Long-Fermented Sourdough Master Dough
This sourdough Master Dough is the perfect, versatile bread recipe. It can be made in bulk and used throughout the week for endless bread options- baguettes, sandwich loaves, cinnamon rolls, english muffins, dinner rolls and more! This dough does not require long fermentation (you can use it immediately in a recipe after the bulk rise), or you can also keep it in the fridge for up to 5 days, using it throughout the week at your leisure.
Print Recipe
Equipment
- 1 One large mixing bowl, preferably with a lid
- 1 Kitchen scale
- 1 Clean kitchen towel or tea towel
- Optional but helpful: bench scraper, dough whisk, fork, plastic oven bag or plastic wrap if you don't have a lid
Ingredients
- 50-75 g sourdough starter
- 300-325 g filtered water warmed slightly
- 500 g organic unbleached all-purpose flour or bread flour
- 10 g sea salt
- 10 g honey optional
Instructions
- Feed your Starter: about 3-4 hours before starting your dough, add equal parts flour and water to your starter with a clean fork. Cover and let rest for a couple of hours until it’s bubbling and doubled in size.
- Pro tip: Triple this recipe so that you have enough dough throughout the week to make multiple baked goods.
- Make the Dough: Add 50 g (1/2 cup) starter 375 (1 1/2 cups) grams of warm filtered water to a bowl. Mix to combine using a fork or dough whisk. Add 500 g (around 2 cups) organic unbleached all-purpose flour, and then 10 grams (1 ¼ tsp) salt to the same bowl. Add honey if desired. Combine with a fork, dough whisk or your hands until it resembles a shaggy dough. Cover with a clean towel for 1 hour and let rest.
- Stretch and Fold: Stretch and fold dough every 30 minutes for a total of 4 times over the next 2-2.5 hours (to see how to do this, watch the tutorial). Cover with a clean towel or lid between each stretch and fold. If you dip your hands in a little bit of water before stretching and folding, it keeps the dough moist and from sticking. At this point the dough should firm up a little bit and have a nice gluten structure each time you stretch and fold it.
- Bulk rise: Let your dough rise for 6-10 hours (around 6 in the summer, 10 in the winter). After the bulk rise, you can either place your dough in the fridge or use it in a recipe.
- If you plan on using your dough to make anything but an artisan loaf (pizza dough, focaccia bread, dinner rolls, sandwich bread, pretzels, cinnamon rolls), shape the dough into a nice ball and place an airtight lid on your bowl and refrigerate until ready to use later in the week. It will keep for 4-6 days at most.
- Optionally, if you want to make an artisan loaf AND other bread products from your dough- take half of your dough to leave out for the “bulk rise”(8-10 hours) and follow the rest of the Artisan Loaf recipe instructions. Then with the rest of the dough, shape it into a ball with your hands and put it in another container with an airtight lid. Place in the fridge.
- For any of your breads, remove your dough from the fridge and bake according to the given instructions of your other recipe.