Ingredients: 

For feeding:

-¼ Cup of bread flour

-¼ Cup of Water

-Sourdough starter 

For the loaf:

-2 Cups of warm water

-4 Cups of sifted bread flour

-¼ Cup of active sourdough starter

-1 TBSP salt 

Directions: 

This is about a 2-day process from feeding until baking your loaf! Keep that in mind for starting this process. So, let's begin!

Day 1-Morning for feeding. I begin this process in the morning. If you have a starter, allow it to come to room temperature. Once this is at room temperature it is time to discard and feed. “Discard” a portion of what you have to allow “new growth” to occur. Then you add about ¼ cup of bread flour and ¼ cup of water to the starter. If you are making more bread you can always do a  bigger amount.  Mix until this is combined. It should be thicker like cake batter. I keep my starter in a mason jar and use a coffee filter as my lid. This helps the starter to “feed and grow” and the gases have room to escape. *Never screw a lid on as the gas will build up and cause your jar to burst.” From here allow it to feed for about 6 to 12 hours. Your home's environment will play a role in how fast your starter rises. More humid means quicker times. When the starter is ready it is bubbly and will rise. Using a marker on your jar can tell you how much it rises. Once it starts to fall it is time to use it. This peak use is between the 6 to 12 hour window. 

Day 1-Night time for dough. Once I have come time to make my dough it is later in the evening. I prefer it this way. *Secret, I generally do not do my “tuck and fold” and my bread still turns out.” So this is where I now prepare my dough. I start by sifting my 4 cups of bread flour. I set that aside. I then mix up my starter really well. It should still be nice and thick. More thick than the cake batter when we first fed it. I then will grab a glass mixing bowl and get my 2 cups of warm water. I then pour off ¼ cup of my active starter and place that into my warm water. There is a float test. If your starter floats it is good. *It is okay if it does not float. I have made loaves that do not float and they still turn out.* I then add in my salt and then slowly add in my sifted flour. I mix this all up with a wooden spoon until it's mostly incorporated. Then I will either wet or flour my hands and mix it with my hands until I have a nice dough ball. It does stick to everything, be aware. From here I place my loaf in the bowl and if I have a cover for this bowl I will place that mostly on. If there is no cover, I use a tea towel and get the center wet and place that over the bowl. I then allow this to rise and ferment for the next 12 hours while I sleep. **You can do “tuck and fold” every half hour for the first 2 hours if you would like.**

Day 2 Morning- It has been 12 hours. I check to see that my dough has doubled in size. Normally it has, sometimes it needs a little more time as our house is on the colder side. I will do a “tuck and fold” here and allow it to rise for another 2 hours if it isn't doubled. If it is doubled then we are ready!

Preheat your oven to 400℉. This is what works best for my oven. It does cook on the hotter side. Do what works for your oven and house. I place my dutch oven in the oven while it preheats as well. I then prepare my loaf. ***This is where I do my inclusions if you choose to.***I take it out of the bowl on a flour surface and shape it. I then place it on parchment paper. This is when you can score your loaf to make pretty designs. Once the oven is preheated, remove the dutch oven, place your loaf on the parchment paper into the dutch oven. I place about 3 or 4 ice cubes under the parchment paper. I then place the dutch oven covered into the oven and bake for 40 minutes COVERED. I then remove my cover and sometimes I will spritz my loaf with water at this point. I then continue to bake the loaf for an additional 10 minutes UNCOVERED. If you are unsure if this is done you can use a temperature probe and the loaf should temp at 200℉. Allow the loaf to completely cool on a cooling rack before cutting into the bread. Enjoy!!