No-fuss Sourdough Boule

• 250 grams active sourdough starter
• 1000 grams Niobrara Grain and Milling Bread Flour
• 20 grams sea salt
• 730 grams water, slightly warm

Directions

1. Turn on your digital kitchen scale.
2. Set the dough tub on the scale and press "tare" to make the scale read 0g. Add the 250g active sourdough starter into the tub. Then press "Tare".
3. The scale should read 0g.
4. Next, add 730g slightly warmed water into the tub.
5. Using a wooden spoon or spurtle stir the water and starter until the water is nice and creamy.
6. Now add in 1000g of bread flour.
7. Again, press "tare" and make sure your scale reads 0g. Now add 20g salt.
8. Add the salt to the dough tub.

Mix the Dough

1. Remove the dough tub from the scale and place on the countertop. Stir everything together until a shaggy dough has formed.
2. Place the lid on the tub and let it rest for 30 minutes so that the flour can absorb the water.
3. After the 30 minute rest, stir again making sure everything is nicely incorporated and grab the dough and stretch it up and fold it over just a few times.

Ferment Overnight

1. Place the lid on the dough tub and place either on the counter for roughly 8 hours until doubled in size or place it in the fridge to ferment overnight.
2. Placing the dough in the fridge will make it easier for you to work with it.
3. After it sits in the fridge overnight, if it did not double in size, place the dough tub on the counter top for a few hours until it has doubled in size.

In the morning

1. In the morning, 1-2 hours before you would like to bake the bread, remove the dough from the tub and cut the dough in half.
2. Next, form 2 balls out of the dough.
3. Make your hands damp with a small amount of water. Fold the dough over itself. It's easiest to do this with a bench scraper.
4. It will begin to change texture as you push and pull the dough a few times on the counter top.
5. Next, fold all the corners to the center, flip the ball over, and push with one hand and pull the dough ball on the counter with the other hand about 4-5 times and then twist it in the circle to help seal up the bottom seams until a round loaf has formed
6. Place 1 tea towel of each of your banneton baskets, letting the edges fully hang over the baskets.
7. Lightly flour the tea towel, rubbing the flour in with your hands a bit so that the dough does not stick to the tea towel.
8. Grab your dough ball, turn it over, and place the ball in the floured tea towel banneton basket.
9. Sprinkle a little flour over the top of the dough and fold the four corners of the towel over the dough.
10. Let the bread rise for 1-2 hours until light and fluffy (it will Not double in size) and a little giggly when you shake the basket.
11. After the 1-2 hour rest, preheat the oven to 450℉. Place 2 dutch oven in the oven to preheat while the oven is preheating.
12. Lay 2 sheets of parchment paper in the counter. Turn your dough out of the banneton basket onto the parchment paper
13. While the oven is preheating, place the banneton baskets in the fridge so that the dough is firmer when you turn it out on the parchment to bake.
14. Take a sharp knife and slice a 2-3 inch line on the top of the boules.
15. Once the oven is preheated, remove the dutch ovens, take the lids off, place each boule in a dutch oven and put the lids on.
16. Bake for 30 minutes. Then remove the lid and bake for 10-12 more minutes.
17. Remove from oven and let cool on a cooling rack for at least 45 minutes before slicing the boule.