New to homemade sourdough bread or simply improving your craft? Everyday Sourdough from Emilie Raffa’s book Artisan Sourdough Made Simple is a fabulous starting point for new sourdough bakers or simply to hone your sourdough skills. DIY a Sourdough Bread Starter to create a beautiful wild yeast sourdough loaf!
I received a copy of Emilie’s book and am happy to be able to share it in this space. All opinions are my own.
A Sourdough Journey
Prior to going to pastry school, I’d never tried making homemade sourdough bread, although I had read books about it. Intimidated by the terminology, flours, feeding schedules, shaping techniques and knowing, I never took the time or had the courage to dive in.
During pastry school I worked with yeasted bread until I could make it in my sleep. But it was naturally leavened sourdough that mystified me. Only having a few opportunities in school to work with it, I never really gained the hands on knowledge I’d anticipated. So, I continued to read about it, gleaning little nuggets that would some day make me the bread baker I wanted to be.
A friend of a friend offered some sourdough starter, knowing my interest. I promptly killed it after attempting sourdough again. Then, I carried some of my mom’s starter back to Whidbey with me after a visit to Texas.
I persisted, yet…
I couldn’t quite get the dough to its fluffy pillowy softness, the crumb to its tender-chewy texture, or the crust to its crusty bliss as I had tasted, seen in books, bakeries.
I tried again, still not producing the loaf of my dreams. Why is this SO hard?
I gave up sourdough baking early last winter with the hopes of starting again this fall.
Sourdough Success!
With the help of Emilie Raffa’s book Artisan Sourdough Made Simple, I am a sourdough baker! When I heard she was publishing a book on her sourdough method, I knew it would be my best chance yet to finally learn how to make the perfect loaf. I’ve been following Emilie’s blog, The Clever Carrot, for a while now.
After diving into sourdough again using Emilie’s thorough and approachable new book and in a short period of time, I can confidently say,
I am a sourdough baker.
Making everything from Sourdough Sandwich Bread, Sourdough Pie Crust and Homemade Sourdough French Toast to this simple Buttery Sourdough Discard Cornbread recipe.
And, you can do it too!
An Essential Resource
Emilie’s book is for the beginner or more advanced sourdough baker. So if you’re just starting sourdough, intrigued or have been baking for a while, this book is for you. Her recipes are approachable, creative, completely mouthwatering and clearly written for success. Her photography and gentle nudges will inform and inspire you.
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Looking for a delicious Multigrain Sourdough Bread recipe to challenge your bread baking prowess? Check out this reader favorite Seeded Multigrain Sourdough Bread.
My Sourdough Toolkit (affiliate links):
- 7 Quart Dutch Oven
- 10″ Cast Iron Skillet with Deep Dish Skillet for a lid
- Bench Scraper
- Parchment Paper
- Digital Food Thermometer
- Lame – for scoring the dough
- Banneton(s)
- Digital Scale
Emilie’s Everyday Sourdough Recipe
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup (50g) Sourdough Starter, previously fed, active and bubbly
- 1 1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons (350g) Warm Water, about 80f (26c)
- 4 cups (500g) Bread Flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Fine Sea Salt
Instructions
- Make the Dough: In the evening, whisk the starter and water together in a large bowl with a fork. Add the flour and salt. Combine until a still dough forms, then finish mixing by hand to fully incorporate the flour. The dough will feel dense and shaggy, and it will stick to your fingers as you go. Scrape off as much as you can. Cover with a damp towel and let rest for 30 minutes. Replenish your starter with fresh flour and water, and store according to preference. After the dough has rested, work the mass into a fairly smooth ball. To do this, grab a portion of the dough and fold it over, pressing your fingertips into the center. Repeat, working your way around the dough until it begins to tighten, about 15 seconds.
- Bulk Rise: Cover the bowl with a damp towel and let rise overnight at room temperature. This will take about 8-10 hours at 70F (21C). The dough is ready when it no longer looks dense and has doubled in size. (Traci's Note: Mine generally takes 12-13 hours to rise, but I have a chilly kitchen!).
- Shape: In the morning, coax the dough into a lightly floured work surface. To shape it into a round, start at the top and fold the dough over towards the center. Turn the dough slightly and fold over the next section of dough. Repeat until you have come full circle. Flip the dough over and let rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile, line an 8-inch (20cm) bowl with a towel (or use a banneton) and dust with flour. With floured hands, gently cup the dough and pull it toward you in a circular motion to tighten its shape. Using a bench scraper, place the dough into the bowl, seam side up.
- Second Rise: Cover the bowl and let rest for 30 minutes to 1 hour. The dough is ready when it looks puffy and has risen slightly but has not yet doubled in size. Preheat the oven to 450F (230C). Cut a sheet of parchment paper to fit the size of your baking pot leaving enough excess around the sides to remove the bread. **UPDATE (5.20)** Place a sheet pan on an oven rack directly under the oven rack you'll be baking the bread on. This protects the baking vessel from the intense heat of the oven and helps prevent a too-dark or burnt bottom. (See notes for more information).
- Score: Place the parchment over the dough and invert the bowl to release. Sprinkle the dough with flour and gently run the surface with your hands. Using the tip of a small, serrated knife or a razor blade, score the dough with a cross-cut pattern about 1/3" (8mm) deep and about 2-3" (5-7cm) on the top or any way you like. Use the parchment to transfer the dough to the baking pot.
- Bake: Bake the dough on the center rack for 20 minutes, covered. Remove the lid and continue to bake for 30 minutes. Then, carefully remove the loaf from the pot and bake directly on the oven rack for the last 10 minutes to crisp the crust. (To check if the bread is ready, check the internal temperature of the loaf. It should read between 190F-205F when done.) When finished, transfer to a wire rack. Cool for 1 hour before slicing. Sourdough is best consumed on the same day it's baked. To maximize freshness, cool completely and store at room temperature in a plastic bag for up to one day (My sourdough is generally storing for between 3-4 days.)
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate. If this information is important to you, please have it verified independently.
Made it? Leave a comment below!
The most helpful comment may include recipe rating, feedback, any modifications or helping other commentors.
First time making this recipe, using a new Dutch Oven (5 qt) and I couldn’t really be any more pleased! I used the baking sheet below it, and it turned out fabulous! I probably scored a bit too deep but it is still beautiful and tastes perfect.
Super happy to read your note, Barb! Thank you for coming back and sharing your thoughts and rating. I’m thrilled that you’re pleased with the sourdough!
Hi Traci, I love your recipes, even though I am struggling with the everyday sourdough being too dark and too fast. Maybe the reason is that I am trying to make a honey wheat sourdough boule from it. Can you please post a recipe for a honey wheat sourdough boule? There is not one recipe on the internet. Thank you Denise
PS I use 100g WW flour 400 Bread flour and mix 1/8-1/4 c honey in the water and starter
Hi again! I see now why you’re having issues. Your review is for a different, adapted whole wheat and honey recipe. Honey will make sourdough brown more easily, and whole wheat bakes darker due to the nature of whole grain. This could be the culprit, but above all, an oven thermometer (even on a new oven) goes a long way to confirm accurate oven temperature. I’m actually working on a honey wheat sourdough, although It’s sandwich bread, I’ll give a boule a go next. Until then, try reducing your oven temperature by 25F.
The baking times do not work. I am good at making Sourdough and Love Vanilla Bean’s recipes but this recipe came out burned in 40 min. Covered 20 min, uncovered 15 min of the 25 and it’s burned. So I tried 20 covered, uncover 10, and then 8 min with no pan to crisp the crust and in 8 min it burned.
Hi Denise… oh no! I’m sorry to hear your bread isn’t turning out. I’m curious about your oven… Are you able to employ an external oven thermometer to check for accurate oven temperature? Is it possible the thermostat is faulty? Also, I’m curious about the interior of the bread… is it reaching 190F – 200F?. If so, you can try placing a piece of foil over the loaf after removing the lid (and also place a sheet pan on the oven rack below your baking vessel). With a little more information, maybe we can figure out what’s happening together. Let me know, okay?
It is a newer gas oven so temp is good.
Also, Traci, I make all kinds of amazing sourdough recipes. But this is the only one that is challenging. I keep making it to figure it out. And the inside thermometer of the middle is 185oF
I avoid the too dark by lowering the temp after 20 to 425… I also keep the lid on for all but the last five minutes or so… for an even crispier crust… once removed from the pot, I place back in the oven for five min with the door slightly ajar
Thank you for sharing your tips, Cyndy!
I have made this several times and it always comes out great. I would like to experiment with making this gluten free. I have your gluten free sourdough starter ready but looking for what substitutions to make.
Hi Leslie! So happy to hear you’re enjoying the sourdough and you’ve a gf starter ready. If looking to make a gf loaf, you’d need a different recipe entirely. Have you checked out my Gf sourdough bread recipe? https://vanillaandbean.com/seeded-multigrain-gluten-free-sourdough-bread/
I have made sourdough bread using this recipe nearly every week for a few years now and I find it the most versatile and most simple recipe to easily make bread weekly. But I too have had the burnt bottom issue. I live in South Los Angeles and I found that for my particular oven and kitchen, 450° is too high of a temp to bake this recipe at. The bottom burns, and the inside stays a little gummy. So I reduced the temp To 425°, reduced the amount of water in the starter, and allowed a longer bulk rise (18 -20 hrs) and then the bread performed much better. I think that adjustments just have to be made based on where you live altitude/humidity and how your particular oven performs. For me reducing the baking temp solved the burnt bottom issue and also cooked of the inside of the loaf more thoroughly. The other adjustments helped with the spongey-ness of the bread.
Hi Stacy! Thank you for your note and sharing your tips. No doubt adjusting for oven, altitude/humidy is super important. SO happy to hear you’ve tweaked the recipe to fit your needs. Hooray for a fabulous loaf!
I just want to let you know that I have been making this bread recipe during the pandemic and I love it. It took me a couple of times to make it before it came out looking normal . Thanks for this. I’ve tried other recipes on Pinterest and for me this is the best.
SO happy to hear Viki! Isn’t Emilie’s method the best? Simple, straight forward and with consistent results! SO happy to hear you enjoying fabulous homemade sourdough. Thank you for your note.
Really dumb question re: transferring the unbaked loaf to the pot with parchment. Do you slide the dough off the parchment and into the pot, or do you lower the dough into the pot still on the parchment and bake it with parchment still underneath?
Hi Stephanie! No question is a dumb question. I’m happy to help! Use the parchment as handles to lower the dough into the pot and bake the sourdough with parchment still underneath. I hope this helps and you enjoy the sourdough. Keep us posted!
Thank you Traci! Just set the dough aside for the bulk rise…can’t wait to bake tomorrow!
Keep us posted Stephanie!
Thank you for your comment re the baking sheet on the rack under the Dutch oven.
I am so proud to say, I am now a sourdough baker too! I spent years baking bread every week with a seeded no-knead recipe but always thought sourdough would be too advanced for me. No longer! I used Traci’s guide to making a sourdough starter and then tried this recipe, and while it turned out okay but rather flat the first two tries, on my third try I added a little extra water after reading Tracie’s note on a comment that a higher hydration dough results in more air holes. Although the dough was very wet and a little messy to work with, I got a beautiful and very airy loaf with a wonderful sourdough flavor! (I also invested in a scale and I think the more accurate measurements helped too!) I have a chilly kitchen too and my dough seems to enjoy spending the night on top of the radiator. A damp towel dries out too quickly with this approach, so I got a mixing bowl with a tight fitting plastic lid and that has worked fine. I can tell that my starter is developing a stronger flavor with each week so I’m excited to see how the taste of my bread continues to evolve! Thanks, Traci for this approachable recipe!
Hi Mary! What a fantastic feeling! Hooray! So happy to learn of your success. It’s such a rewarding journey! A kitchen scale is your best sourdough friend (and all baking!). Higher hydration is more difficult to work with but oh my those lofty holes are worth the effort.