WELL...this is a game changer. If you have been following the sourdough craze throughout COVID, you will know a few words like, autolyse, levain, poolish, starter, ear, that leave you cold when it comes to bread baking. You probably feel your eyes roll back in your head, elect to pass, flick to the next recipe, am I right?
I have had a fantastic sourdough recipe on this site for ages from the amazing Gina at The Passionate Pantry and her recipe in fact led me to this even simpler version. The more I broke it down, the more I realised that natural yeast or commercial yeast perform exactly the same function, the natural yeast just takes longer to rise and needs a gentler hand.
Thus the birth of the Lazy Sourdough Loaf. I should trademark it right? I think if you start here, (assuming you have a starter of course) then you are going to have immediate success and be on the road to those amazing artisanal loaves you have been seeing everywhere. This loaf is not exactly one of those, but is deliciously sour, has a great crumb for toasting or spreading with all sorts of deliciousness and will be very functional in a family situation where you want to make bread frequently so that you are eating only sourdough in your household.
I hope you enjoy this loaf and the course. If you are not signed up to the Lazy Sourdough Bakery Course, hit the LINK and get on it. This is just one of the many recipes and videos to turn you into a sourdough pro.
Notes on Proofing
A bunch of things are happening during the overnight proof. The yeast are feeding off of the starches in the flour and multiplying, creating lots of helpful by-products. Carbon dioxide creates those beautiful air bubbles, alcohol makes the bread more flavourful. The gluten chains in the dough are also repairing and swelling, capturing the gasses and giving the bread its structure. So if you notice a fun doming of your plastic wrap in the morning, that's just the yeast partying hard.
Notes on Pull and Fold
Gluten has already started to develop during the proofing stage—you'll notice that without any additional mixing, the dough is already stretchier and more cohesive without even touching it. Stretching and folding the dough helps encourage the gluten proteins to form longer and more robust chains, capturing even more of that gassy goodness and lending a beautiful crumb structure to your dough. We also give it time to rest and form those new gluten chains between each turn.
Notes on Pre-Heating and Dutch Ovens
I have played around a few times with the heat in my oven and had the best success when I preheated it to 275°C which is as hot as I can get it. I then do the first cook with the lid on the cast iron pot, remove the lid for the remainder of the cook and turn the oven down to 220-250°C depending on how dark you want your crust. You may not have an oven that will get that hot. Using a Dutch Oven will help you get a hotter cooking environment and you should certainly invest if you don't already have one.
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Need
- 100 Grams Sourdough starter, straight from the fridge
- 340 Grams filtered water
- 560 Grams bakers or strong flour
- 8 Grams pink salt flakes BUY
Do
- 1
Place all ingredients into the Thermomix bowl and blend 10 sec/speed 6.
- 2
Tip out into an oiled bowl, cover and leave for approximately 18 hours or until doubled. If it is summer, this make take less time.
- 3
When you are ready to form the loaf, decide which shape you will make. We used a banneton to proof the loaf again. Loads of rice flour which helps prevent stickery. Shape the loaf gently using the pull and fold technique (see the video) and allow it to rise in the banneton until bubbly and you can see that it is ready. This may take up to 4 hours or more.
- 4
Preheat your oven to as hot as it can get for at least an hour. You need to preheat the Dutch oven at the same time. Tip your dough out onto a piece of baking paper. Score as you wish.
- 5
Place the loaf into the heated cast iron Dutch oven using the paper and cover. Bake 25 minutes with lid on, reduce temperature to 220°C and cook further 25 minutes with the lid off.
- 6
Cool completely before slicing. (If you are disciplined enough!)
Served with
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