DIY SOURDOUGH PAN LOAF Recipe by Sam Ellis of Grizzly Baked Goods
GATHER YOUR GOODS:
335g high-grade/bread flour
240g warm water (approx 28ºC)
100g ripe sourdough leaven/starter/levain* (we refer to starter as the stuff you keep and leaven as the part of it that you’ve fed to use in your dough)
8g salt
GATHER YOUR EQUIPMENT:
Stand mixer with dough hook
Rubber scraper
Non-stick loaf tin 22cm x 11cm (line with baking paper if you’re not confident in the non-stickness)
Small serrated knife, very sharp
Large dish with lid**
TIME REQUIRED
Mix: 10 minutes + 10 minutes
Rest: 3 hours (with stretches at the one- and two-hour marks)
Shape: 5 minutes
Proof: 2 hours (or overnight in the fridge)
Bake: 1 hour
MAKE IT:
Combine the flour and water in the bowl and fit to your stand mixer. Mix on low speed until just combined (two minutes). Cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave it for 30-60 minutes. This will do half the mixing work for you. If you’re feeling brave you can do this step by hand by giving it a good mix & squelch for 3-4 minutes.
Add in the leaven and salt. Mix on low-medium speed for 7-8 minutes until smooth and elastic. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave in a warm place (~25°C) for three hours. At the one-hour and two-hour marks of your dough sitting in its bowl, pick up the dough with two hands and stretch it as far as you can without it breaking, roll it up and place back in the bowl.
After three hours, the dough is ready to shape. Tip it out onto a lightly floured surface and lightly pat it out flat into a circle 20cm across. Pick up the leftmost and rightmost edges of the dough with your thumb and forefingers. Stretch these two edges together and bring them to the middle of your dough and lightly pat the dough down. You should now have straight edges on the two sides of your dough. Now starting at the top of your dough, scroll the dough downwards and let it wind up and curl on itself until you’ve scrolled it all the way to the bottom. Place the dough carefully seam-side down into your loaf pan.
Your dough is ready for its final proof. At this point you can cover it with the tea towel and return it to its warm happy place for two hours, or if you’ve run out of time in the day already, place it in your fridge for anywhere between 10 and 20 hours until you’re ready to bake!
The dough is ready to bake when it has nearly doubled in volume, and has the feel of soft flesh to the touch (too saucy?). Preheat your oven to 220°C fan bake with a rack in the lower part of your oven. If you’re using a Dutch oven or similar, put it in to preheat too.
When the oven – and more importantly, you – are ready, start first by taking your dish** out of the oven (use oven mitts as it will be super hot), placing it on a heatproof surface and taking the lid off. Next, score your loaf with the serrated blade by holding the knife at a low angle to the dough. Starting at the top of the loaf, quickly and confidently pull the blade towards you. It should feel as though you’ve just unzipped the loaf (again, too saucy?). Place the loaf pan inside your dish, put the lid on and place in the oven (or just put a second loaf pan on top of the first and place it directly on the rack in the oven). Set a timer for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes you can carefully take the lid off your dish and return the loaf pan to the oven. Lower the temperature to 200°C and bake for a further 15-20 minutes until a glossy golden brown, burnished crust has formed. Remove from the oven and carefully de-pan the loaf onto a wire rack. Let cool fully*** and enjoy!
*If you don’t keep a sourdough starter at home, your local baker may give you some of theirs if you bring a jar! Failing that, you can substitute the leaven for a half teaspoon of baker’s yeast – the overnight proof option will help this dough develop more flavour.
**It is crucial in the baking of good bread to trap some steam in the oven while the bread bakes. The simplest way to do this is by putting a lid on the dough (you could literally place a second loaf pan upside down on the top of the first) or by cooking the loaf inside of a large casserole dish/Dutch oven with a lid that can accommodate double the height of the loaf pan. If you are using one of these, place it in the oven while it preheats.
***No one has ever done this in the history of mankind!
