Simple Sour Dough Bread
When the kids were little, I baked all of our own bread. I admit that during those first years my bread was pretty tough. I used “The Tassajara Bread Book” as my basis and then I purchased my first Kitchen Aid mixer to knead the dough. That changed everything. Over months I learned how to get my bread to rise better even though it was mostly whole wheat. Then I started to bake even more exciting breads, such as Challah and chocolate filled bread. After years of kneading bread by hand and then by machine, I found a “no knead” recipe. It was an exciting experience, being the doubter that I am, but it turned out pretty good. Then I decided to use my Biga, or sour dough starter, which I use to make Focaccia, and to use no yeast. The result… crunchy, moist, chewy, delicious sourdough, that’s easy to make. But you need to start your Biga at least a few days ahead unless you keep it activated over months, which is what I do in order to attain the sourdough flavor that we crave. And you need to start the dough a day ahead. It’s well worth the no-knead ease. And it’s flavor and texture rival any sourdough bread purchased from you favorite bakery.
This is a simple recipe and takes a few days to make. Because there is no kneading, the dough must rest over night. Because I don't add yeast, but use a starter or biga, the process begins a week ahead. It's worth it though, and the actual time and effort you will put in is much less. It's easy!
- Large dutch oven
- 4 Cups white bread flour
- 1-1/2 cups warm water as if for a baby’s
- 1 cup Biga see focaccia recipe
- 1 tsp sea salt
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Make your Biga a week ahead. Freshen it by adding a few tablespoons of white flour and some warm water to create a watery dough a few days ahead. -
Add the salt to the warm water..
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Mix in the Biga
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Mix in the flour, resulting in a wet, sticky dough. -
Cover the raw dough with a wet cloth or plastic wrap or you will develop a crust. Allow the dough to sit for 12-18 hours in a 70-degree house, in a proofing oven or allow it to sit until the surface of the dough is bubbly. -
Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface. Flour the dough’s surface. If the dough seems too wet and it just sticks to your hands.
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Add additional flour as you knead.
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With floured hands, knead the dough 3-10 times by gently folding the dough over. No tough love here! See the video below. -
Flour a non terry cloth towel heavily. If you don’t flour it enough, the dough will stick and although this won’t harm the baked bread, it will be annoying! -
Carefully lift the kneaded bread and place it in the center of the towel. Flour the top of the bread well.
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Fold the towel loosely and gently over the bread. Allow the bread to rise for 1-1/2 to 2 hours.
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Meanwhile, heat the oven to 450 degrees with the ungreased Dutch oven in it. Make sure the lid is in the oven, but not on top of the pot, because it will smoke… imagine how I know this.
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The dough should have doubled and will not rebound when you press your finger onto its surface. -
Remove the VERY HOT pot from the oven, placing it on a trivet.
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Slip your hand under the cloth and lift the dough. Gently flip the dough into the hot pot. It’s ok to shake the pot lightly to help the dough gather it’s shape. It’s OK if it looks awkward.
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Cover with the HOT lid. Place the covered pot into the 450 degree oven. Set the timer for 30 minutes.
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After 30 minutes, remove the top, and bake for 15 more minutes until grown and crusty. -
Remove the bread from the oven.
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Place on a cooling rack. Let it rest for a 10 minutes and dig in. -
Dig in!
