Overnight Sourdough Bread
User Reviews
4.7
80 reviews
Excellent
Overnight Sourdough Bread
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This Overnight Sourdough Bread develops a mildly tangy, chewy crust loaf from a natural starter, bread flour, salt, and water. The long, cool rise encourages gluten development and flavor complexity. The dough is hydrated and sticky, shaped after an overnight bulk fermentation, then baked to create an airy crumb and crisp crust. Using a banneton basket improves the loaf’s shape and crust texture, while bread storage involves keeping it wrapped at room temperature or slicing and freezing for lasting freshness.
Description
Starting with a mature sourdough starter fed with equal parts flour and water, the dough combines active starter, bread flour, salt, and water to form a shaggy and slightly sticky mass. After mixing, it rests in a covered container at room temperature (or refrigerated if warm) for 8-12 hours to ferment and nearly double in volume.
The following day, the dough is gently turned out on a misted surface, shaped and placed seam-side up into a floured banneton basket, which supports the dough during its final rise and contributes to a patterned crust. Before baking, the dough is inverted onto baking paper and baked in a Dutch oven or similar vessel to maintain steam and promote crust development.
The bread’s final texture features a soft crumb with characteristic sour notes derived from natural fermentation. Stored wrapped in a tea towel at room temperature, it keeps fresh for a few days, while slicing and freezing preserved portions allows easy, toasted servings later.
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Ingredients
For your starter
- 60 g (¼ cup) mature starter room temperature
- 60 g all-purpose flour
- 60 g water filtered, bottled or boiled and cooled tap water, tepid, quantity ¼ cup
For the overnight sourdough
- 150 g active starter (most of the starter you prepared earlier)
- 300 g water filtered, bottled or boiled and cooled tap water, quantity 1 ¼ cups
- 500 g bread flour preferably organic, white
- 12 g sea salt 2 scant teaspoons, quantity 2 tsp
- rice flour for the bowl or banetton, as needed, or gluten free flour
Instructions
Feed Your Sourdough Starter
- Feed 60g of active starter with 60g flour and 60g lukewarm water. Leave for 4-6 hours until doubled in size, bubbly and floating in water (float test).
Prepare The Bread Dough
- Add 150g of bubbly starter in a large mixing bowl. Pour in 300g of water* and mix well - I use my dough whisk. *remember to use filtered, bottled or boiled and cooled tap water.
- Add the bread flour, saltand mix well with the dough whisk or your hands. It’s easier to have a feel for the dough if you use your hands. You will have a shaggy, slightly sticky dough.
- Transfer the dough into a rectangular container (I like a glass pyrex dish), cover and leave to rise at room temperature overnight (8-10 hours). If it is a hot night then place the dough in the fridge where it will need 10-12 hours.
Shape The Sourdough
- The following day take a look at your dough - it should have almost doubled. Mist your worktop with water and scrape the dough onto it – do not punch the dough down. If the dough is really sticky then you can dust the worktop with a little flour – I prefer to use water with this recipe.
- Gently stretch the dough to form a rectangle.
- Fold into three sections, like a letter.
- Roll the dough into a tight ball.
- Flip over, seam side down, and shape into a round loaf (known as a “boule”). Use your hands and a bench scraper to roll the loaf in your hands, slightly tucking the edges under as you go (please check the video for a demo).
Second Rise
- Line a bowl or basket with baking paper and lightly dust the paper and your loaf with gluten free flour or rice flour to prevent the bread from sticking to the paper.
- Gently cup the loaf in your hands and place into the prepared bowl seam side down. Cover loosely with a plastic bag and leave to rise again for 30 minutes to a couple of hours at room temperature (again, this will be temperature dependent).
- Preheat your oven to 450F (230C) half an hour before the end of proving. Place a lidded pot (Dutch Oven) in the oven to preheat.
- Score the top of your loaf using a sharp knife, razor or lame.
Bake your Sourdough
- Remove the pot from the oven using pot holders (please be very careful as it can easily give you very bad burns, as I can testify). Carefully place the dough into the pot, lifting it by the baking paper.
- Cover and bake for 20 minutes.
- Reduce the temperature to 425F (220C). Take the lid off the pot and cook for another 20-25 minutes. You can lift the bread out of the pot and cook directly on the oven shelf for the final 5 minutes.
- Cool the bread on a wire rack for at least an hour before slicing.
Equipments used:
Notes
- Dust the banneton basket with rice or gluten-free flour before use and shake out excess to prevent sticking.
- Transfer shaped dough carefully with seam side up for the final rise in the basket.
- After baking and cooling, store the loaf wrapped in a clean tea towel at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- Slice the entire loaf before freezing; frozen slices toast well directly from the freezer.
Nutrition Information
Show Details
Calories
173kcal
(9%)
Carbohydrates
35g
(12%)
Protein
6g
(12%)
Fat
1g
(2%)
Saturated Fat
1g
(5%)
Sodium
390mg
(16%)
Potassium
47mg
(1%)
Fiber
1g
(4%)
Sugar
1g
(2%)
Calcium
6mg
(1%)
Iron
1mg
(6%)
Nutrition Facts
Serving: 12slices
Amount Per Serving
Calories 173 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 173kcal | 9% |
| Carbohydrates | 35g | 12% |
| Protein | 6g | 12% |
| Fat | 1g | 2% |
| Saturated Fat | 1g | 5% |
| Sodium | 390mg | 16% |
| Potassium | 47mg | 1% |
| Fiber | 1g | 4% |
| Sugar | 1g | 2% |
| Calcium | 6mg | 1% |
| Iron | 1mg | 6% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
Genuine Reviews
User Reviews
Overall Rating
4.7
80 reviews
Excellent
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