My friend Devorah inspired me to start baking sour dough bread. I really didn’t know much about it until I had some at her house. Greg really loves the tangy flavor of the bread and I love a cooking or baking challenge so I set out to make my own. I learned that sourdough bread is not made with starter, not yeast. I found an easy recipe for starter but I couldn’t really find a recipe that worked well in 5 qt cast iron pot. All the recipes I found didn’t allow my bread to get the round beautiful shape that I was looking for. The dough would just spread as it baked. I found a recipe on The Clever Carrot but as many times as I tried I couldn’t get it to look as nice as hers so I modified the recipe to make a slightly larger loaf and now my recipe is practically foolproof.
I recommend this pot. Its inexpensive and if you take proper care of it, it will last forever. If you have any questions about the recipe, please leave your comment below.
This recipe requires a food scale. You can purchase one here.
** I updated this recipe on 5/25/2022. I am always trying to improve my bread The higher hydration in the dough makes a much fluffier bread.
Such a simple list of ingredients
Mix starter, water, flour and oil
Mix until it forms a cohesive dough
Fold the dough 4 times using quarter turns
Folded dough
Risen dough
Sprinkle corn meal in pot
Remove dough from bowl
Form into a ball and dust with flour
Place in pot
Slash dough after an hour
Covered pot
Remove lid after 20 minutes
Remove from oven when bread is a deep golden brown.
- 150 g starter
- 550 g bread flour
- 350 g water
- 20 g olive oil
- 15 g salt
- Mix first 4 ingredients together until it forms a cohesive dough
- Let it sit for ½ hour
- Sprinkle salt
- Massage dough until all the salt is absorbed and evenly distributed
- Let sit for ½ hour
- Turn bread 4 times using quarter turns and fold dough each time
- Do this four times waiting a half hour between each turn.
- Let rise for 8-12 hours
- Remove dough from bowl and shape into a ball
- Add to a banneton and let rise for 6-8 hrs
- Add to 5½ qt cast iron pot sprinkled with corn meal to oven
- Preheat oven to 450
- Remove pot from oven and uncover and add to pot.
- Make slash in bread
- Add bread to oven in covered pot. Lower temp to 425
- Bake 20 min
- Remove cover and bake until golden brown
Batsheva, there is no comparison to sour dough that I used to make to using your recipe!
Every week I am sending you my love and brachos!
(as are Perel, Gila, Sara, Esther Chava and Lieba who enjoys mine!)
I feel it all the way in NY. We miss you!
How do you feed the started? And how often? Also can you feed the starter and not make anything with it when you feed it?
I make bread once a week so I don’t feed it in between. I wouldn’t let two weeks go by without feeding it. So take it out of the fridge, add 60 grams water, 30 grams white flour and 30 grams rye. Mix well and let sit on your counter for 6-8 hours and then you can use it or put it back in the refrigerator.
How much water and flour do you use to feed the starter when you want to make the bread?
The recipe call for 150 grams of starter – how do you get that amount? Is it 75 grams of water and 75 grams of the white and rye flours (equal parts equaling 75grams)? And yo make two loaves you would do 150 grams of water and 150 flour?