Recipes

Add 325g water to a large mixing bowl, then add your active starter. Mix together with your hand before adding 500g flour. Mix well to form a loose dough, then cover the bowl with a tea towel.

Roughly half an hour later: Add 10g salt and "scrunch" into the dough, knead until it is mixed well.

Over the next 2 hours, stretch and fold the dough 3-4 times, leaving approximately 30 minutes between each set. This step is flexible - if you don't have 2 hours, you can do fewer sets or leave less time between them.

See a stretch and fold demonstration here.

Once the stretch and folds are complete, cover the bowl with a tea towel and leave it on the bench for 5-8 hours, or until the dough has roughly doubled in size and has lots of bubbles. The exact time will vary depending on room temperature. Placing the dough somewhere warm will speed up the process.

This rest allows fermentation to occur, creating the gases that help the dough rise. See an example of fully fermented dough here.

Once bulk fermentation is complete, use your Wiltshire dough scraper to gently release the dough from the sides of the bowl and turn it out onto a lightly floured benchtop.

Pick up one edge of the dough and fold it into the centre. Repeat around the dough to create a circle, then flip the whole loaf over so the folded side is underneath.

Create surface tension. Use your Wiltshire dough scraper to help gently pull and turn the dough, creating a smooth, taut surface. This tension helps the loaf hold its shape while baking.

See an example of how to shape sourdough here.

Choose when to bake.

• Bake right away: Carefully transfer the shaped loaf onto your Wiltshire silicone bread sling, trying to maintain the surface tension you created.
• Refrigerate first: Place the shaped dough into a bowl, cover with a damp tea towel or plastic shower cap/food cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days. When you're ready to bake, gently transfer the dough onto your Wiltshire silicone bread sling.

Preheat the oven. Preheat your oven to 240°C.

Place your dough on your Wiltshire Silicone Bread Sling. Using the sling handles, carefully lower the loaf into your Dutch oven. Score your loaf using the Wiltshire bread scoring tool. This gives the dough room to expand as it bakes. Spray the loaf all over with a decent amount of water. Place the lid on your pot.

Bake at 240°C (464°F) for 40 minutes, then remove the lid and continue baking at 180°C (356°F) for a further 15 minutes. Keep an eye on your loaf during this time, if it starts to get too dark, turn the temperature down further or place the lid back on top.

Using the sling handles, carefully lift the loaf from the Dutch oven and transfer it to a wire rack. Allow it to cool for at least 2 hours before cutting.