Ingredients

Instructions

1. *Feed the starter: Feed your sourdough starter about 10 hours before you are ready to mix the dough. Mix the starter, water, and flour, and place in a jar. Place in the Sourdough Home set to 71°F (21°C) and leave to ripen for 10 hours. When ripe, it should have tripled in size and bubbles will be visible on the top and sides.

∗ Tip: You can feed your starter according to our instructions, but if you have ripe starter on hand, feel free to substitute that for the 100g of starter in the dough.

2. Set up the Proofer: Set the Proofer to 79°F (26°C) and put the water tray in the middle of the warming plate. Pour ¼ cup (60 ml) of water into the tray and place the rack on top of the tray.
3. Mix the dough: Add all the ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer. Turn the mixer to low speed and mix on the lowest speed for 2 minutes until incorporated. Turn the mixer to second speed and mix for 5-7 minutes until the dough becomes smooth and strong and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Alternatively, the dough can be mixed by hand: Add the starter, water, oil, and honey (or maple syrup) to a large bowl. Use a dough whisk to mix until combined. Add the flour and salt and mix well until fully incorporated. Once a shaggy dough forms, perform stretch & folds or slap & fold for about 2 minutes to further develop the gluten. When done mixing, form the dough into a ball and place it into a greased bowl.
4. Bulk ferment: Place the bowl in the Proofer and leave the dough to rise for about 4 hours. When done with the bulk fermentation, the dough will have increased in size by about 50%, will feel light to the touch, and the dough should gently jiggle if you shake the bowl. If you hand mixed the dough, it will benefit from a few folds to strengthen the dough: During the first 1 ½ hours of the bulk rise, perform two sets of stretch & folds 45 minutes apart and then place the dough back into the Proofer to rest untouched for the remainder of the bulk fermentation time.
5. Shape: Remove the dough from the Proofer. Turn the dough out onto a floured counter and flatten it into a rectangle, pressing any large bubbles out of the dough. With a long side of the rectangle facing you, take the short left and right sides and fold them in towards the center so that they meet in the middle. Press down gently to seal, then, starting at the edge facing you, roll up the dough into a log. Place the dough seam side down into a greased 9x4x4 inch pan.
6. Proof: Check the water tray and add more water if necessary. The Proofer should still be set to 79°F (26°C). At this point, you can proceed in one of two directions depending on when you want to bake the bread. Same day: Place the shaped loaf in the Proofer and proof for 3 hours. When proofing is done, the dough should have noticeably increased in size and just started to rise above the lip of the pan. While the dough is proofing, preheat the oven to 400°F (204°C). Next day: Proof the shaped loaf for 1 ½ hours until the dough has risen about ⅔ of the way up the pan. Remove from the Proofer, cover, and place in the refrigerator overnight. If baking the next day, you can bake straight from the refrigerator. (If you pull the dough out of the refrigerator and it looks like it hasn’t risen at all overnight and isn’t close to the rim of the pan, then place it in the Proofer at 79°F (26°C)for about 1 hour and then proceed with baking.)
7. Bake: Bake for 20 minutes at 400°F (204°C), lower the temperature to 375°F (190°C), and bake another 15 minutes. If you check the internal temperature with a probe thermometer, it should read 195°F (91°C). Remove the loaf from the pan and place it on a wire rack to cool completely.

∗ Tip: If desired, you can brush the top of the loaf with milk or egg wash before baking to give the crust more of a sheen.