Dutch Oven Sourdough Bread

This recipe is easy and you get a perfect loaf of sourdough. This is the basic recipe but you could add cheeses or herbs to create a variety of flavors. It does call for a small amount of yeast in addition to the sourdough starter. By adding the yeast and less sourdough starter than many recipes you don’t get the overwhelming sour flavor. My starter is very well seasoned (old!) and has a strong flavor. Not everyone in the family cares for a strong flavor but we like the bread to have the fluffy interior and crispy exterior. It also calls for milk and water. Again this is something I began doing through experimentation. I wanted a richer flavor and texture than I was getting from water alone.
Baking sourdough in a Dutch oven yields moist bread with a soft crumb and crispy crust.

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Dutch Oven Sourdough Bread

Prep Time:

30 min + approx 12 hours rise time

Cook Time:

1 hour

Serves:

1 loaf - 16 slices

Ingredients

Ingredients:

Equipment

· Heavy Dutch Oven with Lid or Cast Iron Dutch Oven with Lid

· Parchment Paper

Bread:

¼ cup (60g) sourdough starter

1 cup (350g) warm water (95º to 100º F)

1/8 t dry yeast

2/3 cup (85g) warm milk (95º to 100º F)

4 ¼ cups (500g) bread flour

2 teaspoons (9g) sea salt

Preparation

1. In a small bowl, add yeast and warm milk. Let sit 10 minutes until it becomes a little frothy.

2. In a large bowl, add the starter. Mix in warm water and milk/yeast mixture. Stir until dissolved. Add bread flour and salt. Stir with a dough whisk or wooden spoon until a thick, shaggy dough forms. Wet your hands, and finish mixing dough by hand. Cover with a clean, damp kitchen towel and let the dough rest for 30 minutes.

3. Lightly flour your countertop. Gently coax the dough from the bowl onto the countertop and stretch and fold the dough for 15 seconds. Grab part of the dough, stretch it out about 4 inches and push it into the center of the dough, Then, turn the dough 1/4 a turn. Pull, stretch, push and turn in a clockwise rotation. Continue needing for 8-10 minutes. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with a damp towel, and let rise overnight (at least 8-10 hours) on the countertop or an area that is between 70º and 75ºF degrees. Do not refrigerate the dough overnight.

4. In the morning, lightly flour your counter-top and shape the dough by stretching and folding it again. Let the dough rest 10 minutes. Line a medium bowl with a towel or use a banneton with linen cover, and dust heavily with flour. Let dough rise in it for 45 – 60 minutes.

5. Preheat your oven to 450º. Spray inside of Dutch Oven with non-stick spray. The dutch oven does not need to be preheated.

6. Cover the dough bowl with a two long pieces of parchment paper (cross them to make X), and turn it over onto the counter top. Slash the top of the loaf with a lame or sharp serrated knife. Gently lower the parchment paper dough into the dutch oven with a tight-fitting lid.

7. Put the covered dutch oven in the preheated oven. Bake the bread covered for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake 20 minutes. Using oven mitts, carefully remove the bread from the dutch oven and bake it directly on the oven rack for 5-10 minutes to crisp the exterior.

8. Lightly butter the top while still warm.

Notes:

· Let cool for at least one hour before cutting. I usually can’t but you should.

· Store sourdough bread at room temperature in a bag for up to 5 days.

· Bake sourdough bread without a cast iron dutch oven, A heavy oven-safe pot with a lid will work. Use one that is about 9″ to 10″ in diameter and 6″ high.

· This recipe calls for kneading by hand. A mixer with dough hook could also be used. I just enjoy kneading by hand and think I get better results.