High Hydration Sourdough Bread Recipe
This High Hydration Sourdough Bread recipe yields a beautifully crusty, open-crumb loaf made with simple ingredients and a slow fermentation process. Featuring an 80% hydration dough, it requires patience and a few stretch-and-fold sessions to develop structure, resulting in a moist, airy crumb and a crispy, golden crust. The recipe includes an optional cold ferment for enhanced flavor and a Dutch oven bake to mimic professional bakery conditions at home.
- Prep Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 55 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours 45 minutes
- Yield: 1 loaf (approximately 900g-1kg)
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: French-inspired Artisan
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 500 g Bread Flour (100%)
- 400 g Water (80%)
- 100 g Sourdough Starter (active and bubbly, recently fed) (20%)
- 12 g Salt (2%)
Instructions
- Autolyse – Premixing The Dough: Weigh out your sourdough starter and water into a large mixing bowl. Mix the water and starter together briefly. Then add your flour and salt and mix the whole lot together to form a shaggy dough. Cover your bowl with an elastic food cover or plastic wrap and let it sit for around 1 hour. This process allows the flour to fully hydrate and begin gluten development.
- Forming Up The Dough: After autolyse, bring the dough together into a smooth ball by stretching it from the outside and folding it over the center repeatedly for about 20-25 stretches. The dough will be sticky but will become smoother and shinier. Cover it and let it rest for 30 minutes.
- Stretch & Fold – Creating Structure: Over the next two hours, perform 4-6 sets of stretch and folds to build dough strength. For each set, stretch the dough up and over itself 4 times, leaving about 15 minutes between sets. The dough will be slack due to high hydration.
- Bulk Ferment: Cover the dough and allow it to ferment at room temperature until doubled in size. With this high hydration dough, bulk fermentation is faster than usual.
- Shaping The Dough: Gently remove the dough from the bowl onto your work surface with the smooth side down to expose the sticky side. Shape into a boule or preferred batard shape using minimal handling to preserve gas bubbles.
- Placing Into A Proofing Container: Place the shaped dough seam side up into a proofing basket or container liberally floured with rice flour or semolina. Handle gently to avoid degassing.
- Cold Ferment (Optional): Cover loosely and refrigerate for 5 to 24 hours to deepen flavor and improve texture.
- Preparing to Bake: When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 230°C (450°F) with a Dutch oven inside for about 1 hour. Remove the dough from the fridge at the last minute, place it on parchment or a silicone sling, and score the top with a razor or knife for expansion.
- Baking: Carefully place the dough in the hot Dutch oven, cover with the lid, and bake for 40 minutes at 230°C (450°F). Remove the lid and continue baking for another 10-15 minutes at 210°C (410°F) to develop a deep crust.
- Finishing The Bake: Remove the bread from the Dutch oven and cool on a wire rack to allow the crumb to set and prevent sogginess.
Notes
- Use a dough scraper to handle the sticky high hydration dough more easily.
- Flour your proofing basket with rice flour or semolina to prevent sticking and maintain the dough surface texture.
- The optional cold ferment adds flavor complexity but can be skipped if short on time.
- Scoring the dough allows for controlled expansion and improves crust aesthetics.
- Preheating the Dutch oven ensures maximum oven spring and crust development.
