A Sourdough I am Happy With

I have baked many loaves of bread that you will never see. I've eaten them all to remind myself of what not to do the next time. They are not horrible but they aren't perfect. I strive for excellence in all regards and I'm happy to say that I have finally nailed down my technique for a sourdough that I'm pleased with. Why settle for anything less than something you can be proud of?

The way I made this sourdough is not one I could find anyone else utilizing. Because I like my sourdough to actually taste sour this bread was a three day process for me. I started with about 2 cups of my cultured wild starter in a large bowl and I added enough water and flour to double it. This sat and fermented for around 6 hours at which point I added enough flour to make the mixture into a runny dough. Very sticky and far too loose to work with. I used a butter knife to mix the dough and encourage gluten formation. I did this every few hours until my day was over and then the dough sat over night. In the morning I added a little more flour and continued the process. I did this until I had a dough that was the consistency I wanted. Tacky and somewhat wet dough that would stick to my hands if left to do so but could be worked if I moved quickly. This dough went into my cast iron Dutch oven to rise for a full 24 hours.

To bake this bread I started with the oven cold and placed the Dutch oven inside with the cover on. I used low heat (around 275F) for a long time and checked it every 20 minutes or so until the bread pulled itself from the walls of the Dutch oven. Taking the lid off I baked the bread until it started to turn golden brown and then turned the loaf out onto the rack of the oven and shut the heat off. I let the bread and oven cool until they were just warm and then I enjoyed my delicious and flavorful homemade sourdough.

It doesn't look half bad either.