Better-Than-Bakery No-Knead Sourdough

My first effort was a disaster! But I didn't quit! Realized my mistake, the starter must be room temperature before using, another point is start your bread process early morning or no later than 8 pm, also during winter putting your bed in your gas oven with the oven light on really helps with the slow rising in a cooler home. Finally, my starter is a bit wonky so I add 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp of citric acid and a good pinch of yeast when dissolving the salt, not only does the flavor increase so does the rising 😉

I was worried about this one because my dough didn’t rise the way I wanted it to. I also forgot to oil the bowl. But it still turned out beautifully and it was delicious!

Works perfectly every time! I use unbleached all-purpose flour I thought it was a little too moist at first, too, but didn't change a thing. We live at 4500' and I don't make any adjustments. This time, I only made half a recipe in my small dutch oven and the results are the same delicious bread! Next I will try adding in some herbs or cheese maybe. I'll let you know how that works out. So...I folded in some pesto on the second rising and it was fabulous! Raves from friends. I don't use the cornmeal in the pan. I just cut a circle of parchment paper and place it in the hot pan just before adding the dough. Much less mess than cornmeal

Good recipe; followed directions as written in a clay dutch oven with a lid. It was not runny or anything so I don't know why someone else's would not turn out unless it has to do with elevation or not measuring correctly, etc. I used a sourdough starter that I already had. The next time I make it though I will split the dough. I have a mini muffin pan I can use for that but I will have to think of a way to cover it... I wanted it for sandwiches and this loaf is massive but tasty!

It took about a week, waiting for the starter to age, but worth it. This is my first attempt at bread making. I'm really happy how it turned out

LOVE this bread! Thank you for such an easy and wonderful recipe! Mine needed a bit more flour. I halved the recipe and it still made a very large loaf, with an amazing crunchy crust! I especially appreciated the video (I think it was on the side of the page) which showed how to apply flour and shape the bread with a flat metal scraper and little use of your hands. Thanks again! :)

This made two generously sized loaves. The dough is very soft, almost a thick batter, so yes, it rolls in to your hot dutch oven and moulds to the shape of whatever that might be. The crust was perfect. I left one loaf “as is” which resulted in an old world type crustiness, but I prefer a chewier crust, so I basted the second loaf with butter while it was hot from the oven—it was ahhhmazing! The crumb is perfect with a lot of air bubbles: I folded it about 15 times. My starter is a very lively San Francisco strain that is several years old, and it was “fed” to a barely declining sponge when I started my bread mix late afternoon. It sat on my counter at 70F for about 15 hours, and had some bubbling, so it probably could have been ready in 12-13 hours. I folded it (15x) using about a cup of extra flour, then divided it in to two olive-oiled ceramic bowls and covered with plastic wrap (I am not stingy with the oil). My dough had doubled in less than an hour, so I started heating my dutch ovens at the 45 minute mark. This may be because my starter is extremely active and/or because I live at an altitude of 6000 ft. I followed directions as given for baking except for 20 minutes after the lid was removed as I prefer a darker crust. The loaves passed the hollow thump test, and were set to cool on racks (buttering one loaf). Delicious and really simple.

I made a half-batch and that was good.