I have a previous post about how I normally bake sourdough, making 4 loaves a week. But here is a basic starter point, just to make one loaf of sourdough bread. My pictures still show 4 loaves. :)
Weekly Schedule
Friday (morning/early afternoon):
Take sourdough starter out of the fridge.
(If you want to make Saturday morning pancakes, you can stir into your sourdough starter the equal parts unbleached flour and warm water for that, i.e. I usually add 180 g flour and 180 g water. I stir it up, put my empty pancake batter bowl on the scale, and measure into that the needed 340 g of sourdough starter. And then I put my sourdough starter back on the scale, tare it--set back to zero, and add my water and flour for the bread I plan to bake.)
Add 50 g warm water and 50 g unbleached flour to starter.
Stir well and leave lightly covered on the counter. I have a little round silicone lid that sits lightly on top of my jar.
Position a rubber band around the jar at the height of the starter, so that you can see when it rises to double that height.
If it's cold in my house, sometimes I will preheat my oven just for one minute, then turn it off and leave my sourdough sitting in the oven with the light on to help it rise. Note: I did almost lose my starter when I forgot about this and preheated my oven to 400 with my starter still inside...
Optional Pancake Schedule:
Friday night:
Mix 1 1/2 batches of Classic Sourdough Pancakes. Leave on counter overnight. Cook pancakes Saturday morning according to recipe. (Note: This will require 340 g -- 1 1/2 cups -- sourdough discard.)
Friday night:
If my starter has risen to double the original height, it's ready to mix into bread.
In a large mixing bowl, measure:
50 g sourdough starter
Add 350 g warm water (should feel warm/tepid to touch, not hot!)
Add 9 g salt
Add 500 g bread flour.
Mix thoroughly, using the skinny end of a wooden spoon or a Danish whisk, combine and cut together all the ingredients until you have a shaggy dough and no flour pockets or soupy, watery areas.
Cover with plastic wrap or a lid, and let sit for 10 min.
Then, with clean hands, pull the bottom of the dough up and over the top, stretching from all sides and tucking it in the middle to incorporate the remaining unmixed flour, until the dough is uniform texture. Flip upside down, and cover again to rise overnight.
Saturday morning:
Dough should rise and puff to look like this in the morning:
Lightly flour counter. Dump the dough onto the counter and fold each side inward on itself.
Flip upside down. Tuck the ends underneath to form a smooth ball. Set on floured counter and leave for 30-60 minutes. (Photos are still showing four loaves at a time.)
After 30 minutes:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. (Optional: Put Dutch oven in the oven to preheat as well.)
When oven is hot:
Tuck dough snuggly underneath to make a smooth, firm sphere. Place into Dutch oven with smooth side up, on a piece of parchment paper. Cut 3 slashes on top (I use kitchen shears). Cover with lid and put in oven.
Remove bread to wire rack. Let cool at least one hour before slicing.
(To slice, I cut a loaf in half lengthwise, then set cut side down and slice into pieces through the crusty end.)
Any bread that is not eaten on the day it is baked, I put into a ziplock bag in the freezer. Thaw on counter overnight.
