
So now let’s talk proofing, this does takea bit of time because it’s a big bread.
So roughly, depending on how warm your kitchenis, it’ll take between an hour and forty
five minutes to two and a half hours.
Over this time you want it to get nice andbig, light, fluffy, airy, and then it’s
going to be perfect to be baked off.
Ok so while this is proofing Kevin and I aregoing to get a cup of tea.
So it’s been a full two hours so let meshow you what your bread should look like
proofed.
So this is well risen, and you’re talkingabout one and a half to two times the size.
I can feel that the dough is not as cold asit was so that’s great.
And when you touch it, it’s light underyour fingers and not as dense.
And another way to tell if it’s properlyproofed is give it a little bit of a push,
and if the dough rises back slowly that meansit’s ready to go into the oven.
If it bounces back really fast then it needsmore time to proof.
So this is ready to go.
Ok now let’s talk baking, this is reallyimportant so I don’t want you to skip over
this part.
There’s a few methods you can do, so I’mgonna show you three.
Number one is baking off your dough in a dutchoven, now you’ve probably seen this online.
They make an amazing loaf of bread, what happensis that steam is created once you put on that
lid, it steams the bread and when you takeit off it continues to cook.
And the lovely thick walls of the dutch ovenreally retain that heat.
Our second method is another way to introducesteam.
What you do is you put a cake pan with someboiling water in it, and when you add your
bread, the bread bakes it creates steam andit’ll give you a lovely shiny crust.
So our third option is a fantastic one andI do this all the time, it’s almost as good
as using a dutch oven.
In my oven I have a cast iron tray, use athick baking tray if you have on.
So here I have a baking tray and carefullyturn out your dough, this is a lovely shape
but go in with your hands and make it a tighterball.
Just make sure it’s nice and round.
So using a sharp knife or a blade I’m goingto score the top of the bread.
So I’m gonna do a score right down the middle,you can do any kind of design you like.
Gemma why do you score your bread?
So that’s a good question, you might thinkit’s just for looks but actually it’s
to let out steam while it’s baking.
If you don’t score your bread it can kindof burst or crack on one side so you want
to make sure you have some kind of markingon top to let that out.
Over my bread dough I am going to put a metalbowl.
Now, you need a metal bowl because it’sgoing to go into the oven.
Look at your kitchen mixer because that’sexactly what this bowl is.
So just put over your metal bowl and be carefulnot to touch the dough, just have it around
it.
This is perfect, this is our baking vessel.
So now baking bread, bread loves a reallyhot oven, so when you’re preheating your
oven preheat it to 450° F or 225° C, butthen when you actually put in your bread,
turn it down to 400°F or 200°C. Ok so after30 minutes you remove the bowl, you don’t
want it to steam the whole amount of time,just for 30 mintues.
So then you bake it uncovered for another30 minutes in that nice hot dry oven.
Ta-da, look at this great loaf of bread.
Now don’t go anywhere because I want toshow you a few things.
You see here how that crust is nice and shiny?
That is because we steamed the bread, thisstep is really important because it gives
you a nice shiny, chewy crust so you don’twanna forget that.
If you look down here at the bottom of thebread, it kind of goes up like this.
That’s called oven spring and we got thisbecause we put it on a nice heated tray, putting
it on cast iron did it a world of good.
And as you can see here our nice big scoremade our bread look nice and beautiful, so
really get in there with your knife and doa nice deep score.
This looks like a legit loaf of artisanalsourdough bread, like it’s amazing.
You can do this to at home.
So now here’s the tell of a great sourdough,pick it up and give it a nice squeeze, you
hear that?
A lovely thick crust and that’s what thatdry heat does once you take off the bowl it
gives you that lovely crust.
It’s amazing.
So now let’s have a look at the inside becauseI want to show you all that time waiting,
what it creates.
So there you go, straight away we can seeall of our hard working paying off, you see
those bubbles in the crumb?
That is from the fermenting process, fromletting it sit overtime and the gasses building
up in the gluten.
One thing I love about sourdough is that eachloaf is unique, so they’ll taste similar
and they’ll all have a similar texture butthey’re all going to be totally different
and that’s what’s beautiful about them.
Oh my gosh, the longer you keep the starter,the better the flavor.
So in a few months time, your sourdough willbe even more developed.
It’s beautiful, it’s sour, it’s salty,it has amazing flavor and the texture is fantastic.
And like any great sourdough this has a lovelythick crust, this is absolutely amazing.
So this is just the beginning of our sourdoughjourney, I have lots more to come.
Also make sure you check out the rest of mybread videos and I’ll see you back real
soon.
Wait, isn’t sourdough supposed to be hard? Not with my simplified sourdough bread recipe! Written Instructions: https://bit.ly/SourdoughBreadRecipe **Get the LAST Sourdough Starter Guide You'll Ever Need: https://youtu.be/4wCUJq2gNkU **Watch MORE Bread & Dough Recipe Videos: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL3N53o3RIxHJpifpnmIFfQm_ttOZ-4O9h *BUY my 7 Piece Bakeware Set at a new low price: http://bit.ly/BoldBakeware SUBSCRIBE to our Channel: http://bit.ly/GemmasBoldBakers ABOUT GEMMA Hi Bold Bakers! I’m Gemma Stafford, a professional chef originally from Ireland, and the host of Bigger Bolder Baking. I’m passionate about sharing my years of baking expertise to show you how to bake with confidence anytime, anywhere! Join millions of other Bold Bakers in the community for new videos at 8:30am Pacific Time every Thursday! FOLLOW ME HERE, BOLD BAKERS! * Website (All written recipes can be found here): https://www.BiggerBolderBaking.com * Facebook: https://www.Facebook.com/BiggerBolderBaking * Instagram: https://instagram.com/gemma_stafford/ & https://instagram.com/biggerbolderbaking * Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/BiggerBolderBaking * Twitter: https://twitter.com/gemstaff16 * Shop Bigger Bolder Baking Bakeware: http://bit.ly/BBBakingShop Recipe: https://bit.ly/SourdoughBreadRecipe #sourdough #sourdoughbread #bread