PLOUGHGATE RECIPE: SOURDOUGH BREAD
For Christmas in 2023, my dear friend Emily gifted me a sourdough starter, scale, and a lesson in the bread making process. It was truly such a wonderful gift! We spent the afternoon in my kitchen diving into all things sourdough. Emily shared the tips and tricks she's learned as a hobbyist bread baker. I have fallen in love with this process and am so excited to share my go-to recipe with the Ploughgate family. Because nothing is better than a homemade warm slice of sourdough bread with a thick layer of Ploughgate Butter. I hope you enjoy this recipe, thanks to Emily! -- Marisa Mauro, Ploughgate Founder
FEEDING YOUR STARTER
I try to feed the starter once a week whether I'm going to bake or not. Although, I haven't fed it for a month and it's been fine!
- Feeding to Maintain
- 15 grams starter
- 50 grams water
- 25 grams all purpose flour
-
25 grams rye flour (Bob's Red Mill makes this, they have it at every grocery store these days)
- Feeding to Bake Bread
- 30 grams starter
- 100 grams water
- 50 grams all purpose flour
- 50 grams rye flour
BAKING YOUR BREAD
There are a lot of different schedules you can use here are a few options!
- Day One, morning: Feed starter. Use the larger amounts so you have enough leaven (the fancy term for a fed, active starter) and leave out in a warm place for the day. I keep mine in a ball jar with the lid on—but not sealed tight!—in the kitchen.
- Day One, afternoon: After 8-10 hours the starter will be very bubbly and have expanded a lot. This is when you're ready to make your dough. I typically mix up the dough around 6 pm or so and then you do your turns and folds over the next few hours. Fold every 30 minutes with the goal of 6-8 turns. Around 10 or 11 pm, I put it into the fridge to slow proof overnight.
- Day Two: You're ready to bake! I preheat the oven to 500F with the dutch oven in it so it gets very hot. Once to temp, I take the bread out of the fridge, pop in the Lodge Cast Iron and bake. If you need to take the Cast Iron out of the oven please wear mitts! I bake for 30 minutes with the lid on and 10 minutes with it off. The lid off time can differ from oven to oven. Pay attention during this period of time and adjust as need be.
- Note, you could also Feed starter Day 1 PM. Make dough Day 2, and bake Day 3 if this works with scheduling better.
HAPPY BAKING! Resources are at the end of this post.
Brad Leone and Claire Saffitz of Bon Appétit have a very helpful video about making Sourdough Bread.
This scale is reliable, but also so fun in all the color options.
A breadbasket/brotform helps your bread form a lovely shape. If you're not keen on buying oner, you can simply use a large bowl with two kitchen clothes. Sprinkle flour on the bottom and wet cloth to drape over.
While it seems very simple, a dough scraper makes the process less arduous.
For Dutch Ovens, King Arthur Flour sells a lovely one and I use one from Lodge Cast Iron which is a budget friendly. You can't go wrong with either!
If you're looking to dive in deeper in bread recipes the book, Tartine Bread, is a wonderful and an in-depth resource.