DIY sourdough bread

ASICS FrontRunner Meg Lagerwey aka The Good Gut Guru is in love with sourdough. She reckons you should be too. This is her recipe to bake the perfect loaf at home:

"Making sourdough is not like making any other bread," Meg says, "it takes time & patience. But the reward is worth it! Here’s to a lifetime of happy baking!" Learn more here, and then get stuck in below:

Step 1: Take the Starter out of the Fridge

We store our starter in the fridge in between bakes, the fridge sort of puts it to sleep, so you’ll need to wait a couple of hours until you feed it. We leave ours over night. Then feed the starter with:

1/2 cup flour. 1/8 cup water and mix it in
Let it rest for 12-24 hours with clean cloth over it

Starter got you stumped??

Step 2: Make the leaven

Take 1 tablespoon of the starter and mix it with 1/4 cup flour and 1/6 cup water in a large baking bowl.
Cover it with a clean cloth and let it rest for 6 – 12 hrs

Step 3: Make the Dough

In a small glass bowl, dissolve 1/2 teaspoon of salt into 1/8 cup of water, stirring it occasionally until the salt is dissolved.
Add 1 cup of water to the leaven and mix, lots of the leaven will dissolve here
Add 2 & 2/3 cups flour to the leaven and water mix and let it rest for 30 mins to 4 hrs
Mix in the salt solution. Pinch the dough to mix thoroughly and then fold the dough
To fold the dough:
- Pull it towards you and fold it over itself
- Turn the bowl 90 degrees and repeat
- Repeat that until you’ve folded the dough 4 times (i.e. 360 degrees)
Rest for 30 mins
Do this process 4 times.
After the last fold, let the dough rest for 30 – 60 mins

Step 4: Prep & Bake the Dough

Place the dough on a clean surface and shape it.
Let it rest for 20 – 30 mins
Dust the dough with flour and flip it over
Fold the dough like you did earlier (360 degrees – four folds)
Once completed, flip the dough to the right side up, with the folds at the bottom
Place the dough into a proofing basket or bread tin, cover it and let it rise for 1- 3hrs.
While the dough is rising, place a dutch oven (i.e. those baking tins that have a pot and a lid), inside of your oven while you pre-heat it to 250 degrees.
Remove the lid of the dutch oven, place the dough inside and score the top of the dough
Bake for 20 mins with the lid of the dutch oven on
Reduce heat to 220 degrees for another 10 minutes
Remove the lid and continue baking for 30 – 50 mins until the top is dark, almost burnt looking
Cool the loaf and dig in!