Ingredients

• Flour 567g
• Salt 2 teaspoons
• Sourdough starter 180ml or 113g
• Water 250ml or 340g

1. Mix the water and sourdough starter in a large mixing bowl. Stir until the starter is fairly evenly mixed into the water.
2. Add the flour and the salt. Stir until all dry flour is gone. Ideally, knead for 10-15 seconds to bring mixture into a cohesive mound.
3. Cover with cling film and allow the dough to prove for 12-24 hours at room temperature.
4. Once dough has doubled in size, shape into loaf. For instructions on how to shape it, refer to Ben Starr's video linked to below.
5. Let dough rise in a bowl of similar size to the casserole dish/Dutch oven, lined with soft cloth that has been heavily floured. Rise 2-4 hours, or until double.
6. To bake, preheat your oven to 230°C / 210°C fan assisted. Also place the cast iron casserole bowl in the oven to heat it up. Line your heated up casserole bowl with baking paper and then carefully turn your dough out from the proving container into it.
7. Using a sharp knife cut the surface of the dough, this is what is known as the baker’s signature. The dough can be cut up to ½ cm deep. (This isn’t just for aesthetics, scoring the bread also helps control where and how it rises while baking).
8. Bake the bread for 20 minutes with the lid on. Then remove the lid and bake for another 20 minutes.
9. Remove the bread from the casserole dish and allow to cool on a cooling rack. Cut once the bread is fully cooled down.

Many thanks to Patrick Ryan (opens new window) whose sourdough recipe formed the basis for this one. You can view a video of his recipe here: (opens new window) The latest version of this recipe is based on Ben Starr's recipe. A video of this can be viewed here: (opens new window)