If I could eat only one food for the rest of my life, it would be bread.
Not just any type of bread though — specifically sourdough.
Ever since sourdough began trending on social media, my sister and I were so eager to give it a shot and see if we could pull off the seemingly difficult and tedious process.
Our favorite sourdough creator Gigi, @ okaycoolgigi on TikTok, has made hundreds of recipes with her sourdough starter she named Eloise. From bagels to focaccia and different flavors of bread, Eloise has made her rounds and is probably the most famous live culture on the internet with 1.7 million followers tracking her every move.
The thousands of different recipes on social media inspired us to purchase a 200- year-old starter from Amazon and begin our sourdough journey. My sister has made a few loaves so far but I had a special request this past weekend: for us to make a sun-dried tomato and basil loaf.
Making sourdough certainly isn’t for the weak. It’s time consuming and the process is so delicate you have to make sure you put in exact measurements or else you risk a bad batch. We found it’s easiest to use a scale and weigh your ingredients so you can be as precise as possible.
We began by feeding 100 grams of our starter, Doughlores, with equal parts flour and water using the 1:1:1 ratio. Then, we let the starter rise for 4-6 hours before putting the dough together.
Next, we performed one set of stretches and folds every hour for three hours. Stretches and folds are a method used during bread making to develop the gluten in the dough which strengthens the overall structure and results in a better rise while baking, according to You Knead Sourdough. After completing the third set of stretches and folds, we covered the dough tightly and stored it in the fridge overnight.
The next morning, we removed the dough from the fridge and let it sit for two hours before baking and performed a “jiggle test” to ensure the dough was the right consistency and left it in the banneton, or proofing, basket for two hours. A well-fermented dough will have a jiggly, slightly bouncy texture when shaken lightly, according to The Fresh Loaf.
When there’s about 30 minutes left in the dough’s final rest period, we preheated the oven to 500 degrees and placed our empty dutch oven inside to let it reach a consistent, high temperature.
While the oven was warming, we turned the dough out of the bowl and added our sundried tomatoes and basil to the center of the rolled out dough. Next, we shaped the dough into a round loaf and scored it — which helps the bread prevent cracking while baking — and placed the dough with parchment paper inside the dutch oven. We baked the bread for 25 minutes with the lid on, then took the lid off for the remaining 20 minutes.
As the bread baked, it filled the entire house with the savory smells of olive oil and tomatoes. I was so excited to cut into the bread that I barely waited the hour it needed to cool before trying it.
The texture and flavor of the bread was immaculate, but unfortunately, all of our inclusions stayed in the middle of the loaf so not every bite actually had sun-dried tomatoes in it. The pieces that did though, were superior to the plain parts.
Over 24 hours later, with sore arms and a generously floured kitchen, we had the final product. Despite seeing the massive failures on TikTok, I didn’t find the process all that difficult — you just need to pay attention to detail and be patient with yourself and the recipe. I was expecting to learn a lot from our mistakes, but we didn’t actually make any. Other than spreading our inclusions throughout the dough next time, I wouldn’t change a thing.
If my future loaves come out just as good as this one, I think I can consider myself a true breadwinner.
