Finaaaally! I know, I took my sweet time to release this recipe—we’ve been talking about it on Instagram since September, back when I started making sourdough again 😍 And since then, my weeks are filled with slices of fresh homemade sourdough bread—it’s just incredible 🥹
I’ve read tons of different methods online, but I had a few hiccups, especially with the crust! The crumb wasn’t a problem as long as the starter was nice and active and the dough had the right resting time. My method for starting your own natural sourdough starter at home is available [here] ✨ But when it came to getting a perfectly developed crust, I had to do soooo many tests.
What works best for me when baking in a Dutch oven is adding two small ice cubes inside the pot to create steam. This helps the bread rise beautifully! Before that, I tried techniques like adding water to a tray under the Dutch oven, but I found it really impractical. Removing a tray of boiling water mid-bake can also be dangerous!
But the biggest secret I discovered through all my tests is all about timing. I naively thought that longer fermentation = better-developed bread. But no… just like your sourdough starter deflates after reaching its peak, the same thing happens with bread dough. So timing is everything. Here, I’m sharing my schedule: make the dough the night before and bake the bread the next morning. If you prefer a different schedule, like preparing the dough in the morning to enjoy fresh bread in the evening, let me know, and I’ll work on an adapted method for you 😍
One last tip before we get to the recipe: I’ve noticed the best results when my starter is just past its peak. So, I feed it the night before—24 hours in advance! This is much longer than what’s usually recommended, but it fits my routine and works best for me. Another thing I do differently is the amount of starter. You’ll see in the recipe that I use way less than most online recipes, but trust me, this gives me my best breads 🥹
