Extra-Tangy Sourdough Bread

This bread, with its mellow tang, is perfect for those who like their sourdough bread noticeably sour, but not mouth-puckeringly so.
Ingredients
- 1 cup ripe (fed) sourdough starter
- 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
- 5 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour, divided
- 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
Instructions
- Combine the starter, water, and 3 cups (12 3/4 ounces, 362g) of the flour. Beat vigorously for 1 minute.
- Cover, and let rest at room temperature for 4 hours. Refrigerate overnight, for about 12 hours.
- Add the remaining 2 cups (8 1/2 ounces, 241g) flour, and the salt. Knead to form a smooth dough.
- Allow the dough to rise in a covered bowl until it's light and airy, with visible gas bubbles. Depending on the vigor of your starter, this may take up to 5 hours (or even longer), depending on how active your starter is. For best results, gently deflate the dough once an hour by turning it out onto a lightly floured work surface, stretching and folding the edges into the center, and turning it over before returning it to the bowl. Adding these folds will give you a better sense of how the dough is progressing, as well as strengthen it.
- Gently divide the dough in half.
- Gently shape the dough into two rounds or oval loaves, and place them on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover with lightly greased plastic wrap and let rise until very puffy, about 2 to 4 hours (or longer; give them sufficient time to become noticeably puffy). Don't worry if the loaves spread more than they rise; they'll pick up once they hit the oven's heat. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Spray the loaves with lukewarm water.
- Slash the loaves. If you've made round loaves, try one slash across the center, and a curved slash on each side of it; or slash in the pattern of your choice. For oval loaves, two diagonal slashes are fine. Make the slashes fairly deep; a serrated bread knife, wielded firmly, works well here.
- Bake the bread for 25 to 30 minutes, until it's a very deep golden brown. Remove it from the oven, and cool on a rack.
- Store bread, loosely wrapped in plastic, for several days at room temperature; freeze for longer storage.
Nutrition Information
- Serving Size 1 slice
- Servings Per Batch 12 per loaf
Amount Per Serving:
- Calories 110
- Calories from Fat 5
- Total Fat 0g
- Saturated Fat 0g
- Trans Fat 0g
- Cholesterol 0mg
- Sodium 220mg
- Total Carbohydrate 22g
- Dietary Fiber 1g
- Sugars 1g
- Protein 3g
* The nutrition information provided for this recipe is determined by the ESHA Genesis R&D software program. Substituting any ingredients may change the posted nutrition information.
Tips from our bakers
- For a tasty loaf using commercial yeast (for faster rising), check out our recipe for Rustic Sourdough Bread.
- What makes the sour in sourdough bread? It's a combination of lactic and acetic acids, created as the dough rises and ferments. Refrigerating the dough encourages the production of more acetic than lactic acid; and acetic acid is much the tangier of the two. Thus, sourdough bread that's refrigerated before baking will have a more assertive sour flavor.
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Reviews
I'm fairly new to sourdough, but have been experimenting with different long fermentation recipes. Disclaimer: I suffer from a form of celiac disease. That means I break out in a rash whenever I consume even the tiniest amount of wheat, rye, or barley in any form: OR SO I THOUGHT. Introduced to research regarding gluten intolerance and sourdough educated me on how a very long fermentation process changes the structure of grain to make it more tolerable for many who suffer. (TRY AT YOUR OWN RISK. NOT ALL WHO SUFFER GLUTEN INTOLERANCE CAN EAT SOURDOUGH) Because of my concern for a long enough fermentation time I added 12 hours to the initial stage, and 12 hours to the final proof before shaping. This is a delightful bread. Crispy crust. Great sour wheat taste. Easy. Silky crumb. LOVE IT!
Made this with some of the sourdough starter my boss let me take home that she started in 2004. I added a tsp of instant yeast due to the starter needing a spike and it came out with great flavor. Nice crust and chewy center. Made this into 6 pieces (should have done 4) for bread bowls.
Made this, first time, yesterday/today. Great taste, texture. I'm new to starter...six weeks in. So the "extra sour" component was not so, but I understand why. My dough seemed very wet. I followed recipe to the gram, using a scale and all. I kneaded with a KA mixer so didn't realize it was possibly too wet. Turns out it was NOT too wet. It was hard to handle for shaping as it felt sticky, jello like and poofy. I ran with it! Each half went into a proofing bowl after the folds. One bowl proofed at room temp, the other went directly into the fridge for next day bake. But after 2.5 hours proof I thought I was going to end up with a large cracker, so I decided to bake both boules and just move on. They both hit the oven at the same time, the 2nd direct from the fridge. To my surprise, the fridge loaf rose with oven spring 50 percent higher than the one proofed per the recipe. I've only cut into the shorter one so far and it was AMAZING! It was not dense at all. No big holes but still attractive looking slices. I won't be cutting into the high rise loaf until tomorrow. But, I wonder why the chilled loaf had such spring? It was in the fridge over 2 hours then direct to oven. I guess the whole batch was already fully proofed and wasn't needing the proofing time called for in the recipe? My room temperature ranged from 73 in the AM to 78 by bake time.We love bread-experimentation questions, Bob. The reason the loaf from the fridge had such a big oven spring is likely because the fridge slowed down the rising. This meant that when it hit the heat of the oven, the loaf still had quite a bit of rising to do so it popped right up in the heat. We're glad you had a happy sourdough day! Annabelle@KAF
This recipe is awesome! My sourdough starter is much than last week so I followed this recipe and baked two loaves. It was really good! Actually, I failed so many times for my sourdough starter before but now it goes smoothly now. I made twice of ingredient and there are big two loaves so presented for gift to my lovely people!
I recently found that my starter that I've had for 2 years was ruined by my freezing refrigerator, so I started a new batch. When I returned to this recipe (haven't baked it in a while) I noticed that the instructions appear slightly different than I remember, including the optional addition of sour salt for extra tang. When was this recipe adjusted?This recipe was updated early last year, but you're welcome to follow the old recipe. It's the same, except it calls for 1 tablespoon of sugar and 1/2 to 5/8 teaspoon sour salt. Happy baking! Annabelle@KAF
I have used this recipe at least once a week since starting my sourdough last October. Makes great tasting bread. Comment: I had occasional troubles with dense/flattish loaves. Like a lot of folks that have posted here I thought it was my sourdough starter. Turns out that I was not kneading the dough enough. Suggest you emphasize that a bit in the recipe. 'Knead by hand for about 12 minutes or 7 minutes if using a mixer.' Question about getting more sour in the sourdough. I have read a lot of blogs/web recipes etc. At the King Arthur site the suggestion is to refrigerate and lengthen the fermentation cool/cold. Another website, brodandtaylor suggests a warmer temperature. Not having much luck with either approach. Thanks!
Ok, this is the third try. The flavor is great, but is always very heavy. Tried different flours. I even created a whole new sourdough starter, still no luck. First rise is great, but then only rises minimally after being in the fridge. I have tried many of the tips here, no luck. Wish I could post a photo, I would. GREAT flavor just so dense.. :-( I will try again, but at a loss.J, it sounds like you might want to consider sending a photo to our bakers on the hotline so they can help you troubleshoot further. We've found that in many cases like this, it goes back to how the starter is being treated. If you're not already doing so, try leaving the starter at room temperature and feed it regularly (about once every 12 hours). This is especially important to do in the three days leading up to baking, but it can be beneficial to do this for an extended period of time to build up the flavor and strength of your starter. We hope you'll give us a call and send a photo to customercare[at]kingarthurflour[dot]com. Kye@KAF
Can I use bread flour for this recipe? Also, I've read recipes that add in olive oil for the dough. What purpose does the olive oil serve?We're glad you ask, Lucile. Feel free to use bread flour in place of the all-purpose flour in this recipe. Because bread flour has a higher protein level, it absorbs more water. We recommend adding one extra tablespoon of water for every cup of flour, drizzling in additional water by the teaspoon as needed to achieve a soft, smooth dough. Olive oil is commonly added to doughs to add flavor and tenderness. It also makes doughs easier to work with by hand and can aid in browning. If you have any additional questions, please don't hesitate to give our friendly Baker's Hotline a call at 855-371-BAKE (2253). Happy baking! Annabelle@KAF
When you refrigerate it overnight do you need to let the dough warm up to room temperature before adding the flour and salt?No need to let the dough warm up to room temperature before proceeding with step three. The dough will warm up and rise once the additional flour and salt have been added. Happy baking! Kye@KAF
I loved this recipe, especially for a beginner like me. The dough was beautiful and easy to handle. It came out of the oven and looked like I had been making bread for years. I could hear it crackle as it cooled. But boo hoo.....it had no sourdough tang at all. I followed the directions exactly using all times and ingredients listed. I'm wondering why, why, why. Could it be that my starter is only a month old? I feed it once a day. Smells right. I'm on the quest for that sourdough tang and then some.It sounds like you're doing everything right, Carol! As your starter matures, it will develop a more sour flavor. Our Sourdough FAQ page shares some thoughts on getting a stronger flavor: "The temperature at which your loaf rises makes a difference. The wild yeast in sourdough produces both acetic and lactic acids as it consumes the starch and sugars in bread dough. When the dough is refrigerated, the yeast tends to produce more acetic acid than lactic acid. Since acetic acid is quite sour (think vinegar), bread dough that rises in the refrigerator overnight will tend to produce a more sour loaf than dough that rises for several hours at room temperature." We hope this helps! Annabelle@KAF