Background

This is the process I've developed to make sourdough bread with minimal effort / process complexity / cleanup — all around "low impact".

Why bother writing yet another guide?

Recipes I've come across tend to use more bowls, or things like proofing baskets, or more shaping steps, or more complicated proofing schedules, or they tend to make a bigger mess. I haven't had the inclination to buy more equipment, or the patience to clean more bowls or my counter, or to hold to complicated proofing schedules.

The intended audience is the casual baker who wants nice fresh bread without a significant investment of active time per loaf (the process takes place over ~18 hours, mostly requiring no intervention), and who is willing to invest in a few tools, mostly inexpensive, all of which have uses beyond bread making.

This process also requires very little dedicated space for bread making, and doesn't leave any flour or dough stuck to countertops (after some practice) — big advantages in shared kitchens.

Overview

The basic flow for this no-knead bread is

1. Mix the flour, salt, and water (the "autolyse")
2. Add the starter (yeast) and mix
3. Let the mixture sit for 8-18 hours (bulk fermentation)
   • With a few "stretch and folds" over the first couple hours of this stage
4. Preheat the oven with the dutch oven inside
5. Shape the loaf
6. Bake in the dutch oven

Principles

These are key points that approach explaining the "why" of various steps, and hint at ways you can tweak the process without ruining things

• Flour type / protein content don't appear to matter much as long as you maintain the right hydration ratio
• Stretching and folding during bulk fermentation is key for getting the right dough consistency — important for shaping the loaf and getting a good "spring" in the oven
• Lower hydration breads (like this one) are easier to work with in general than higher hydration breads. Higher hydration breads may require more stretch and folds and longer bake times, but can yield nicer texture / crumb / more oven spring