Sourdough starter
White flour
Wheat flour
Salt
Water
All in, the process of making sourdough bread takes about 48 hours, so making this recipe requires quite a bit of time planning. That said, the actual work involved in making bread isn't very arduous — it's just an involved process that has a lot of carefully timed and dependent steps. I'm not nearly experienced enough to provide color commentary on how you might take this process and experiment with the different variables, but I'll at least start by recording what I've done and what's worked for me. (Special shout out to Matt Bloom and my mother for being patient teachers during my initial learning period).
For starters (nice, a bread pun), it's helpful to chat with someone over the phone about what's all involved. That said, this video I found on YouTube is a good starting point to see an overview of the process, and forms the blueprint for the techniques and timing included in this recipe.
Once you've watched the video and understand the overall process (and bought way too much niche breadmaking equipment), all you need is the following details to reference. Each step is shown in detail in the video above, which I referred to very frequently while making my first loaves.
In any case, let's assume we want to bake bread on Sunday morning — here's what leads up to that:
Take starter out and feed:
Discard excess starter, leave this mix covered on the counter overnight.
The starter should grow considerably overnight and bubble slightly as the yeast produces carbon dioxide (I think?).
In the morning (let's say 9am), feed your starter again at a ~1:1:1 ratio (water: flour: starter):
Discard excess starter, leave this mix on the counter for 6-8 hours before you incorporate it into the dough in the next step.
This is where the real shit happens. You're going to spend about 4-5 hours total making the dough before popping it in the fridge overnight to proof before you bake it the next day. The ratios I've been using for my dough (1 loaf) are as follows (shout out to Matt Bloom for these numbers):
To preserve your starter for later baking, reserve 2tbsp and feed as specified for Friday evening, then place it in the fridge (see bottom of this recipe for details on storing and feeding your starter).
The process of making dough is as follows (video above with details per step):
Place in well floured bread bowl, cover and leave in fridge to proof for 12-20 hours.
Take your dough out an hour before baking. Preheat oven to 500, with dutch oven inside it.
After your dough's reached room temp, gently guide it out of the bread bowl and place it on a ~2 foot long sheet of lightly floured parchment paper (makes it easier and safer to put the dough into the 500 degree dutch oven).
Dust the surface of your dough with flour and score the dough to allow it to open while baking (instead of splitting unpredictably).
Holding the ends of the parchment paper, lower the dough and parchment paper into the dutch oven.
Cap the dutch oven and bake for 20min at 500. Remove the cap, lower to 450, bake for an additional 20-25min.
Let bread cool on rack for an hour before slicing.
I have literally no idea. I bought it for $2 from a nearby restaurant, and you could probably get it for free by asking for some from your local baker, or from one of your countless friends who by this time have undoubtedly dabbled in bread making. If you're too shy to get involved with your community, I'm sure you can find a recipe online, but I can't vouch for any.
Once you get your starter, you should feed it as follows:
Mix it all together and pop that in the fridge. Putting it in the fridge slows down the starter's growth — if you left it on the counter you'd need to feed it every day. If you're not baking each week, simply repeat the above steps once a week and discard excess starter (or save it to make things like crackers, focaccia, pancakes, and likely many other recipes on the internet).
