The title says it all: This is a very special recipe, the 100th we are sharing on this Delight Baking with you! As this is a special occasion, we also wanted to do something special.
We already had the dough in different twisted shapes or cut in many different ways so we thought the 100th recipe is a reason to go big – and that’s what we did!
This beauty is a big sourdough bread of 2 kg in the shape of our logo! Of course it is not only looking good but also super delicious too!
Things to know before you start
Time Schedule
| Steps | Work time | Waiting time |
| Mix | ~15 minutes | – |
| Bulk Fermentation, Stretch & Fold | ~10 minutes | 2,5 hours |
| Pre-shape | ~5 minutes | 15 minutes |
| Shape | ~5 minutes | – |
| Proof | – | 2,5 hours |
| Score | ~5 minutes | – |
| Bake | ~5 minutes | 1 hour |
| Cool | – | 4 hours |
In about 11 hours you will have a tasty and very big sourdough bread.
Total ingredients
| Weight | Ingredient |
| 500 g | Mature sourdough starter – From whole wheat flour |
| 870 g | All-purpose flour |
| 120 g | Rye flour |
| 25 g | Salt |
| 3 g | Yeast – Fresh (optional) |
| 500 g | Water |
You will have a dough of about 2.018 g in total.
Make sure to have a mature sourdough starter that is active and healthy. If you think your starter is not, then you can add 3 g of fresh yeast to help with the rise.
Difficulty
A simple recipe for a big sourdough bread with about 60% hydration and therefore an easy to handle dough, even if it is so big.
Feel free to check out our sourdough bread for beginners recipe that contains a lot of details for the different steps you will be executing here.
Baking tools
A big oval banneton proofing basket is needed for this much dough to get it in a good oval shape.
You can also have a look at our should have baking tools to find some more baking tools we are constantly using.
Steps
1. Mix
| Weight | Ingredient |
| 500 g | Mature sourdough starter – From whole wheat flour |
| 870 g | All-purpose flour |
| 120 g | Rye flour |
| 25 g | Salt |
| 3 g | Yeast – Fresh (optional) |
| 500 g | Water – 26°C (78,8°F) |
- Mix all of the mentioned ingredients in a stand mixer for 5 minutes on speed level one and 7 minutes on speed level two
- The dough should be smooth after mixing and not stick to the bowl a lot
2. Bulk Fermentation, Stretch & Fold
- Cover the dough and let it rest for a total of 2,5 hours at 20-22°C (68-71,6°F)
- During that time stretch & fold the dough every 30 minutes (3 times in total) and after the 3rd time, let it ferment further for 1 hour until 2,5 hours are reached in total
- After each stretch and fold put it back to the bowl and cover it again so it doesn’t dry out
3. Pre-shape
- Get the dough in shape by roughly rounding it:
- Place the dough on a very lightly floured surface
- Pull the edges from the sides in the air and then in the middle of the dough to create a smooth outer skin on all sides of the dough ball
- Place the dough ball seam-side down on a non floured surface
- Put both of your hands with the ball of your hand on the surface behind the dough ball
- Pull your hands just a bit towards you, very slowly, while keeping the ball of your hand on the surface
- Turn the dough ball 180° and do the same thing again
- Repeat these steps about 4 to 6 more times
- Afterwards look for a dry spot on your surface and flour it lightly
- Transfer the pre-shaped dough ball on the floured surface
- Cover it with a towel and let it rest for 15 minutes
- Tip: If you realize that the dough starts sticking to your hand or bench knife, just clean the bench knife of any dough and flour it a bit again
4. Shape
- Get the dough in the final shape by long moulding it:
- Place the dough on a lightly floured surface
- Flour your hands a bit
- Spread it gently out to a rectangle
- Fold the bottom side halfway to the top so the edge is in the middle and press the edge down gently
- Fold the left side about 1/4 to the middle and press the edge down gently
- Fold the right side about 1/4 to the middle and press the edge down gently
- Fold the top side about 3/4 to the bottom so this edge is past the edge you previously pressed down in the middle
- Flip the dough over so the seam-side is on the surface
- Gently roll the dough back and forth until you get a nice tight surface on the top and the sides
5. Proof
- Dust your proofing basket with all-purpose flour
- Put your previously shaped dough seam-side-up in the dusted proofing basket
- Cover it with a towel or with a plastic bag
- Let it proof for 2,5 hours at 20-22°C (68-71,6°F)
6. SCORE
- Cover a pizza peel with parchment paper
- Gently take your dough out of the proofing basket by flipping it upside down on the pizza peel
- With a bread lame make 3 quick cuts (about 2 cm deep) on top of the dough from top to bottom
7. Bake
- Preheat oven to 270°C (518°F) for ~45 minutes with the upper and lower heat function
- Put the loaf in the oven, create steam and bake for 60 minutes
- After 10 minutes lower the temperature to 220°C (428°F), let the steam out by opening the oven door for ~45 seconds and close it again
- Tip: If you think your loaf gets too dark midway, you can place tinfoil on top of it for 15-20 minutes
8. Cool
- Let your big sourdough bread cool for 4 hours on some kind of grid
Conclusion
Crust
This big sourdough bread has a darker and crunchy crust which has a rustic taste.Crumb
The crumb is soft but firm with even and very fine pores.Taste
Big sourdough bread with big taste! It has the typical sourdough taste and is slightly salty which can be noticed the most when it is still warm and you just add a little butter on top. We would consider this as a mild taste but slightly hearty thanks to the 10% rye used.Goes good with
Bread and butter is always a great combination but we would highly recommend enjoying this one with hearty cold cuts or scrambled eggs. As usual, it is entirely up to you, we just give some ideas. Smoked ham and some sour gherkins are a great match too.Gallery
For the Big Sourdough Bread – 100th Recipe Special, the Proof step says; 2,5 hours at 20-22°C (68-71,6°F). Then the Score step says; Take your proofed dough out of the fridge. Should this proof be at room temp or in fridge?
That was a mistake. It should be proofed at room temperature.
We adjusted it in the recipe now, thank you for mentioning it 🙂
Can I do this in Boule shape?
Yes, sure.
You can pretty much go for any kind of shape you like.