Crusty Sourdough Bread (In a Dutch Oven!)

Break out your trusty Dutch oven to make this crusty and easy Dutch Oven sourdough bread! This recipe is perfect for beginners!

A Dutch oven is one of the most essential tools when making sourdough bread. It provides the perfect environment to get a perfect crust on your sourdough bread. I rarely bake my artisan sourdough bread without a Dutch oven, unless I'm making my sourdough French bread or sourdough sandwich bread. The Dutch oven bakes the perfect loaf every time with a perfect crispy crust!

When embarking on your sourdough journey, it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with some of the sourdough terms in this sourdough glossary. That way you'll know exactly what is being referred to so you can ensure your homemade bread turns out perfectly every time! Before you know it you'll be making all sorts of delicious recipes, like my Sourdough English Muffins!

This is a great first loaf of sourdough bread to make. It's simple, straight forward, and a great place to start!

What is Sourdough Bread?

Sourdough bread is a bread made from wild yeast, flour, water, and salt. There is no commercial yeast, only naturally occurring yeast from the environment. Sourdough bread requires a "starter" to rise the bread. An active starter is filled with good bacteria and natural yeast that gives the bread that traditional sour taste.

When you start your sourdough journey, you'll need a sourdough starter. You can make your own sourdough starter from scratch, you can buy one, or you can get one from a fellow sourdough buddy!

What is A Dutch Oven?

A Dutch oven is a heavy-duty cooking pot, perfect to bake sourdough bread in! Typically it is made of cast iron or enamel, but sometimes it is made of other materials like aluminum or ceramic.

It usually has thick walls and a tight-fitting lid, which is designed to distribute heat evenly. Dutch ovens are known for their ability to go from stovetop to oven, making them great for all types of cooking including braising, simmering, roasting, frying, and baking sourdough bread.

I love my Dutch oven! I use it all the time for baking same day sourdough bread but also use it to make a roast chicken or a soup on a cold Winter day.

Ingredients to Gather

You only need a few simple ingredients to make this sourdough recipe!

• Active sourdough starter. This means it should be fed, active, and bubbly. You can make your own sourdough starter or get one from a friend. How to feed and maintain a sourdough starter is really important in having a healthy starter and a nice rise on your bread.
• Flour. A question a lot of people have in baking is what the difference between bread flour vs all purpose flour. Bread flour is best in baking bread, but if you only have all purpose flour that will work perfectly well too.
• Salt. Salt makes the bread taste good, but it also helps regulate the yeast in the bread. Without salt, the yeast will overproof and result in a flat bread. It would be perfect to make sourdough breadcrumbs with, but not so great to enjoy as a fluffy loaf of bread. Kosher salt is best in bread recipes. Try not to use table salt.
• Water. Filtered water should be used in baking so you do not have any flavors or chemicals in your bread. I use my Brita filter, but you can use whatever filtered water you have on hand.

See printable recipe card for full recipe information on ingredients and quantities.

Substitutions and Variations

• Change the flour! Like I mentioned above, you can use all purpose flour in place of bread flour, but you can also substitute half of the white flour for whole wheat flour or rye flour.
• Add mix ins! Like my cheddar jalapeno sourdough recipe, you can add lots of mix ins to the dough. Fold in nuts, seeds, or raisins right before the bulk fermentation to let the ingredients set in the dough.
• Change the shape! My default is always to shape my bread into a boule, or a round loaf, but if you prefer you can shape it into an oval loaf or cut it into smaller pieces and bake up sourdough bread rolls.

How To Make Dutch Oven Sourdough Bread

Step 1: In a large mixing bowl, add the water and sourdough starter. Mix well to dissolve the starter.

Step 2: Add the flour and salt to the bowl and mix well until a shaggy bread dough forms.

Step 3: Cover the mixing bowl with a damp towel. Let the dough rise for 1 hour.

Step 4: After one hour, perform a stretch and fold. To do that, take a side of the dough and stretch the dough up. Fold it over to the center of the bowl. Keep doing that until all sides of the dough are done. Repeat the process 3 more times then cover with a damp kitchen towel and let the dough rise overnight.

Step 5: The next day, flour your work surface with some flour and place the dough on the work surface. Shape the dough into a boule to increase the surface tension of the bread. How to shape a sourdough boule is an important step to make sure you have the perfect oven spring during the baking process. Place the boule in a basket sprinkled with rice flour or all purpose flour and place it in the refrigerator covered with a clean kitchen towel.

Step 6: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F and place the Dutch oven in the oven as it preheats. Place the dough on a piece of parchment paper. Cut a deep slash on the top of the dough.

Carefully remove the Dutch oven from the oven and place the dough into the preheated Dutch oven. Bake for 30 minutes covered and then 30 minutes uncovered. Remove the bread from the oven once it is golden brown. For best results, allow the bread to cool before cutting into it.

Tips and Tricks

• Make sure your starter is active and bubbly. It should be fed at least once before you start baking with it. Do the float test to see if it is ready to be baked with by placing a tablespoon of starter in a large bowl and see if it floats. If it does, you're ready to bake! If it doesn't, feed it one more time before mixing your dough.
• Keep an eye on the temperature of your house. A cooler day will cause the dough to rise slower, but a warmer day will result in a bread that rises quickly. Keep an eye on the bread as it rises if you notice the temperature is cooler as it may take 10-12 hours before the bulk fermentation is completed.
• Make a deep score on top of your bread. The deep score makes sure that the bread has a place to expand. If the score is not deep enough, the bread will expand where ever the most heat is. It will still taste delicious, but might not look as pretty. Use a bread lame, a sharp razor blade, or a sharp knife.
• Be patient and forgiving! Sourdough can take time, as well as trial and error. Don't get frustrated or give up if the bread does not turn out perfectly. You could use the same recipe and it turns out very different two days in a row. All bread is delicious!

Sample Baker's Schedule

• 8pm- Mix the dough together and let the dough rest for one hour.
• 9pm- Do a stretch and fold to the dough.
• 9:30pm- Do another stretch and fold on the dough.
• 10pm- Do a final stretch and fold. Cover the dough with a damp kitchen towel and let it rise overnight.
• 7am- Shape the dough into a boule and place it in a proofing basket or a banneton basket. Cover with a damp kitchen towel or plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
• 8am- Preheat the Dutch oven while the oven is preheating.
• 8:30am- Bake the bread for 1 hour.

How To Store Sourdough Bread

Store leftover sourdough bread in a plastic bag on the counter at room temperature. A gallon sized Ziploc bag is great.

This is also a great recipe to freeze! Freeze the bread in a Ziploc plastic bag once it has come to room temperature. It will stay fresh for up to 3 months. When you are ready to serve, take the bread out of the freezer and let it come to room temperature on the counter.

Don't throw out bread that has gone stale! You can use it to make sourdough stuffing or Italian sausage stuffing!

Troubleshooting Sourdough Bread

When baking, there's a lot that can look like it's gone wrong. Here's a few tips for when you have some issues with your bread dough.

• Flat or Dense Loaf:
  • Issue: Under-fermentation or over fermentation.
  • Solution: Adjust the fermentation temperature, or starter quantity. It's important to make sure dough doubles in size during bulk fermentation. If the temperature is colder, it may take up to 12 hours before the dough has doubled in size.
• Gummy or Wet Crumb:
  • Issue: Over-hydration or under-baking.
  • Solution: To ensure the bread is baked fully, you can do the tap test. Tap the bottom of the bread loaf and make sure it sounds hollow. You can also use a bread thermometer and make sure the internal temperature gets to 210 degrees F.
• Excessive Sourness:
  • Issue: Prolonged fermentation or high starter quantity.
  • Solution: The longer the bread rests in the refrigerator, the more likely the sour taste of the bread will be. Also an older starter will produce a more potent, sour tasting bread.
• Lack of Rise or Poor Oven Spring:
  • Issue: Weak gluten structure or insufficient proofing.
  • Solution: To improve gluten development through stretch and folds, shape and slash the dough properly, and ensure adequate proofing before baking.
• Uneven Crumb Structure:
  • Issue: There are too many holes in the crumb of your bread. This can be caused by poor shaping or uneven distribution of yeast during bulk fermentation.
  • Solution: Practice shaping techniques, and ensure even distribution of yeast through stretch and folds.
• Sourdough Bread Collapses:
  • Issue: Weak gluten structure or over-proofing.
  • Solution: During the stretch and fold process make sure you develop the gluten structure well, shape the dough properly, and keep a close eye on the proofing process.
• Starter Issues:
  • Issue: Starter not active or too acidic.
  • Solution: Refresh the starter with regular feedings, be consistent with your feeding schedule, and adjust the flour-to-water ratio.
• Bread Sticks to Proofing Basket:
  • Issue: Not enough flour in your proofing basket.
  • Solution: Generously dust the basket with flour or use a mix of flour and rice flour.

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