I made a lot of great loaves using the King Arthur Naturally Leavened Sourdough recipe, but then I kinda let my starter die and just did bread machine bread for a while. (Which is also delicious, no shame in that game.) I had a gift card to a bookstore and this book “Artisan Sourdough Made Simple” caught my eye. I drove up to King Arthur to get some starter after trying unsuccessfully to make my own. The author Emilie Raffa says she doesn’t see a huge advantage to preheating your Dutch oven so—even though I doubted her!—I gave it a try. This is her Everyday Sourdough baked in a cast iron Dutch oven that I did not preheat.
I love how it came out and it was nice not juggling a heavy, hot cast iron. I was also surprised to get such a nice loaf with very few stretch-and-folds. This book has a ton of pictures and I can’t wait to try more recipes. The recipe and a more in-depth review can be found here: https://vanillaandbean.com/emilies-everyday-sourdough/ . I am not affiliated with either that blog or this book, just a person happy to be making sourdough 😄
by McMagz1987
1 Comment
Ooh, I’ve been eyeing this book, maybe time to get it then! This loaf looks great! And I’m intrigued by not heating up your Dutch oven beforehand. I guess it naturally allows the loaf more time to rise, because the crust doesn’t start setting immediately, but I would also be scared the crust maybe gets hard more than crispy? But this loaf looks ‘normal’, so perhaps my fears are unfounded.