1/2 cup sourdough starter
1 1/4 cups lukewarm water (do not use tap water)
3 cups bread flour
1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt
Before you begin make sure your starter is active. An active starter will double in size between 4-8 hours after feeding.
In a large bowl combine the starter and water, stir until combined. Add in the flour and then the salt and mix the ingredients to bring dough together in a rough ball. Place the ball in a bowl and cover for 30 minutes.
After the dough has rested for 30 minutes you are going to stretch and fold the dough. To stretch and fold the dough, leave it in the bowl and pick up the top side of the dough, lift it up and fold it back on itself. Turn the bowl a quarter turn and repeat three more times, turning the bowl a quarter turn after each fold. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm draught-free place for 30 minutes. Repeat this folding process five more times (which will be 6 folding's in total); resting the dough for 30 minutes between each time you fold. When you begin this process, the dough will be loose and shaggy but will become less so as you continue to fold and rest. Once all six folding and resting processes have been completed, the dough will be very smooth, spongy and elastic.
Once you have stretched and folded the dough a total of 6 times, cover and place in a warm draught-free area for 1 hour or until slightly puffed. Now it's time to shape your dough so it will fit into your banneton. The most important thing to remember when shaping sourdough is ensuring that you build structure by layering the dough onto itself and then tighten it to build surface tension which will give you oven spring. A taut skin on the dough holds in all the gas bubbles and also helps prevent sticking to the banneton during proofing.
Lightly flour your countertop and gently ease the sourdough out of the bowl so that the sticky part is on the counter and the smooth side is up. Using your hands gently shape the dough into a rough rectangle. Take an end and fold a third of the length onto itself. Take the other end and do the same. This is creating structure in the dough. Now pick up the bottom of the rectangle and gently roll it upwards, creating surface tension as you come to the top. As you reach the top, gently roll so that the seam is positioned underneath. Tighten the surface of the dough by gently putting your hands on the back of the dough and pulling it towards you without taking it off of the counter, do this several times until you create a nice round taut ball. Gently pick up the dough and place onto a floured banneton with the seam at the top. Use your fingers to pinch the dough together to create a tight seam. If additional flour is needed so the dough does not stick to the banneton gently lift the edges to sprinkle more flour.
Let the dough rise for 2-3 hours depending on the temperature of your kitchen. Once the dough has gone through its final rise test the dough by gently pressing a floured thumb into the dough. If the indent gradually releases but still holds a finger shape, you're ready to score and bake.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees including the Dutch oven. Place a piece of parchment paper over the dough in the banneton and gently flip the banneton upside down. Score the loaf and transfer to the preheated Dutch. Bake covered for 30 minutes, after 30 minutes lower the temperature to 400 degrees and bake for an additional 15 minutes. The last 15 minutes will give your loaf a golden-brown color.
Tip: to prevent the bottom of your loaf from getting too dark you can place some rice on the bottom of the Dutch oven prior to placing the parchment paper and loaf in to bake.
