Recipes

Mix the dough. Combine the active starter and water in a large bowl. Add the flour and salt, then mix until there are no dry patches. Cover and rest for 30 minutes.

Stretch and fold. With damp hands, grab one side of the dough, gently stretch it upwards and fold it over itself. Turn the bowl and repeat on all four sides. Cover and rest for 30 minutes. Repeat this process another 3 times, with a 30-minute rest between each round.

Let it rise. Cover the dough and leave it at room temperature until it looks puffier, feels airy and has increased noticeably in size. Depending on your starter and room temperature, this can take several hours.

Shape it up. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured bench. Use your Wiltshire dough scraper to help gently shape it into a round, creating a little tension across the surface.

Rest overnight. Place the dough seam-side up in a well-floured proofing basket or a bowl lined with a floured clean tea towel. Cover and refrigerate for 8-16 hours.

Heat things up. Place a Dutch oven with its lid on in the oven and preheat to 240°C conventional or 220°C fan-forced for around 30-45 minutes.

Score your loaf. Place the dough onto your Wiltshire silicone bread sling. Use the bread scoring tool to make one confident cut, around 1 cm deep, across the top. This gives the loaf somewhere to expand as it bakes.

Bake. Using the sling handles, carefully lower the dough into the hot Dutch oven. Cover and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the lid, reduce the temperature to 220°C conventional or 200°C fan-forced and bake for another 20-25 minutes, until deeply golden.

The hardest part - wait. Use the sling to carefully lift your loaf from the Dutch oven. Transfer to a wire rack and let it cool for at least 1 hour before slicing.

• Follow the dough, not just the clock. Sourdough moves faster when it’s warm and slower when it’s cool.
• Mark your starter. The rubber band makes it easy to see how much your starter has grown after feeding.
• A confident score is best. Make one quick, clean cut with your scoring tool rather than going over the same spot several times.
• Don’t skip the preheat. A properly heated Dutch oven helps give your loaf a great rise and crust.
• Let it cool. Cutting into a piping-hot loaf can leave the centre gummy. Give it time to finish setting before you tuck in.