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Basic All Purpose Sourdough Bread
Maybe you’re a beginner baker who isn’t ready to invest in different flours or a lot of gear, or maybe you’re a veteran like me who brings multiple fresh-milled flours on vacation but invariably bakes so much bread, pizza, and pie that you end up grabbing a sack or two of “AP” at the local store anyway. Or maybe you’re an experienced baker who prefers the tender crumb of a moderate protein refined flour. Regardless of your reasons for baking a homemade all purpose flour sourdough, this recipe will deliver a bread that’s tasty, beautiful, and fun to bake.
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The process outlined below is simple and able to be done in one day, though I recommend baking the following morning; and the formula is easy to memorize in weight (grams), volume (cups and teaspoons), or baker’s percentages.
Ripe sourdough starter (tripled since being fed), water, salt, all purpose flour
Personally, I weigh my bread ingredients even when on vacation and here’s why I use a scale, but you truly don’t need to worry about being exact in this or almost any bread recipe. Different flour brands may have different absorbency or humidity, and being able to adjust ingredients based on feel is more important than adherence to a recipe.
This video shows the dough “feel” about fifteen minutes after mixing. If your dough seems much wetter or dryer at the same stage, you can add a little flour or water if you want.
If you’ve baked a few loaves of sourdough bread, you’ve probably realized there isn’t one right formula for bread dough, nor one right process for arriving at delicious bread. In fact, you don’t even have to bake this recipe in an extra-hot enclosed vessel like a Dutch oven or ceramic cloche. You can bake this dough in a loaf pan at lower temperature for a sandwich bread.
This recipe baked as a sandwich bread in a loaf pan
The most important thing to remember when making bread is to observe the dough and transition it to the next step only when the dough looks and feels ready, not when the recipe says it should be ready. The timing of any sourdough recipe is determined by the temperature and the vigor of the starter that particular day. Needless to say, these variables differ between kitchens and bakers.
I’ve included photos of this dough at the beginning and end of each rising stage (bulk fermentation and final proof) so you know what to look for. I’ve also worked this out to be a daytime process for the starter build and the bulk fermentation so you can keep an eye on both. That said, as you gain familiarity with sourdough baking and fermentation principles, you can adjust any aspect of the recipe’s timing (starter build, bulk fermentation, final proof) to suit your schedule.
Dough expansion during the bulk fermentation, 4 hours at approximately 83°F.
After the bulk fermentation, you will shape your dough to fit your baking vessel. Here are two videos of how to shape a boule (round loaf) and a pan loaf, and this article has more videos of different bread shapes. The shaping video doughs are slightly stiffer than the basic all purpose sourdough dough. They’re Breadtopia’s pain de campagne for the boule, and a light wheat sandwich bread from our Sourdough Cookbook for Beginners. The photo gallery after the recipe shows this AP sourdough dough at the shaping stage.
For the final proof, I suggest at least a half hour at room temperature to let the dough expand and many hours (overnight) at refrigerator temperature. The overnight refrigeration of the dough enhances the bread’s sourness and overall flavor, and it allows for a wide margin of error on when to bake the dough.
From left to right: just after shaping, 30 minutes later at about 68F, 12 hours more in the refrigerator at 37F
If you choose to bake the dough as a sandwich bread, you should let it rise more time before refrigerating it, or let it rise at room temperature again in the morning before baking. If you do bake it at a lesser degree of expansion (similar to the artisan-style dough), then you should score it so it doesn’t burst open on one side. (More on scoring below.)
From left to right: just after shaping, 30 minutes later at about 68F (longer/more expansion would have been better), 12 more hours in the refrigerator at 37F plus two more hours warming up in the high 70s to expand to this degree
My loaf pan measures 9″ x 5″ x 2.75″ which is somewhat spacious for this size dough. If you use a smaller pan, you’ll want the dough to crest over the edge of the pan before you bake it. Alternately, you can multiply the ingredients of this recipe by 1.25 to get a bigger dough.
If you’re in a rush or want to avoid sour and complex fermentation flavors, you can skip the overnight refrigeration, and bake the dough the same day. In this case, you should extend the proofing time at room temperature to get full expansion of the dough, anywhere from 1-3 hours (observe the dough).
Once your oven is preheated, you will score your dough if it’s to be baked artisan style in an enclosed vessel. Here is a video that shows one way to score a boule, and the full article with more designs and videos is here.
The printable recipe below gives full instructions and the photo gallery after shows these steps and more. Furthermore, you may want to watch Eric’s beginning-to-end video of the no knead sourdough bread making process here and check out our various articles in the techniques section of the Breadtopia blog. Finally, if you decide to explore different types of flour and varieties of wheat, this article is a good place to learn about their baking properties and flavors.
Basic All Purpose Sourdough Bread
You can make this all purpose flour sourdough bread recipe into beautiful crusty artisan-style bread or a soft and tender sandwich bread. The process will have you observe your starter ripening and dough rising during the day, followed by an evening bake or an overnight refrigeration of the dough for a morning bake. It's simple, easy to follow, and delicious.
Ingredients
Starter Build
Final Dough by weight
Final Dough by volume
Final Dough baker's percentages
Instructions
Artisan Style Bread Baking Instructions
Loaf Pan Baking Instructions
Photo Gallery
Shopping List
Sourdough Starter (Dry)
Danish Dough Whisk — Large
Round Rattan Proofing Basket
All Purpose Flour
Breadtopia Hearth Baker
Expandable Cooling Rack
American Made Bread Loaf Pan from USA Pan
Bread Lame
Breadtopia Cloche Bread Baker — Round
Raisenne Dough Riser
Basic All Purpose Sourdough Bread