Artesian Sourdough Bread

Preparation

• 1
  Put the water in a large mixing bowl.
• 2
  Whisk in the active starter and mix until it is cloudy with no lumps.
• 3
  Slowly add in the flour and mix with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. Once the dough begins to form and becomes thick, wet hands and form it into a rounded ball in the bowl.
• 4
  Cover the bowl with a tea towel or paper towel and let rest for at least one hour but anywhere from 1-4 hours at room temperature.
• 5
  After the dough has rested, mix in the salt with your hands by sprinkling it over the dough ball, and stretching and grabbing the dough.
• 6
  Stretch the dough from the bottom of the ball and pull it over the top. Rotate the bowl a quarter turn, stretching and pulling the dough on all 4 sides of the dough ball.
• 7
  Repeat Step 6 every 30 minutes for a total of 5 times. As it is stretched and pulled, air bubbles will form and the bread will start to rise. Be gentle with the dough so as not to disturb the air bubbles.
• 8
  After 5 times the dough should be able to be stretched so that you can see light through it before it breaks (this is called the window pane test).
• 9
  Let the dough rise for 1 hour at room temperature.
• 10
  Put the entire bowl of dough in a plastic bag (don’t just cover the bowl - the dough will continue to rise). Let it rise in the refrigerator overnight (12-15 hours).
• 11
  The next day, remove the bowl from the plastic bag and let the dough rise at room temperature for around 2 hours.
• 12
  Roll the dough onto the counter or a large cutting board (unfloured). Sprinkle the top of the dough with flour.
• 13
  Without overworking or moving the dough too much, separate the dough into 2 halves.
• 14
  Using a rubber spatula, go in a circle around the dough, gently lifting from underneath the sides of the dough ball to form a rounded loaf. Do this for both loaves
• 15
  Let the dough balls rest for 30 minutes.
• 16
  While they rest, lightly flour the inside of 2 bowls (bowls the size of your dough balls or slightly larger). I have found it helpful to flour the bowls, then line the bowl with cheese cloth or a tea towel, and then flour the towels. This decreases the chance of the dough sticking to the bowl.
• 17
  Gently pick up the dough ball, flip over on to the floured side, and pull the bottom up over the top on each side for a total of 4 times (just like Step 6).
• 18
  After the last side is stretched over, pinch the seam together and place it in the floured bowl. Cover with a tea towel or paper towel.
• 19
  Allow the 2 bowls to rise in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours.
• 20
  Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Once the oven reaches 450 degrees, place a dutch oven on the rack in the bottom third of your oven. Let it heat for 30 minutes.
• 21
  When you are ready to bake your bread, take one dough ball (you will bake each loaf one at a time - keep the second in the refrigerator until it is ready to be baked) and score the top of it.
• 22
  Then immediately remove the hot dutch oven and put the dough ball inside and cover it with the lid. Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
• 23
  Once it has baked for 30 minutes, remove the lid and bake for another 10 minutes.
• 24
  Once the bread is done baking (it should sound hollow when you thump the bottom), remove it from the oven and put the loaf on a cooling rack for about an hour before cutting into it.
• 25
  Bake the second loaf by repeating Steps 21-24. The loaves can easily be frozen and taste just as good once thawed!