Basic Sourdough Bread, No Dutch Oven

How to get an amazing result with sourdough bread even without the special pot.

This bread is a classic.
Easy to make, few ingredients, delicious, and with that famous dry, crunchy crust of sourdough bread.

But what do we do if we don't have the special pot that gives that result?

With this bread, everything revolves around steam and temperature. The cast iron pot with a lid holds in amazing steam and makes the bread “hard” on the outside and soft inside, while also helping the bread rise and hold its shape in the oven.

You don't need to give up on the recipe just because of that; let's learn how to imitate the pot's effect with what we already have at home: a cake pan without a hole in the middle, parchment paper, a smaller pan with hot water, and aluminum foil.

One thing that excites a lot of people is that this bread doesn't need kneading, so you don't need a stand mixer, which makes it even easier to make.

And don't get too attached to the exact hours of resting and fermentation, or to the intervals between folds. I prefer to keep an eye on the dough until it looks nice and has doubled in volume, rather than counting the time.
It's not always ready to bake in 8 hours — sometimes it takes 12, sometimes 24, sometimes less than 8; it all depends on the day's temperature, the weather, and your kitchen's temperature.

Remember, this is something natural, so you can't fully control or set an exact time.

Just use your creativity to eat the bread with whatever you like, however you like, once it's ready.

Tip for cold days:

Keep the bowl with the dough near the stove while you're cooking other things; if you've used the oven, let the dough rest inside it until the oven cools down (with the oven already turned off), or turn the oven to its lowest setting and let the covered dough stay warm in there for a while. Always keep a damp cloth over it to maintain the moisture needed to form the crust later.

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon salt
1 cup water (room temperature)
1/2 cup active, bubbly sourdough starter
Aluminum foil
Parchment paper

Method

1
The day before, feed your starter so it's active before starting the recipe. Or on a very hot day, feed it just a few hours before starting, since it will rise quickly.
2
Put the flour and salt in a bowl and mix.
3
Add the sourdough starter, and pour in the water little by little.
4
Mix with your hands until the dough comes together and no dry bits remain. Don't knead — just mix and press.
5
Cover with a damp cloth and let it rest a bit, then do a stretch and fold. It can be after half an hour, an hour, or fifteen minutes. Whenever you can, do the first fold.
6
Cover with a damp cloth and let the fermentation/rest continue. Do a couple more stretch and folds. For this recipe, I did it twice before going to bed, and did one more stretch and fold in the morning. It was a cold day so the whole resting time took 24 hours; on warm days, 8 hours will already be great.
7
Once the dough has risen and you can see bubbles (usually visible on the bottom and sides of the bowl), I stop folding so I don't lose air and deflate the dough that has already risen.
8
Time to get ready to bake. Put a pan smaller than the one you'll bake the bread in, filled with hot water, in the oven, and let it heat up to a high temperature of 450°F (230°C).
9
Line a round pan without a hole with parchment paper. Transfer the dough without handling it too much; you can pinch the bottom closed if needed and adjust the shape if it's not very round, but avoid overhandling so the dough doesn't deflate.
10
Make at least one long but shallow cut on top of the bread with a blade. Or decorate it with small cuts.
11
Dust with flour on top to decorate.
12
Cover with aluminum foil (shiny side facing the bread) just so it doesn't burn from the high heat — no need to seal the foil around the pan, just lay it on top.
13
Bake at a high temperature of 450°F (230°C) for about 25 minutes, or until the bread has puffed up.
14
Remove the aluminum foil and the pan of water from the oven, and let it bake for another 20 minutes or until golden on top.
15
Let it cool on a wire rack and enjoy!