High Hydration Sourdough Loaf

Feed a sourdough starter 4-12 hours before making your bread. The time it takes a starter to double in size and become active and bubbly depends on factors such as temperature and the maturity of your starter. 

Combine the flour and warm water in a mixing bowl. I find using a dough whisk works best for this. 

Allow this mixture to rest for 30 minutes. This is called autolyse, the process of hydrating the flour. 

After the autolyse, add in the sourdough starter by dimpling it in with wet hands. 

Sprinkle the top of the dough with salt. 

Use your hands to mix the dough until it comes together. This takes about 5 minutes. Cover the dough with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and allow another 30 minute rest. 

This is a no knead recipe. So, for gluten development, perform 6 rounds of stretch and folds. 

With the dough in a large bowl, grab the edge of the dough and firmly pull up, stretching it upwards. Place the dough into the center of the dough ball. Give the bowl a quarter turn and do this same process again. Repeat this one to two times. This is considered one round of stretch and folds. Repeat according to the directions below. 

First 3 stretch and folds – every 15 minutes. Last 3 stretch and folds – every 30 minutes.

To ensure a beautiful rise and airy crumb, the dough will need to bulk ferment until doubled.

To do this, cover the dough with a wet towel or plastic wrap to avoid a crust forming. This process may not take as long to ferment as other doughs. Keep an eye on it!

Add a little bit of flour to a work surface. 

Gently take your dough out of the bowl. Be extra careful with a high hydration loaf! 

Shape it into a ball by creating surface tension. To do this, gently spin it towards you. 

Let it sit out 15-20 minutes uncovered. This time around, you want the dough to form a crust so it won't stick to the banneton basket or tea towel during the overnight rise. 

Turn over and shape. I do this by folding the two sides over to meet in the middle, and then the other two sides.

Transfer to a floured banneton or bowl with a tea towel, seam side up, smooth side down. Cover with plastic and proof 12-15 hours in the refrigerator.

Before removing your bread from the fridge, preheat your oven to 500 degrees F for 1 hour. 

Right before this hour is up, remove your dough from the fridge. Dust the top with flour and score using a razor blade or scoring lame.

Sprinkle the bottom of the Dutch oven with flour or use a piece of parchment paper. Transfer the dough to the Dutch oven. 

Bake for 20 minutes at 500 F degrees with the lid on.

Take the lid off, turn the oven temperature down to 475 F, and bake an additional 25 minutes or until browned. To ensure your bread is done, use a kitchen thermometer to test the temperature. Sourdough should be around 205 F degrees. 

Carefully take your finished loaf out of the oven. After cooling for a few minutes, take your bread out of the Dutch oven and place on a wire rack to finish cooling. 

Allow your bread to cool completely before slicing into it.