Jananet's Sourdough Bread

Ingredients

Method

1. 1. Mix the starter and water Put the water and starter in your bowl together and whisk until frothy and bubbly. You're spreading the starter evenly through the water so it reaches every part of the dough instead of sitting in lumps.
2. 2. Add the flour, and rest Tip in the flour and mix with your hands or a dough whisk until there are no dry patches. It will be shaggy, sticky and rough — that's right, so don't keep working it. Sprinkle the salt on top but leave it there for now. Cover with a damp tea towel and rest 30 minutes. This is the autolyse: the flour drinks up the water and gluten starts forming on its own.
3. 3. Work in the salt Wet your hands and mix the salt through — stretch, squeeze and fold until you can't feel any grit. The dough will tighten noticeably. Cover and rest another 30 minutes.
4. 4. Folds — stretch, then coil Over the next 2 to 3 hours you'll build the strength that holds the loaf up. Start with stretch and folds: lift the dough from one edge, stretch it upwards, fold it back over itself, then turn the bowl a quarter and repeat until you've been all the way round. That's one round. Do 3 or 4 of them, spaced 30 to 60 minutes apart. Once the dough is smoother and starting to hold its shape, switch to coil folds for the last 2 or 3 rounds: lift the dough from the middle and let it tuck under itself, so it ends up rounded with the seams tightening underneath. Honestly, do them whenever you walk past. It's forgiving.
5. 5. Bulk fermentation Now leave it to rise. You want about a 40% increase in volume — and don't let it go past 50%. Over-fermented dough goes slack and bakes flat, so err on the early side. Look for a smoother, puffier dough with some bubbles showing. Timing swings hugely with kitchen temperature, so use the table below as a guide and trust the dough over the clock.
6. 6. Laminate and shape Tip the dough gently onto the bench. First laminate: stretch it out into a large rectangle, which opens the crumb and lines the gluten up. Then shape straight from that rectangle — fold the left and right sides into the middle so they overlap slightly, then roll it from top to bottom like a sausage, tightening as you go. A few gentle coil folds seal the seams. Now place it into a lightly floured banneton SEAM SIDE DOWN — the seam sits on the bottom of the basket, so it ends up on top when you tip the loaf out to score it.
7. 7. Cold fermentation Cover and refrigerate. 24 hours minimum for good flavour, 24 to 72 hours is the sweet spot, and it keeps up to 6 days well covered. Longer means more flavour.
8. 8. Heat the oven as hot as it goes Put your Dutch oven inside, lid on, and preheat to 240°C. Give it a full 30 minutes once up to temperature — you want the cast iron properly loaded with heat, not just the air around it. Meanwhile put the banneton in the freezer. The firmer and colder the dough gets, the cleaner your scoring will be.
9. 9. Score, and in it goes Tip the loaf out of the banneton and score it confidently — one decisive cut is better than several timid ones, and it tells the loaf where to open. Get it into the screaming-hot Dutch oven, drop 2 or 3 ice cubes down the side (not on the loaf), and get the lid on fast. That burst of steam is what gives you a properly crisp, blistered crust.
10. 10. Bake with the lid on Turn the oven down to 220°C and bake for 30 minutes with the lid on. The trapped steam keeps the crust soft just long enough for the loaf to spring up to full height.
11. 11. Lid off, finish and colour Take the lid off, drop to 200°C, and bake another 25 to 30 minutes. Keep an eye on it — ovens run hot and you may need to come down to 180°C. You're after two things: deep colour on the crust, and a loaf that's genuinely cooked through rather than gummy in the middle. Err on longer if you're unsure. Cool it completely before slicing.