This, my dear readers is the basic starting point of your first sour dough bread. I will explain every step in detail and only the necessary information to get you started. Are you ready? Lets go. Boule in French refers to a round rustic crusty bread loaf that is typically sourdough or artisan. Consider this as your starting point if you are a desi, specifically from Pakistan or South Asia.
What is Sourdough starter?
Sourdough is a special type of bread that is fermented or raised through non-commercial/industrial yeast called ‘starter’.
This recipe assumes that you have a matured starter ready with you to be used either secured from somewhere or you made it yourself.
Sourdough doesn’t mean that bread is sour in anyway, sure it has hidden notes of slight sourness as an aftertaste but in a pleasant way.
Brief history of Sourdough
Sourdough is not new, it has been around for centuries, it is said that
Egyptians were the first to coin the term as there were communal ovens back then and people had to wait for their turns and the dough meanwhile exposed to the environment would rose beautifully and baked into a risen well-proofed bread often with different decorative patterns to mark their identity.
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Basic ingredients to make Sourdough
Flour – a good quality high protein flour like bread flour, all-purpose will work too and wholewheat flour, rice flour and semolina for dusting
Water – normal drinking water
Salt – Table salt or pink Himalayan salt
If you love making bread at home and not quite ready for sourdough, here are some bread recipes with commercial yeast that will get you started on your bread baking journey. Easy bread recipes.
Basic Sourdough Bread
This, my dear readers is the basic starting point of your first sour dough bread. I will explain every step in detail and only the necessary information to get you started. Are you ready? Lets go. Boule in French refers to a round rustic crusty bread loaf that is typically sourdough or artisan.
Ingredients
- 500 grams Flour - all-purpose or bread , maida, check protein 11-12%
- 50 grams Whole wheat flour , aata
- 11 grams Salt , table or pink Himalayan
- 385 grams Water , room temp
- 110 grams Starter , mature,fed,peaked
- Rice flour , as required
- Semolina (corn meal) , as required
Instructions
DAY 1 - Dough Making Day
Mixing the dough
- In a large bowl, measure 385 grams water, add in 110 grams starter. Visual cue - it will be floating in the water since its fed, matured and peaked.
- Mix lightly with a spatula.
- Add in your 500 grams flour and 50 gram wholewheat flour along with 11 grams salt.
- Mix with spatula or you can use wet hands until a shaggy rough dough is formed with not dry flour visible.
First rest
- Cover and rest it for 30 - 45 mins. 30 minutes in summers in a cooler room and 45 minutes in winters in kitchen (warmer place)
Stretch and Fold
- Perform stretch and fold 3 times every 30 - 45 minutes.
- Ideal room temperature is around 22 degrees Celsius.
- After 4th stretch and fold, leave the dough to rise until it is 30-50% risen. Visual cues are it is non sticky to touch, looks risen and easily pulls off the bowl.
Pre-shape
- Take out the dough on slightly damp surface and using your hands and a bench scraper, put together dough into a smooth tight ball.
- Cover with the same bowl and leave for about 20 minutes.
Prepare the proofing basket
- While your dough is resting, prepare the proofing basket.
- Dust the benetton basket or a plastic bowl twice the size of your dough. with rice flour or regular flour generously.
Final Shape
- Remove the bowl and sprinkle some flour on top of the dough and on sides.
- Take bench scraper and turn it over gently.
- You are using very light fingers and hands so not to deflate the risen dough.
- Stretch and spread gently into a rectangle.
- Gently lift every corner and bring to the center.
- Roll it all and turn it over.
- Lightly rotate the entire shaped dough to make it firm and taut.
- Place it upside down in the prepared bowl or basket.
- Cover and let it rest for 1-2 hours at room temperature before popping it in the fridge for up to 24 hours.
Day 2 - Baking Day
- After 20-24 hours, you are now ready to bake.
- Preheat oven to 450F, if your oven can go till 500F, its even better.
- Place your dutch oven or baking pot/tray inside the oven.
- Take out your puffed sourdough and remove the cover.
- Place a large piece of parchment paper on a cutting board or flat tray.
- Generously spread semolina (rava/suji)
- Turn over your basket on top.
- Place it in the freezer while your oven is preheating.
- Make a slit on the dough to let the steam escape predictably while giving the dough aesthetic look with a sharp razor.
- Once your oven shows the required temperature, carefully take out the Dutch oven, remove the lid, and drop the dough along with parchment, holding it carefully.
- Cover and return back to the oven.
- Bake covered for 20 minutes, remove the lid and bake for another 20-25 minutes until puffed, golden and crispy.
- Remove from the oven, turn the oven off and let it cool.
- Cover if you need a softer crust and cool uncovered if you want a crispy crust.
- Wait for at least 2 hours to slice or better slice it next morning.
Notes
- Extreme caution needs to be taken when handling the oven, use proper oven mittens, read your oven guideline, use external thermometer.
- You can sue a sharp knife to score the bread however if using blade, exercise extreme caution.
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