The MAX AC Channel #136: Sourdough Bread

Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of the Max AC Channel. For this month, since we are once again in the Lenten Season this year, I thought we could continue our theme of making Lenten food and do another round of Meatless March, where we will be making five more recipes that are as delicious as they are meatless. For this week’s episode, we will be making some Sourdough Bread.

In the comments below, let me know how it went if you decide to make it and let me know if there’s anything you want to make next. Like the video, share it with your friends and family, and subscribe to this channel for more episodes of the MAX AC Channel.

And remember, if you want to stay cool in the kitchen, turn your AC to the max and watch the MAX AC Channel.

(And check out SirRank0Productions.com for full recipe!)
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SOURDOUGH BREAD (1 Large Loaf or 2 Small Loaves)
Ingredients:
- 100 g (1/2 cup) active sourdough starter [See comments for instructions]
- 350 g (1 1/2 cups) warm water
- 15 g (1 tbsp) olive oil
- 500 g (4 cups) bread flour
- 12 g (2 1/2 tsp) fine salt

Instructions:
1. First, 4-8 hours before you plan on starting to make your sourdough, discard some of your starter and then feed it with flour and water as usual to activate it. Then, once that’s all nice and bubbly, in a large bowl, add in the 100g of starter, 1 1/2 cups of warm water, and 1 tablespoon of oil and whisk this together. Then, add in the 4 cups of bread flour and salt, mixing to combine, making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl to fully mix all of the dough, using a whisk or your hands. Then, cover this with a damp towel and let it rest for a couple of hours or so.
2. During this time, every 30 minutes to stretch and fold the dough by grabbing a corner of the dough and pulling it up to the center until you’ve stretched all parts of the dough. This step will help to develop more gluten without overworking the dough, increasing the total volume and height of your bread when it bakes. So, if you have the time, I recommend doing this four times, or every 30 minutes during this 2 hour period.
3. So, after a couple of hours, once you’re ready to perform the Bulk Fermentation, cover the bowl with a towel and let it rise at room temperature, about 8 to 10 hours. The dough will be ready when it has about doubled in volume, which might be a bit sooner than 8 hours if you live in a warm, humid environment, so just keep an eye out to prevent it from over-proofing. But, once the dough is ready, onto a lightly floured surface, scoop out your dough from the bowl, placing it bottom side up, and gently shape it into a round shape by folding the former top down to the center, turning the dough, and repeating this until you’ve folded the entire dough at least once. If you have a bench scraper, you can use this to push the dough underneath, pulling the dough to create tension, making a nice smooth surface across the entire dough.
4. Then, once your dough is shaped into a round, line a bowl or proofing basket with a towel and dust it with some flour to keep the dough from sticking to the towel. And then, place the dough into your lined bowl, seam side up and cover it with the excess towel and let it proof for a second time in the fridge for at least an hour up to 48 hours. The longer you let it rest, a more intense sour flavor will develop and larger holes will form in the dough, so I tend to rest it for about 24 hours, but adjust this to your preferences.
5. Once your dough is almost ready and you are ready to bake your bread, measure out a piece of parchment paper to fit your dutch oven pot and then place your dutch oven into your oven, and preheat it to 500°F. Then, grab your dough from the fridge and place your parchment paper over the dough and invert it using a plate. Then, using a sharp knife, you may score the dough however you wish, either with a simple X or you may make a more fancy design, if desired as well. If your dough starts to droop after scoring, it’s a sign that you might’ve overproofed your dough, meaning that too much of the gluten had been broken down and you won’t get as much of a rise in the oven, but the bread will still taste great regardless. But in either case, once your oven is done preheating, use the parchment paper to carefully transfer the dough into the preheated baking pot.
6. Once you’re ready to bake your bread, lower the oven temperature to 450ºF and using kitchen gloves, carefully cover the pot with the lid and then bake the dough for 30 minutes, covered. Then, remove the lid, lower the temperature to 400ºF and continue to bake for another 10-15 minutes, or until the crust is a nice golden color. Then, once the bread is done, remove it from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack for an hour or so before slicing. And with that, your Sourdough Bread is finally ready to eat.