I’m so proud of this last loaf I’ve made, as it turned out just how I wanted it to, and way better than my expectations 😊

You will need: 
Large bowl
Cast iron Dutch oven 
Mature sourdough starter

Ingredients:
500g unbleached flour
300g lukewarm water
100g starter
10g salt

Instructions:
In a large bowl, measure out your flour and salt, mix them to combine then add your starter and water. 

Mix until roughly combined, with no dry flour remaining. Let sit covered for 30 minutes. 

With a wet hand, grab gently under the dough mass, pulling it slowly upwards until tight. Fold the stretched portion onto the top of the rest of the dough. Repeat until the dough begins to lift from the bowl. You may need to re-wet your hand again, and grab half of the dough. In one motion, pick up the dough and fold it in half, with the smooth rounded side facing you. Continue until the dough becomes more elastic and tight, or until you first see tears form across the surface. Cover the dough and let rest for 30 minutes before repeating. 

After your second gluten strength building step, let the dough sit in a warm place to rise nearly double. 

When doubled or close to double in size, gently scrape the dough out while flipping your bowl as to not flatten the dough. Get the dough out of the bowl with the top side lying flat on a generously floured surface. Gently grab under the dough (with the flour, it should feel much bouncier, as it won’t stick to you) and pull carefully, so the dough is in a rough square shape. Fold it like a poster board, and then from one side, roll it, tucking gently into the rest of the dough. It should feel like you are making a fluffy cinnamon bun. Crease off the ends so it looks nice, and rises how it should (also will retain moisture better). You can also gently form it into a boule shape if you’d like. Place it on a floured piece of parchment and cut to fit your Dutch oven. 

Let the dough rise as you preheat your oven and a cast iron Dutch oven to 450*F. Any small decorative scores should be done now, as they will not open once heated in the Dutch oven. 

Once heated, remove the Dutch oven, and carefully place your dough inside (burns suck, don’t go fast), cover, and place back in the oven for 7 minutes. 

Remove from the oven again, taking off the lid. Make your large score for your oven spring, replace the lid, and put it back in the oven for 30 minutes (I recommend you spray the top with water, using a food safe mister/spray bottle). 

Remove the lid with the Dutch oven still in the oven, and keep baking for another 10 minutes or until you reach your desired crust color/texture. 

Carefully remove the bread from the Dutch oven and get it onto a cooling rack. If the parchment sticks at all, you should be able to just pull it off without any paper getting stuck (I’ve tried ice cubes for moisture in the rise, but ended up with parchment in my bread).

Let it cool until it is warm if you would like to eat it right away. It should fully cool so that it is room temp before cutting if you want it to last longer, retaining its moisture. 

Enjoy! 

And more importantly, be safe and have fun. :)

PS. This is my 11th attempt so far, with results getting better and more consistent as I went! You can do it to as long as you have faith in yourself and your billions of yeast friends. 



Now this is what perfection looks and tastes like to me!!