The EASIEST No Knead Sourdough Bread Recipe ever!
Easy
NO KNEAD Sourdough Bread Recipe
Gluten free? Check out this recipe!
Let’s make a sourdough loaf at home the easy no knead way. Here is the ingredients you will need to get started.
60 grams of FED sourdough starter at its peak (leaven)
300 grams room temperature water (between 70-75 degrees Fahrenheit)
300 grams bread flour
90 grams of flour of your choice (this is usually whichever flour you have made your sourdough starter with)
6-8 grams of kosher or sea salt (do not use iodized salt)
Now lets get started. Now we will not be kneading this dough. Instead, we will be doing a series of stretch and folds over a period of 3-4 hours. Don’t worry it’s easy!
Making the dough
In a medium to large bowl weigh out 60 grams of sourdough starter.
Add 300 grams of room temperature water and stir. (I like to use my hands for this entire process.)
Next add the 300 grams of bread flour and 90 grams of the flour that your starter was made with.
Stir to hydrate the flour. Make sure to get the bottom of the bowl and leave no dry flour.
Cover and let sit for 30 minutes. The dough should be very sticky.
Now add the 6-8 grams of salt and mix well. Make sure that there are no granules of salt left. this is why I like to use my hands. You can feel when the salt has been dissolved by the dough.
Fermenting the dough in lieu of kneading
At this point, the dough is still sticky but not as much as before. Cover and let ferment for 3-4 hours. During this 3-4 hours we will be doing a series of stretch and folds every 30 minutes.
To achieve a stretch and fold you will wet your hands lightly in water. then put your hand under neath the top portion of dough, lift up, stretch, and pull to the center of the dough ball. Rotate the bowl 1/4 of the way and do the same thing. Pull the top and stretch into the center. Do this until you have gone completely around the bowl.
After every stretch and fold cover and let ferment for an additional 30 minutes. You will do this process for 3-4 hours. You will know when the dough is ready for shaping when you lightly press the dough with a wet finger and it has some bounce or you can visually see bubbles under the surface of the dough.
Shaping the dough
Once the dough is ready for shaping gently guide the dough out of the bowl onto a lightly floured surface. Take care not to deflate the dough.
I shape my dough by taking the top of the top of the dough and bringing it to the center followed by the bottom and the sides.
Take the corners of the dough and also bring them into the middle.
Flip over and let rest covered by a tea towel for about 20-30 minutes.
After resting flip the dough back over and bring in the top towards the middle.
Then as if stitching the dough bring the sides in towards the middle slightly overlapping each “stitch”.
Place the dough into the a proofing basket seam side up. If you do not have a proofing basket you can use a bowl covered with a tea towel. Just nestle the dough into the towel. Make sure to flour the inside on the basket or bowl.
Resting the dough
Cover the dough with a tea towel and place in the fridge for at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours.
The longer you make this rest period the more sour and sharp the flavor will be.
At the end of the resting period take the dough out of the fridge and let rest again still inside the basket.
You know its done resting and ready for baking when you lightly press on the dough with your finger and it feels like a filled water balloon or you can visually see air bubbles underneath the dough.
Finally baking your sourdough bread
Remove the dough from the basket by flipping it over onto a floured piece of parchment paper.
During baking the dough will open (explode) at its weakest point. To combat this you can take a very sharp razor blade and make a slice into the dough from side to the other. This is to guide the dough to open where you want it to. It doesn’t have to be fancy and you don’t even have to do it at all. Its all up to you and your personal preference.
Grab hold of the parchment paper and lift the dough into a preheated 480 degree Fahrenheit dutch oven. Close the lid and bake at 480 degrees for 20 minutes.
Then take the lid off the dutch oven and continue baking for an additional 15-20 minutes.
Take the dutch oven out and remove the loaf. Place the loaf onto a drying rack to completely cool.
It can be quite tempting to cut into the hot loaf. DON’T. Let it cool as much as you can bear to. Cutting into a warm loaf will cause the crumb to become gummy and no one likes gummy bread. It may seem like a lot to take in but I promise its quite an easy and rewarding process. ENJOY!