Sourdough Bread with All-Purpose Flour

Flour Selection
One essential modification in this recipe versus my simple weekday sourdough (which
uses all high protein bread flour), is to slightly reduce the hydration, especially if there
are no whole grains in the recipe. Because all-purpose tends to mix up to a softer, more
slack dough, I find lowering the hydration brings strength and makes for a loaf with
more rise and a crunchier crust.

This recipe is adaptable: use a mix of bread flour and all-purpose or substitute in
some whole wheat or rye flour

Additionally, I cut out the autolyse time for this recipe but if you’d like to bring a little
more strength to this dough and reduce mixing time (which is already minimal!) you
could autolyse for 30 minutes: mix the flour and water in the mixing bowl and let sit,
covered, until your sourdough starter is mature and ready to use. Then, follow the rest
of the process in the Method, below.

Flour note:​ If your “all-purpose” flour is lower in protein than the flour I used, King
Arthur Flour Unbleached All-Purpose at 11.7% protein, you might want to keep an eye
on the hydration as you’re adding water in the mix and add less if the dough feels overly
wet. Also, you might want to do more strengthening of the dough up front, either
through folds in the fold or a more intensive strengthening technique such as ​slap and
fold​..

Sourdough Bread Formulas

Total Dough Weight 900 grams

Pre-fermented Flour 10.00%

Hydration 76.00%
4
 Yield One 900g loaf

Total Formula

Baker’s
Weight Ingredient Percentage Temperature

460g All-purpose white flour, ~ 11.7% protein (King Arthur 100.00%

230g Unbleached All-Purpose Flour)

340g Water 74.00%

170 74%
161 70%
145 63%

9g Salt (sea salt) 1.90%

4.5

92g Sourdough starter (100% hydration-​feed 25g each​) 20.00%

46

Sourdough Bread Method

1. Autolyse– Time: 4:17
Dough Temp 19.6 Gluten Window broke immediately, dough very sticky
When your sourdough starter is mature ​. Mix starter and water until incorporated. Add
flour. Using wet hands, mix until you don’t see any more dried bits of flour and until it
comes together into a shaggy mass. Sprinkle salt on top but do not incorporate. Cover
with a towel for 30 minutes.

1A Mix- Time: 4:59 PM- slap and fold for 6 min

Dough Temp 24.2 Gluten Window still very sticky, cohesive ball but not as smooth and stretchy but not able to pull window
This dough doesn’t require intensive kneading (like ​slap and fold​) but do give it a series
of folds (pickup one side and fold it over, rotate the bowl and repeat) in the bowl for 2-5
minutes until it smooths slightly and comes together in a cohesive ball. Let dough rest
covered for 5 minutes and then pull gluten window. ​approx 4.5 minutes of slap and
fold- barely stretched with slap and folds but did get less shaggy and resulted in a
smooth surface that coud be shaped into a ball
Cover the bowl with reusable plastic and keep somewhere warm in your kitchen for bulk
fermentation.

2. Bulk Fermentation- TIME 5:05

Ambient AIr Temperature 25

At 75°F (24°C), bulk fermentation should take 3.5 hours. During this time, we will
strengthen the dough through a series of coil folds

Give the dough 4-5 sets of cold folds as indicated below:

Set Time Dough Temp Gluten window

Fold set 1 15 minutes after the start of

bulk fermentation 5:20 able to get window but dough very sticky and slack
24.6
Fold set 2 15 minutes after fold set 1
able to get window but dogh still very sticky and slack
5:41 24.4
Fold set 3 30 minutes after fold set 2
tear when widow pulled but still thin
6:18 24.6
Fold set 4 30 minutes after fold set 3
6:58
25.2 same, still slack
Fold set 5 (as 30 minutes after fold set 4
needed) 7:32 excellent window but still slack and stic

8:05 - 6th stretch

After the last set of stretch and folds, let the dough rest, covered, until the next step.

3. Preshape – TIME check at 9

After 3.5 hours the dough should have risen in your bulk fermentation container,
smoothed out, and show bubbles on the sides and surface. You want the dough to feel
more ​elastic​ and strong, it should also feel alive and aerated. I also like to look at the
edge of the dough in the bulk container: it should be domed, not flat indicating the
dough needs more time to rise

Fill a bowl with some water and place it on your work surface — I use water to keep the
dough from sticking on my hands and my bench knife. Scrape out your dough from the
bulk container onto your dry counter. Wet your hand and top of the ​bench knife​ and
gently preshape the dough into a loose round.

Let the dough rest, uncovered, for 20 minutes until its relaxed outward.

4. Shape – TIME
I went an extra step with this dough and coated it with a mixture of black and white
sesame seeds for flavor. You can omit toppings altogether or use sesame as I did, rolled
oats, flaked barley, pumpkin seeds, or anything you think would taste wonderfully
toasted in the oven. Lay a towel next to your work surface and spread the topping out in
a thin layer. After you shape the dough, roll the smooth side on the towel to pick up
these toppings (as shown in the video below).

Flour the work surface, your hands, and the top of the rested dough. Using your bench
knife flip the round over onto the floured work surface. Next, take the left edge and fold
it over midway to the right. Take the right side and fold it over the left. Take the top edge
and fold it down to the middle. Pick up the bottom edge (closest to you) and fold it up
over to the top of the dough but keep going until it touches the work surface, flipping
everything over so the seams are now on the bottom.

Next, using both hands drag the dough down toward your body using your pinky fingers
to pinch the dough between your fingers and the work surface. Rotate the dough and
continue dragging to create tension on the top and outside of the dough. It’s not
necessary to excessively tighten this dough (unless it feels fragile and slack to you), and
as you can see in the video below, my dough was strong and did not require a firm hand
to fully shape.

5. Proof – 1:15 p.m. 3:45 p.m. (or when dough is ready) 3:50 preheat oven
Cover the proofing basket entirely and let it sit out on the counter for 2 – 4 hours,
temperature depending. My dough was ready after 2.5 hours at about 75°F (23°C).

Overnight option:​ At this point, you can also place the covered proofing basket directly
into your refrigerator and continue the process the next morning, afternoon, or even the
next evening.

Use the “poke test” (as seen below) to determine when the dough ready. While I don’t
think this test is appropriate for all doughs, it’s a good test for this dough because it’s
made from all white flour, it’s moderate hydration, and it was proofed at room
temperature. Notice how my pokes slowly spring back and don’t always fill in the
indentation. Additional signs it’s ready are the fact that it is well-risen in the proofing
basket and quite gassy.

6. Bake – TIME
Preheat your oven with the rack at the bottom third to 450°F (232°C). Place your Dutch
oven inside, open, with the lid and bottom side-by-side. Review my ​guide to baking in a
Dutch oven​ for in-depth details.

Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit over the proofing basket and place a pizza peel (or
large cutting board) on top. Using both hands, flip the entire stack over and remove the
basket.

Score the dough and load it into the Dutch oven; then, bake for 20 minutes covered.
After this time, remove the lid and finish baking for 30-35 minutes or until done. The
internal temp should be around 205-210°F (96-99°C).

Remove the loaf to a cooling rack for 1-2 hours before slicing.

Crust
The crust was a rugged one, something I don’t mind one bit. The variegated colors from
the sesame add some visual interest — not to mention tons of umami — but the color on
the crust would be enough to satisfy my visual appetite. And the crust itself has all the
appreciable crunch I look for in one of my sourdough loaves. And perhaps most
importantly the crust tastes incredible dipped in some olive oil — this has me yearning
for middle summer when tomatoes will be ready in the garden.

Crumb
The crumb was tender, light, and wonderfully chewy. A good honest loaf of bread this is,
and while not dramatically open, it’s evenly fermented and just what you’d expect — and
want — from a straightforward bread recipe with minimal fuss.

Taste
Same day sourdough loaves tend to exhibit a milder flavor with reduced sourness and
complexity — but this doesn’t mean it is flavorless. It’s a delicately flavored loaf with
wheat flavor standing tall at the front. It still has some tinge of sourness to it, one that
arrives at the very end of a bite and serves to remind you of the natural fermentation
process, how healthy this bread is, and how delicious it can be when we give the dough
the time to ferment properly.