Mireille’s No-fail Sourdough.

Revised December 2022

1. Take starter out of fridge and feed:

- Add about same volume of flour as you have starter, and enough warm (not hot) non-chlorinated
water to make a thick batter consistency, mix very thoroughly (no lumps).

- Cover, and allow to double in size, then to drop back to about 1 ½ initial volume.
At 18C this can take 6-10 hours*
At 20C this can take 4-8 hours*
At 28C this should take 2-4 hours.* (This is using my hot pad on MED setting)
*Note – even if it has decreased back to initial volume, it is still good to go!

2. Fermento-autolyse:
- In a large plastic bowl, measure 180g starter (+- 2 g).

- Add 300mL warmish non-chlorinated water or oat milk (oat milk makes a softer bread and adds
vitamins), and mix thoroughly using a whisk.

- Add 430g flour (I like a mix of bread flour and spelt or whole wheat flour (about 20%)) and mix using
a strong rubber or wooden spatula. The dough will be fairly stiff and “shaggy”; gather it as much as
possible into a lump, cover (I cover with the lid of my plastic bowl).

- Allow to rest to 20-30 min.

3. Add the salt:

- Add 8 g non-iodized salt (1 ¼ tsp), and mix thoroughly using wet hands:
I like to push down using my fists, alternating with pulling and folding. I
re-wet my hands often. Do this for 3-5min, or until you can no longer feel
the salt in the dough. The dough will feel nice and smooth. Pat the dough 3
times for good luck, and cover.
4. First fermentation:
- Place covered bowl of dough for long fermentation and allow to fully double in size. You know it is
ready if you poke at it and it only slowly bounces back.
At 18C, this can take 8-10 hours
At 20C, this can take 6-8 hours
(this is using my hot pad on LOW setting)
At 28C, this can take 4-6 hours
(this is using my hot pad on MED setting)

5. Shaping, and cold (long) fermentation:

- Prepare a banneton basket well floured with rice flour (I like brown rice flour which is easy to find at
Bulk Barn, or health food store, or even online). (Some people use a banneton liner, I don’t).
or
Use any bowl lined with a clean t-towel well floured, again with rice flour (or brown rice flour).

(Most banneton baskets are round; I chose the oblong one so I can fit the loaf nicely in my oval Dutch
oven, or I can make 2 boules (I call them “double-bubbles” :) )

- On a slightly floured, clean work surface area, plop the dough, and with rice-floured hands proceed to
shape: https://www.theperfectloaf.com/guides/shaping-a-boule/

- Once placed in floured basket or bowl, cover loosely (I use a large plastic bag) and place in the fridge
for 8-12 hours.

6. Baking the bread:

- Line a cast iron pot with aluminium foil. This prevents the bottom of the loaf from over cooking.

- Preheat the oven WITH THE COOKING CAST IRON POT AND LID INSIDE IT to 500F.

- Have read a piece or parchment paper large enough to fit the loaf of bread and more so that you can
use it to lift the loaf into the pot. NOTE: Geoff (my son-in-law) does not use the parch paper. He flips
the dough from the fridge onto a wooden board well sprinkled with coarse corn meal, scores, then uses
his hands to gently lift the loaf and drops into his Dutch oven.
- Remove basket or bowl from the fridge, invert and plop the loaf of dough onto the parchment paper.

- Gently score the dough to a depth of about ¼ cm (as slightly off center score will allow the loaf to
produce a nice “ear”, I now prefer a center cut and less eat but nice poofiness). Some people use a
special blade to do this, I use a sharp knife.

- Wear oven mitts, remove the hot cast iron pot from the oven, remove the lid, remove the mitts and lift
your dough using the parchment paper as a cradle, and place in the pot, paper and all, put oven mitts
back on, quickly place the lid back on, and place back in the oven.

- Re-set oven to 450F, set timer to 22 minutes.

- After 22 minutes, remove the lid, continue baking for another 20 minutes, or until internal temp
reaches 200F.

- Remove from oven, lift loaf out (again the parchment paper act as a cradle) and onto a rack or board
to cool completely. (You might enjoy hearing the loaf lightly crack during the cooling).

ET VOILÀ!

STARTER MAINTENANCE :
Just keep it in the fridge, always scrape the sides as best as you can. If left alone for more than 2
weeks, do a double-feed before baking : Take out, feed, let rise and fall all day at room temp. Next day,
discard half, feed again and good to go as per usual bake. Every 3-4 months, you may want to transfer
your starter into a new clean container.