Angie's Easy Boule (single)

Tools in order of importance:

KITCHEN SCALE: I highly recommend getting a kitchen scale to measure out the ingredients by weight! Measuring by volume is just not good for baking sourdough.

BENCH SCRAPER: There really isn't a great substitute for this. Sourdough is VERY sticky and you're going to want a way to move it around. You can probably get by with wet hands for pre-shape, and shaping directly in the bowl, but you're going to hate it, especially if you're not experienced at shaping.

DUTCH OVEN: You don't need Le Creuset or anything fancy. Lodge or cheaper is totally fine as long as the handle is metal, and as long as it's bigger than 5 quarts, it should work. You caaaan bake on a pizza stone or a tray, but the steam created inside a dutch oven is important for allowing the crust to stay soft while it expands rapidly in the oven, and that's how you get a big puffy loaf. If you do not want to invest in a Dutch oven, you can look up how to make sourdough without a Dutch oven for ways to get around it. But also... a Dutch oven is really useful anyways!

2-QUART CLEAR PLASTIC TUB WITH STRAIGHT SIDES AND A LID: I like my Cambro. Not strictly necessary but it will really help you with knowing when bulk ferment should end because you'll see exactly when the dough doubles! FYI if you want to bake two loaves per batch, you'll want a bigger container.

BANNETON PROOFING BASKET: Optional, because you could use a smooth kitchen cloth over a mixing bowl. But a banneton is really nice because as long as it's thoroughly dusted with rice flour, the dough rarely sticks.

BAKER’S LAMÉ: For scoring. Totally optional if you have a really sharp knife. If you're feeling frisky!

This recipe makes one loaf, is easy to work with, and usually produces a reasonably open crumb with good oven spring as long as your starter is healthy and happy. This is not a recipe tuned for a perfect loaf with holes the size of dimes but it’s what I use, adapted from Ken Forkish with extra tips thrown in about things I learned the hard way (rice flour… wetting the lamé… using parchment paper… knowing when to end bulk ferment, etc). If you want to bake two loaves at once or bake whole wheat, there are many recipes online you can try as well!

Directions

440g bread flour

330g water

8g salt

100g starter

Rice flour

Parchment paper

Your starter should have been fed 4-8 hours ago and have doubled—it should look bubbly and happy rather than stale and flat or runny. For best results, you should catch it on the rise, right as it doubles. And measure out your ingredients using a kitchen scale!

1. Autolyse: Mix just the bread flour and water thoroughly (it will be shaggy at first but you can get in there with your hand until it’s all incorporated) in your clear plastic tub and let it sit for an hour. Then add the starter and salt and mix, making sure to pinch the salt and starter into the dough so it's smushed in as much as possible.

2. Stretch & Fold: Wet your hand. Grab one side of the dough and pull it towards you, shaking gently, until the dough is stretched out. Fold it over itself. Turn the bowl 90 degrees and do the same thing. Do this until you've stretched and folded the dough on all four sides.

Put the lid loosely on the tub, and let the dough rest for 30 minutes. Do the 4 stretch and folds again (wetting your hands to make the dough less sticky)! Do this at intervals of 30 minutes, six times total. You should notice the dough becoming more and more cohesive each time, leaving less crud on your hands.

4. Bulk Ferment: The time it takes to ferment differs with kitchen temperature and how vigorous your starter is. I usually like to let my dough roughly double here, so I go to the 1 qt (or halfway) mark on the tub with this recipe, which usually takes 3-6 more hours, and I also check and make sure there are lots of bubbles visible on the bottom. The dough should be lively and jiggly, with some big bubbles on the top.

5. Pre-shape: Dump out the dough on the counter (do not flour or wet your counter!). Lightly wet the bench scraper and your hands, and quickly slide the bench scraper under one side of the dough and scoot it in and around in a quarter turn, cupping the dough gently with your hand. Keep doing this until your dough starts getting really round like a bun! (If you need visuals, look up "the last preshaping sourdough tutorial you ever need" on Youtube.)

This is the pre-shape. Let the dough rest and relax for 20 minutes. You should notice that the skin has lots of bubbles in it if it's properly fermented (if you let it double, it should be).

6. While the dough is resting on the counter, if you have a banneton, dust the banneton liberally with rice flour. If you have just a smooth kitchen cloth over a big mixing bowl, rub rice flour LIBERALLY into that cloth. Normal flour does not work! Normal flour will make your dough stick to the container!!!

7. Shape: Sprinkle some normal bread flour on your counter and on top of your dough. Slide the bench scraper under your dough (you can use a turning motion like in the pre-shape) and quickly flip it onto the floured surface. The floured part should be on the counter, and its sticky belly side should be up, looking kind of like a pancake. Pull the bottom section of the pancake up into the air and fold it over the middle, about halfway. Pull the left section up into the air and fold it over the middle, again halfway. Then the right section, and then the top section, like you’re folding a piece of paper into an envelope. (If you need visuals, look up "the last sourdough bread shaping tutorial you will ever need" on Youtube.)

It should be a compact little package at this point, like a super fat burrito. Then fold the burrito in half so it's really cute and round, and roll it until it’s seam side down. Use your bench scraper to gently turn and round it again like you did in the pre-shape until it’s VERY plump and smooth, then lift this precious dumpling up with the bench scraper, and flip it into your bowl or banneton, with the seam (messy) side up.

8. Proof: Let the precious bub proof, loosely covered, on the counter for 2-3 hours, or in the fridge overnight for up to 12 hours if it’s late and you want to go to bed. You want to start preheating your oven to 475 degrees with the empty Dutch oven in it about half an hour before you're ready to bake, so when I proof on the counter I usually like to wait about a couple hours and then turn my oven on. Your mileage may vary when it comes to the number of hours to let it proof, depending on your kitchen temperature. To know whether the dough is ready to bake, you want to sprinkle it with flour or cornmeal so your skin doesn’t stick, and poke your finger about a half-inch into the dough for a couple of seconds. If it springs back quickly, it's not ready. If it fills in slowly and leaves a small indentation, it's ready. If it doesn't fill in at all and the dough seems saggy and slack, it might be overproofed and you gotta bake it asap!

9. Score: Prep some parchment paper on the counter and get a sharp knife, razor blade, or baker's lamé wet and ready (the wetness will keep it from sticking to the dough)! Gently flip the bread onto the parchment paper so that the seam side is down. Then, quickly score it. I like to draw a big circle on the top of the dough, cutting the dough at a shallow angle with the knife, about a half-inch deep. Don't cut straight down into the dough, try to hold the knife at an angle like you're trying to slice a rotten part off an apple.

One common mistake beginners make when scoring is being very ginger about it because they don't want to hurt the precious bub. The trick is... not so deep that you're trying to carve a piece off or stab it to death, not so shallow that you're just giving the dough a paper cut, but enough to MAKE IT BLEED!! GOUGE THAT DOUGH! GIVE THAT DOUGH A SCAR FOR LIFE! THIS DOUGH IS A MASOCHIST!

You can look up scoring techniques if you want to try some cool designs.

10. Bake: Take the hot Dutch oven out of the oven and open the lid, and put the parchment paper with the loaf in the Dutch oven. Put the lid back on the Dutch oven and return it to the 475 degree oven.

11. Bake at 475 degrees with the lid on for 20 minutes, then take the lid off and lower the temperature to 450 degrees and bake for 25 minutes.

12. Cool: Take the Dutch oven out, take the bread out, and put it on a rack to cool for AT LEAST TWO HOURS. Don't be impatient! It's going to be gross and gummy on the inside if you don't wait because the crumb is still cooking on the inside.

13. Now you are ready to eat your loaf! Slice into it to see how the crumb looks! ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

Troubleshooting

1. If the loaf is super flat like a pancake... (⌣_⌣”) That's ok. It happens!

A) Did you use the right flour? Bread flour from a reputable source (King Arthur, Bob's Red Mill) is best for this recipe. If you subbed cake flour or self-raising flour, it's not going to work because the protein/gluten percentage will be too low. Whole wheat or rye will also require some adjustments. AP is going to be more slack than bread flour, so you probably won't get as much rise, but it should be okay.

B) Is your starter strong and healthy? Put a rubber band around your starter's initial level after a feed and watch it grow! You should try to use your starter the moment it has doubled, and you should be feeding your starter regularly to stimulate the cultures. If you're bringing your starter out from the fridge, I'd recommend giving it a day or two of feeding on the counter before trying to bake with it, because it’ll be sleepy at first.

C) Your dough may have been overproofed or underproofed. If your dough was puffy and bubbly at some point but then got soupy by the time you plopped it in the Dutch oven, it was overproofed and you should shorten your bulk ferment or proof time next time.

If your dough was never puffy or bubbly at any point, it was probably underproofed and you should let bulk fermentation or proof go on for a longer period. Be patient!! Also, like I mentioned above, get a straight-sided clear container for the dough. It's helpful for knowing when bulk fermentation is done because you should be able to see that it's puffed up a lot, slightly domed on top, and bubbly on the sides. The dough won't double in every recipe depending on what flour you're using, but for my recipe, doubling is usually a reliable indicator that it's ready to pre-shape and shape.

2. There is a big cavern in the middle... (⌣_⌣”) That's ok. It happens! I'm guessing your crumb inside is really tight (super small holes) aside from the cavern. Your dough is almost definitely underproofed or your starter is weak.

A) Did you let bulk fermentation go on long enough that the dough is doubled or at least very puffy, jiggly, and bubbly? Big cavernous holes with tight, dense, gummy crumb everywhere else is a sign of underfermentation or underproofing.

B) Is your starter strong and healthy? Put a rubber band around your starter's initial level after a feed and watch it grow! You should try to use your starter the moment it has doubled, and you should be feeding your starter regularly to stimulate the cultures. Again, if you're bringing your starter out from the fridge, I'd recommend giving it a day or two of feeding on the counter before trying to bake with it.