I have a new sourdough recipe that is great for beginners. This is a look at the finished bread:

An image of two sourdough breads

I have stripped away some of the techniques used when baking the best possible sourdough bread to make a recipe that I think will suit beginners really well.

Ingredients Link to heading

For two loaves

  • 1000g wheat flour
  • 225g sifted rye flour (or some other flour with a lot of flavour)
  • 22.5g salt
  • 225g Active sourdough starter (mine is 50% wheat-based, 50% whole-grain-based)
  • 750g water

Recipe Link to heading

In a large bowl, mix all dry ingredients.

Mix in sourdough starter and water. Mix until there are no dry bits left. The dough does not have to be homogenous or “nice looking”.

Let it rest for about an hour. Do a stretch n fold. Let it rest for 30 more minutes. Another stretch n fold. And let it rest for another 30 minutes.

After that, do the window pane test to see if the dough is stretchy enough. If it fails to pass the test. Do another set of stretch n folds and wait 30 minutes.

At this point the dough should not be too sticky, it should be a bit more like classic bread where the dough is somewhat smooth and supple.

Shape the dough into your prefered shape and put them to rest in proofing, wrapped in a baking towel. Put the baskets in the fridge for at least 8 hours. I usually do this over night or from morning until evening. I usually put plastic film over the baskets as well to perserve some moisture.

Before taking out the bread, set the oven to 250 degrees celsius. Put in a heat-resistant bowl (or metallic plate or whatever) filled with water on the bottom of the oven. Make sure it is not terribly expensive as it could deform a bit. Once the oven reaches 250 degrees, make sure that the water is boiling and steaming the oven.

Put the unbaked loaves on a baking tray, slice them with a lamb or razor blade or really sharp knife, then put the baking tray in the oven. Bake the bread for roughly 30-40 minutes with the steam tray in. Then take out the steaming tray and reduce the heat to 200 degrees celsius. Continue baking the bread until they reach an inner temperature of 97 degrees celsius.

Take out the bread and put it on a cooling rack and wait for an hour or two for the bread to cool down.

Finished! Enjoy it with your favourite butter and cheese.