South-Hill No-Knead Sourdough Bread, Spokane, WA

 

Dutch oven Required

A Dutch oven 2-3/4 quarts or bigger,  9” diameter or bigger should work.  I use something much larger to hold a 9” pie tin.

prep

·        15 minutes

·        Rise: 10 – 12 hours

·        Bake 45 minutes

·        Makes: 1 loaf, 10 servings

iNGREDIENTS

·        3-1/2  cups unbleached all-purpose flour

·        1 teaspoon salt

·        3/4 cup sourdough starter, “fed”

·        1/2  tablespoon corn meal for covering bottom of pie tin and top of loaf.

·        1-1/2 cups water (Brita filtered water preferred)

Steps

·        1. Combine flour, sourdough starter, water and salt in large mixing bowl; mix with rubber or wood spatula until you have a thoroughly mixed, wet, sticky mass of dough.

·        2. Stretch and fold the dough twice at 15 minute intervals.  Place your hand under the dough and lift and stretch the dough and fold over.  Do 4 times turning the dough 1/4 turn each lift and fold.

·        3.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap; let sit at room temperature 10 to 12 hours.  I use a plastic clean used ice cream bucket for a bowl and use the plastic lid instead of the plastic wrap cover.

After at least 12 hours have passed, your dough should look like a sponge, dotted with bubbles and more than doubled in size. 

·        4.  Grease a deep [9”/23cm] pie tin formed to have semi-vertical walls and sprinkle corn meal over the bottom of your pie tin.  This will be the container with which you will set your finished dough inside for the final rise and baking inside the Dutch oven.

·        5    Using your flour sifter, dust your counter or a nice clean surface with flour.  Scrape the dough loose from the bowl and plop the mass into one piece onto the floured surface. The dough will be loose and sticky. Cover the top of the dough with a dusting of flour as well. Using a bread scraper, gently fold the dough in the flour making a nice smooth ball and drop it into the pie tin placed on the counter to rise. Make sure your Dutch oven is larger than the pie tin carrying the dough and is tall enough for the dough to double in height.

This extra step removes the need to handle the dough after the rising.  This makes the loaf easier to cut by having a lighter crust like the one in the following photo:

      

·        6.  I place a large deep plastic popcorn bowl over the dough filled tin and let the dough rise for 2 hours.  Once your dough has risen, score the top of the dough with a knife to allow the dough to have steam vents.  You can be as artistic as you want being careful to not score it too much causing the dough to lose volume.  Sprinkle the top with cornmeal if you wish to have it on the crust.

·        7.  1 1/2 hours into the rising, place your Dutch oven on the middle rack of your oven and heat to 475 to 500 degrees F/ 250 to 260 degrees C. 

·        8.  After a half hour of pre-heating, remove the Dutch oven from the oven and place on your stove top.  Remove the lid and carefully place your dough in the Dutch oven and place the lid back on top.

·        9.  Return the Dutch oven back into the oven and bake for 35 minutes.

·        10.  After 35 minutes remove the cover and allow the bread to brown for 10 to 15 minutes depending on how dark you wish the crust.  I find 12 minutes works the best for me.

 

·        11.  Remove the Dutch oven from the oven and carefully remove the tin/loaf.

 

·        12.  Remove the loaf from the tin and place on a cooling rack.  Allow the bread to cool for 45 minutes to an hour before slicing.