I resisted sourdough for years. It seemed complicated, temperamental, and precious — the kind of project that required more patience than I thought I had. Then a cold winter locked me in the cabin for a week and I decided to try. That was four years ago. I haven't bought a loaf of bread since.
Building your starter — Days 1 through 7
Day 1: Mix 50g whole wheat flour with 50g room-temperature water in a clean jar. Cover loosely and leave at room temperature. That's it.
Days 2 and 3: Discard all but 50g of your starter. Add 50g all-purpose flour and 50g water. Stir well. You may not see much activity yet — that's normal.
Days 4 through 7: Continue the same daily discard and feed. By day five you should see bubbles. By day seven, a healthy starter will double in size within four to six hours of feeding and smell pleasantly tangy, like yoghurt or beer. When it passes the float test — a spoonful dropped in water floats — it's ready to bake with.
The boule
Mix 450g bread flour, 325g water, 100g active starter, and 9g salt. Rest for thirty minutes, then perform four sets of stretch-and-folds over two hours. Shape into a tight ball, place in a floured banneton or bowl, and cold-proof overnight in the refrigerator.
The next morning, preheat your oven and a Dutch oven to 500°F for at least forty-five minutes. Score the cold dough, bake covered for twenty minutes, then remove the lid and bake another twenty to twenty-five minutes until deeply golden. Let it cool completely before cutting — I know, it's hard, but it matters.
The result is a loaf with a crackling crust, an open, chewy crumb, and a mild tang that makes the whole cabin smell like a proper bakery. Worth every single day of the seven-day wait.