This rustic sourdough recipe is a classic and straightforward loaf to make any time you are craving delicious, rustic, artisan bread. I sometimes prefer to make this recipe over my super simple overnight sourdough bread because it yields only one loaf. When baking for one, it really is nice to make smaller quantities to avoid waste! I have also been enjoying using organic unbleached bread flour for this recipe, but feel free to mix in some whole wheat, rye, or whatever else you like! 

A few notes before we bake some rustic sourdough:

A few words on Sourdough Starter

There is so much to say about sourdough starter, that I wrote an entire blog about it last year. Feel free to read that if you want an in-depth read on all things starter. That being said, you will want your starter to be active and bubbly before beginning this bake. There is no one right way to achieve this so it is important to know your starter and how long it takes to rise and fall. 

Gluten Development

Because we are using natural yeast (starter), we need to develop our own gluten over time. That is why sourdough takes much longer than commercially yeasted bread. You can develop gluten in a number of ways:

Using an active starter

Stretching and folding dough

Not over-proving 

Using bread flour and rye

Properly shaping dough before the bulk ferment 

As you are working with your dough, pay attention to the elasticity. When gluten is developed properly, the dough will easily stretch (almost like taffy), but when gluten is not developed, the dough will be a wet blob without elasticity. To learn more about gluten development, you can read my blog about how to prevent a lax and sticky dough!

Salt

When I was first baking sourdough I foolishly omitted salt for a long time. I thought salt was unnecessary and would make the bread less healthy. Later, I learned that salt is vital for flavor and for keeping your bread from molding too soon. 

Flour 

At a minimum you should be using unbleached bread flour, it is up to you if you want to use organic or not. Flour is a lot like eggs: until you taste really delicious free-range eggs, you don’t know what you are missing! Similarly, if you have been using bleached all-purpose flour, your bread will taste fine but if you want it to taste great, you can level up your flour game. I am also a big fan of rye and wheat flours, so get your hands on some to feed your starter and your bread!

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