QUICK LINKS
Shape | Bake
The refrigerator method is used in all my sourdough recipes to take your loaf through the second rise (proof). It’s perfect for busy people and beginners because you become the boss of bake time and it’s difficult to overproof the dough – you don’t need to understand or test the dough’s readiness before baking. Using the refrigerator is super useful, but you can skip it. Sometimes you just want to bake your sourdough!
You’ll need enough time after shaping for the dough to rise again (1 1/2 to 2 hours) and bake (45 mins). You will also need to know how to tell when your sourdough bread is finished proving and is ready to bake.
All is explained below or you can read How to tell when your sourdough bread is ready to bake – The Poke Test.
You’ll need to pay more attention to the dough signals than the 1.5-2 hours suggested resting time. The temperature of your kitchen is everything and it, plus your dough, will determine the time. Your loaf may take a longer or shorter time to prove in your kitchen.
If you go past the point of maturity, your sourdough will become exhausted, and the loaf will start to deflate like a balloon. There is nothing you can do to rescue it. The result will be a heavy and dense loaf that doesn’t rise in the oven. It has no energy left. If that happens, there is a tip for still baking it below – all may not be lost! This is one reason we recommend and use the Refrigerator Method.
Shape
1. Lightly oil your bench-top (I use spray oil). Grab your risen dough and gently tip it out onto the greased area.
If you made enough for two loaves, cut the dough into two equal halves, using a dough scraper or firm plastic spatula. A sharp knife is probably not the best for using on your bench-top!
Work gently from here. You want to keep as many air bubbles in your dough as possible.
2. Using wet hands, pinch one side of the dough, pull and stretch it up towards the ceiling, then fold it down and into the centre. Pinch the opposite side and do the same, followed by the corners, each time overlapping the previous fold in the centre. This process is like wrapping a present tightly. Pull and stretch 12-14 times.
3. Grab a piece of baking paper, flip the dough over and onto the baking paper with the seam underneath and the smooth side facing up. Gently place gently onto the baking paper.
4. Cover your loaf with a clean tea towel and leave it loaf to rest at room temperature for 1 1/2 – 2 hours. You will need to put the oven on in 45 minutes so choose which baking method you will follow and get those items ready now:
Baking your sourdough using a Dutch oven or casserole dish
Baking your sourdough using a pizza stone
Faking it – Baking your sourdough without a Dutch oven or pizza stone
Remember to read the next step in 45 minutes.
5. Now that your loaf has been proofing for 45 minutes, heat your oven to 250°C / 482°F and add your Dutch Oven, Pizza Stone or other baking vessels. In another 45 minutes, you will check to see if your loaf is ready to bake.
The heat absorbed by the oven and baking vessels during this time is super important for rising your loaf.
6. When your loaf has been proofing for 1 1/2 hours, it’s time to test its readiness by poking the sourdough lightly (with your finger) and taking note of how the dough bounces back.
If the indent comes back quickly and disappears, the loaf is not proofed enough and needs the additional half-hour (or slightly more) proofing time.
If the indent doesn’t bounce back, your loaf is over-proofed and your room was probably too warm for the time given. You could bake it in a loaf or cake tin to hold the shape. Place it in very gently, hopefully, it fits your baking method vessels! Don’t slash it and bake it immediately.
If the indent springs back gently but not completely, your sourdough bread is ready to bake!
Bake
6. Brush your loaf generously with water and dust lightly with flour.
7. Using the sharpest knife you have or a razor blade move deeply, quickly and confidently on an angle through the loaf^. If you go slow, the knife will likely drag the dough.
DUTCH OVENS: Carefully take the Dutch oven or casserole dish out of the oven. Remove the lid. Using the baking or parchment paper, carefully lower the dough into the Dutch oven or casserole dish. Replace the lid and bake for 30 mins. After 30 minutes, open the oven and carefully remove the lid from the baking vessel and continue baking for 15 mins or until dark brown. Place the loaf upside down and knock on it like a door. Your loaf is cooked when it sounds hollow.
PIZZA STONES: Slide a wooden* chopping board underneath your dough still on the baking paper. Open your oven and promptly slide the loaf, and baking paper, onto the pizza stone with a fast, firm, forward flick of the chopping board.
Cover the dough inside the oven with an extra large-cake tin turned upside down. Alternatively, place a baking tray with 1cm of boiling water in the bottom on the lowest shelf or even oven floor for some steam. There is no need to do both.**
Bake for 10 minutes at 250°C (480°F), remove the cake tin ‘lid’, reduce the heat to 190°C (370°F) and continue baking for 25-35 mins.
Your loaf is cooked when it sounds hollow as you knock it on the bottom with your knuckles. (Like knocking on a door.)
Don’t have a dutch oven or pizza stone?
Read Faking it – Baking your bread without a Dutch oven or pizza stone
^Slashing the dough controls the oven rise and gives you a more artisan looking loaf.
*WHY USE A WOODEN CHOPPING BOARD?
Wooden chopping boards have no edges, are rigid and won’t crack or melt if they come in contact with the oven shelf or pizza stone.
**WHY USE A CAKE TIN TO COVER THE DOUGH or ADD STEAM TO THE OVEN?
Remember how you had to wet the dough before dusting it with flour and slashing it? Covering the loaf with a cake tin causes the moistened bread to steam. This stops the bread from drying on the surface in the hot oven air, forming a premature crust. So your bread rises more and also gets a great colour, becoming glossy on the surface. The cake tin is removed to allow the crust to form and mature in colour. Adding boiling water to the oven will mimic this same process. You can skip both, however pizza stones without steam will produce a crust with a rustic, matte appearance and your loaves may not grow quite as much.
The Refrigerator Method – adding a little flexibility
Make your own sourdough bread mix
