How To Make a Basic Sourdough Boule
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Sourdough bread is the best food on the planet.
Of course, that’s just my opinion, but think about it:
What other food can you make—create, basically—from just 2-3 ingredients. And alter the texture, flavor, volume to your own liking. All just by leaving it alone on your countertop.
See what I mean?
Of course, there are many other wonderful benefits to sourdough bread, but my point here is that it’s virtually effortless.
With a little bit of knowledge and understanding, you can learn to make bread that is better than anything you can buy at the supermarket.
It takes time—mainly hands-off time—but once you become familiar with the process, it can fit smoothly into your routine however you want it to.
How To Make Sourdough Bread
Sourdough Starter
To make sourdough bread, you need a sourdough starter. If you don’t already have one, you can make your own in just one week. Grab my free guide to making your own sourdough starter here.
After you’ve made your starter, you need to maintain it.
Maintaining Your Starter
You have two options for maintaining your sourdough starter:
1.) Keep the starter in your fridge and feed it once a week.
2.) Keep the starter at room temperature and feed it every 12-24 hours, depending on the ambient temperature of your home.
Before you feed the starter, discard at least half of it. You can throw out the discard, give it away, or pop it in the fridge to use later in recipes that call for discard.
Read more about maintaining your starter in How to Care for Your Sourdough Starter.
Preparing Your Starter for Baking
Prep your starter for baking by building a leaven. For this bread, I build a leaven that is equal parts starter, flour, and water. Specifically, I use 75 grams of ripe starter, 75 grams flour, 75 grams water. Leave the leaven to sit in a warm place for a few hours.
Three Signs Your Leaven Is Ready:
1.) Lots of bubbles in the starter
2.) A starter that doubles 6-8 hours after feeding
3.) Starter that passes the float test. Drop a small blob of starter into a glass of water and see if it floats.
For more about building leaven, read Building A Sourdough Leaven.
And now, how about a recipe for baking bread.
A Basic Sourdough Boule
I developed my Basic Sourdough Boule recipe over the last couple of years, and I’m happy to share it with you. It’s a basic set-it-and-forget it type of bread. All the work is done up front, within the first 15 minutes, then the dough is abandoned on the counter for at least 12 hours.
There’s no autolyze, no turn and fold, no lamination. If you’re new to sourdough, those terms are probably unfamiliar to you, and this bread is a great place to start.
If you’ve been around sourdough for a while, this recipe is great to keep handy for those days you want to make bread but can’t hang near the kitchen for all the intermediary steps.
The yield is a soft crumb with a tender crust and a tangy flavor. I hope you enjoy, and if you bake this bread, I would love, love, love to see your results.
Basic Boule
Ingredients
For the leaven:
75 grams ripe sourdough starter
75 grams all-purpose flour (unbleached)
75 grams filtered water
For the dough:
750 grams all-purpose flour
20 grams sea salt
225 grams sourdough leaven
350 grams water
60 grams honey
43 grams butter, melted and cooled slightly*
Preparation
To build the leaven:
6-8 hours before you are ready to make the dough, in a small bowl, stir together the starter and water to form a slurry. Add the flour and mix well. Cover and allow to ferment at room temperature.
To build the dough:
In a large bowl: Combine flour and salt, then make a well in the center.
In a small bowl: Combine water and leaven, stirring until no streaks remain. Add the honey and butter and stir to combine. *Melted butter should cool slightly before incorporating so not to scald the leaven.
Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients, and mix together thoroughly with a wooden spoon or by hand until a rough dough forms.
Knead the dough in the bowl for a few minutes. It will be shaggy, a combination of both sticky and dry.
Let the dough rest in the bowl for 5 minutes, then knead on a lightly floured surface for 3 minutes.
Rest 2 more minutes, then knead another 2 minutes until the dough is soft and smooth.
Return the dough to the bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Ferment at room temperature for 12 hours or until doubled in size.
Divide in half and shape into a boule.
Place shaped loaves on a greased baking sheet and dust with flour. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel.
Allow dough to rest 1-2 hours, or until poofed slightly.
Slash the dough with a sharp knife, then bake at 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes.
Cool before slicing.
