2019 Update:
This tutorial was written four years ago and the way I make sourdough has evolved since then. Please refer to the 2018 Sourdough Cooking Class: Step By Step Instructions for our latest instructions.
. . . . .
I write a lot of bread posts – mostly about my sourdough experiments with different flours and ingredients. As I’ve said before, tweaking recipes and trying new techniques makes the whole process enormously enjoyable.
But as all my baking buddies know, a lot of the time we simply bake prosaic, pragmatic (and all of those other words that mean everyday) bread. Bread for school lunches, bread that doesn’t require too much thought, bread that always works.
One of the tricky things about baking with a sourdough starter is figuring out how to fit the long proving times into our busy schedules. Mistime it by just a little bit, and we find ourselves peering into the oven at 2am, willing the loaves to brown. But once a routine is worked out, it’s incredibly soothing and simple to orchestrate.
As I’ve now mailed out oodles of dried Priscilla starter, I thought I’d show you how easy it is to make a very serviceable everyday overnight loaf with her. I’ve taken lots of photos – one-handed, on my iPhone, in poor light. What you see below is what I see when I make this bread (in one form or another) a couple of times a week.
Always start with a bubbly bowl of starter. I take out ½ cup of starter from the fridge at lunch time, feed her ¼ cup each of bakers (bread) flour and filtered water at 1pm, followed by ½ cup of each at about 4pm. By 8pm, this is what she looks like…
This very basic loaf uses just four ingredients – starter, water, bakers (bread) flour and fine sea salt. Measure out 300g of starter in a very large mixing bowl…
Add between 570g – 600g of cold or room temperature water. I start with the lesser amount and then add a bit more later if needed, depending on how the dough feels (it varies from night to night)…
Add one kilogram of bakers (bread) flour… 
…and 18g of fine sea salt. That’s it… 
Get a clean hand into the bowl and squelch all the ingredients together…
Cover the bowl with a shower cap or cling film and let it sit on the bench for half an hour…
Uncover and give the dough a quick knead in the bowl. I spend about a minute doing this…
Now cover the bowl again, wish it a good night and leave it on the bench…
At 6am the following morning, this is what my dough looked like. I should mention here that Priscilla is incredibly resilient – she can prove for hours to the point of overblown and still bounce back for a second rise. Not all sourdoughs can do that, so you might need to adapt accordingly to suit your starter’s temperament…
Dust the bench well with flour and scrape the dough out (I like to use fine semolina as it gives the finished loaves a fabulous crust)…
Using a plastic spatula or dough scraper, fold the outside thirds into the middle…
Divide the dough into two… 
…and shape as desired. Instructions for shaping the dough can be found here (point 8). Try to pull the outside of the dough as tightly as possible – this will create a good gluten coat which will help the loaves to keep their shape. Cover with a tea towel and allow to prove a second time…
Place covered pots into the oven and preheat to maximum. The pots aren’t essential – you could just as easily bake on a pizza stone or oven tray, but the pots produce beautifully shaped loaves.
Addendum (2 Feb 2015): the Falcon enamel roasters I use are heat safe to 270C. If you’re using a cast iron enamel pot, check that it can cope with the high temps – often the handles are plastic and will melt at anything over 190C.
Once the shaped dough has puffed up a bit (about half an hour), slash with a serrated knife. I’ve learnt from experience that wielding a razor at 6am in the morning is unwise, so now I use a small bread knife. Make bold cuts – slash with panache!
I couldn’t get any photos of the next bit (and no-one was awake to help me). Carefully take the hot pot out of the oven, remove the lid, place in the slashed dough, then cover and return to the oven. Reduce the heat to 220C with fan and bake for 20 minutes with the lid on.
After 20 minutes, remove the lid and bake for a further 20 minutes with the lid off. This is how the dough looks when the lid is removed – well risen but pale…
After the second 20 minutes (ie. at the 40 minute mark), the loaves are basically done. I like to take them out of the pots and bake them on the racks for a further 10 minutes at 175C with fan, as I find this helps to them to stay crusty…
Addendum (2 Feb 2015): Since writing this tutorial, I’ve changed my baking technique slightly. I still preheat the oven, but I no longer put the pots in to heat up. Instead, I line the base of the unheated roaster with parchment, then place the shaped and slashed dough into it, cover with the lid and place the pot into the hot oven. As the enamel roaster is quite thin, it heats up very quickly. These loaves have a very slightly thicker crust, but this is a much easier method of getting the dough into the oven!
I have friends who use this cold pot technique with a cast iron pot – if you do that, you might want to give the covered stage of the bake an extra five minutes and reduce the time a bit at the end.
. . . . .
Allow the finished loaves to cool on a wire rack. The fine semolina that I used to dust the bench adds a lovely crunchy finish…
Most people don’t have a massive 90cm freestanding oven, so if you’d prefer to bake just a single loaf, simply halve the recipe. Or bake in shifts – shape the first loaf and let it rise, then while it’s baking, shape the second one. This dough would also work well as rolls.
Basic, simple, everyday bread. Just four ingredients, kneaded for about a minute, shaped for maybe three – it doesn’t get much easier than that!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
Gorgeous!!!
Thank you! :)
Thanks for this Celia. My starter is ready and waiting to be used. Your post has come just in time.
Have fun with it! It’s worth noting that my starter is very robust even after an extended prove – not all starters are quite that resilient. If you do use this recipe, you might want to try it during the day so you can keep an eye on your dough the first time?
Will do. Thanks Celia.
I can’t wait to get my starter! I need to find semolina now. I’m hanging out for a proper chicken salad sandwich:)
Oh I SO hope it gets to you soon!! The fine sem is only for dusting the bench, so rye flour (or even rice flour I think) will work as well.
G’day Your bread looks great Celia! I can almost smell it from here!
Cheers! Your step by step photos are inspiring and always looking forward to your bread posts too!
Cheers! Joanne
Thanks Joanne! :) xx
Oh my word that looks delicious!! How do I get some of your wonderful starter in the United States of America?
Mine has evolved from a couple I bought nearly eight years ago from http://www.northwestsourdough.com. Sadly I don’t think they sell them anymore, but there’s so much sourdough available in the US, I’m sure you won’t have trouble finding some! :)
Good morning. Not sure where you are in the US but I do know that Dusty Dowse from the Kneading Conference in Maine will mail starter anywhere.He is Mr Sourdough, makes it seem like fun and so easy. If you’re on the West coast you can probably get some from the Kneading Conference West. personally I can’t speak too highly about the Kneading Conference in Maine. It is a fabulous experience!
I live in Wisconsin and I will be sure tho check out the info you suggested. I cannot go to the Kneading Conference but am wanting to start on the bread making wagon. Celia makes it seem so accessible
one is inspired :)
That is even easier than the yeast bread I make. We get the mail this weekend; hopefully my starter will be here. I would love to make some sourdough bread for Christmas!
Made your custard recipe with the leftover egg yolks from making rum balls. I made two double batches of the balls; one for the adults and one for the children using imitation rum. They can eat more of those. The custard turned out great! The children ate almost all of it.
Manuela, I told Pete how cold it was where you are, and he asked if your mail was delivered by dogsled? :) I so hope your starter gets there soon – let me know if it doesn’t and I’ll resend! I’m so glad you enjoyed the custard! xx
Celia do you oil or use baking paper at all in your pots? I always worry about my bread sticking.
Jan, I don’t find it necessary with the enamel ware, but it definitely sticks to clay! When I bake loaves in the Romertopf, I line with paper – I learnt the hard way!
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2014/05/22/more-bread-experiments-and-romertopf-sourdoughs/
Celia, love those gorgeous loaves! Priscilla does good work! My starter’s name is Gracie.
Gracie! Wonderful name Jean! :)
Yay… I might be able to follow this and bake some sour dough at last! Thanks love xo
It’s a virtual skype session without having to wake you up at 5.30am. :) Oh and skype is broken on my end, sadly!
Great post Celia, timing has always been an issue for me when making sourdough. Do you think I could refrigerate the dough after the second prove and bake the loaves in the afternoon, after allowing the dough to come back to room temp or at least lose some of the fridge chill?
Bronwyn, lots of bakers do that, but I’ve never been able to make it work!
You are the Bread Baking Queen Extraordinaire for sure!
you make sourdough baking seem absolutely simple and effortless, which it is but it isn’t ;-)
Love the scoring in both loaves, and the color you got on the crust – I am finally going to bake some sourdough this weekend, so send some of your good vibes my way, will you? It’s been a while…..
It can be so easy though darling! It isn’t always perfect, but it can be simple.. :) Have fun with your loaves this weekend, I’m sure they’ll be glorious!
Ohhhh sourdough starter AND the perfect recipe. Mouthwatering, so excited. You make it look easy too.
It IS easy, really! :)
Gorgeous looking bread, like always. Thanks for the instructions Celia. Looking forward to giving the recipe a try asap. :)
Padaek, I hope you have fun with your starter! :)
Celia, either you are a baking genius or Priscilla is a miracle or both. Whatever, your loaves are always to die for.
G, Priscilla is amazingly consistent. She isn’t very sour though, which suits us just fine, actually! :)
Thanks for the great step by step Celia. I love that you’ve made it seem so simple and easy to fit into every day life… Which of course it is… But isn’t. It’s a lovely reminder to make time for the simple things, like fresh bread and simple ingredients!
Lisa, it’s only as hard as we think it is, really. :)
Hi Celia, I am new to your blog. Your blog is wonderful – wonderfully entertaining with fabulous photos. Your generosity of spirit shines through in every post.
I know nothing about baking bread, but my family loves sourdough. Now, after your wonderful post and instructions, I wish to try and make it. Do you know where, in Melbourne, I can get sourdough starter?
As I write, some vanilla extract is maturing in my pantry (surely the best use for vodka??) and I have the ingredients to make your Irish cream.
Please don’t ever think of ending your blog posts – they are a joy to see in my Inbox.
Sue, what a lovely comment, thank you! :) I hope you have fun with the vanilla and the Irish cream!
Thank you Celia. This is so helpful and very thorough. I’ll take lots of photos when Twinkle is ready to bake with!! xx
Hurry up Twinkle! I’m dying here, waiting! :)
I haven’t tried Esmerelda in a pot yet but I did wonder how it would go. I’ll try it tomorrow. :) ALL your bread looks amazing.
She’ll be brilliant M! :)
Those pots, those pots! Celia that is a brilliant post, thank you for all your time and trouble in putting together so many useful photos of your process.
The pots are gorgeous, aren’t they Rose? They haven’t coped well with the high heat in terms of staining, but that’s actually a good thing because now they’re so grotty I don’t feel any obligation to actually try and clean them! :) Thank you for the kind comment, glad you enjoyed the post!
ok so I’m going to do an overnight one now… I’m baking one a day… I just can’t help myself :) and to top it off I’m not feeling bloated from the wheat! Liz x
You’re on a roll! Ha, no pun intended! I love it! :)
Beautiful looking dough and that starter has energy oozing from it! My starter is a bit sooky and needs a bit of a kick up the …… What brand of flour do you prefer Celia? I’ve found the ‘organic bread’ flour I’ve been using is a bit weak and I can’t go much above 68% hydration or it just collapses completely. Nice scoring too! Gee, everything looks good, yet again!
Maree, I’ve given up on organic flours. I’ve found a lot of them tend to be stoneground, which I find much heavier to work with than regular roller milled. Also, some organic bread flours are lower in protein than regular white bakers. I use two sorts of bakers flour interchangeably, depending what I can get my hands on. The Manildra bakers flour is always very good and widely available in 12.5kg bags (actually, I’ve seen it in 5kg bags, but it’s hard to find). Dead cheap too. At the moment though I’m using the Ben Furney Mills premium bakers flour, which is sensational – I like it a lot!
Thanks! Off to Dr Google to research. So hard down here to find good stuff but we do what we can with what we have and it’s not bad, just get a bit jealous when I see what you have access to. Western world dilemma, never satisfied!
Beautiful breads, Celia!
Thanks Kaves! xxx
You’re a life saver – I had my own little routine worked out and it fell by the wayside when we moved and I didn’t have an oven. Big Man asked me the other day when I would start baking sourdough again so I will get a starter going and I love the idea of the overnight proving. Absolutely love your “one handed in the dark step by step photos” – they’re better than my “best ever” ones :)
Would you like me to send you some starter T, or do you still have some of yours? And thank you for saying nice things about my dodgy photos.. :)
I would absolutely love some starter but only if I can send you something in return. I’m in England now so no Spanish products for a couple of months :( but let me know if anything you can’t get where you are takes your fancy! You are so very kind :) Shall I e-mail you my address (but no rush, it’s a manic times of year)?
I’ll email you! xxx
Gorgeous loaves! >
Thanks darling! xx
Celia, your sourdough bread is amazing! I can’t wait to begin baking with Lisa-Marie daughter of Priscilla! Thank you again for your generosity!
Lisa-Marie! Of course, I wonder why we’ve never thought of that before! :)
This bread looks great celia – I often make an overnight foccaccia with my starter but you have inspired me to try a proper overnight loaf! It is hard to work the starter in with our schedules sometimes and overnight works well for me!
Johanna, it can be tricky, can’t it! And I find you just can’t rush Priscilla, she’s a proper diva.. ;-)
Wow I made this bread this morning and it is amazing – so good – I only made one loaf but will consider making two in future.
Johanna, I’m SO happy to hear that! Thanks for letting me know! xxx
Are we going to see more photos of Priscilla around the house now that we’ve seen Priscilla in her shower cap?
I find slashing the dough the most difficult bit of baking bread so will try the serrated knife technique.
Annie, I have a short serrated knife which wasn’t being used for anything, so it was good to have something to do with it! Plus Pete got sick of me going into the bedroom at 6am bleeding on the sheets because I’d tried to slash with a razor (and succeeded, but not in slashing the dough). But the big thing really is the pot baking – since I’ve started doing that, my loaves look consistently shaped! Did you find your old enamel roaster? ;-)
Just put three loaves into the oven beautifully slashed with a serrated knife. No enamel roaster, which is fine while I’m baking in the aga, but might get one for the summer when I use the electric oven.
I bet Pete is glad you’ve stopped using a razor. Well, for bread anyway :)
Beautiful bread!
Thank you! :)
Celia, Jethro’s kicked the bucket so I’m moving in with you. You can’t tempt us like this with your delicacies woman! Oh my goodness! I can smell that sourdough bread all the way from Penrith!!!!!!
Lina, I’ve emailed you! :),
I simply cannot wait for my starter to arrive, thank you Celia
Hope it gets there soon, Sami! :)
My starter arrived today! Thank you so much Celia.
Hooray! Have fun with it Sami! :)
Celia, I notice you specify filtered water to feed the starter. I have never used filtered water, just tap water to feed my starter and to make the dough. Is it necessary to use filtered?
Jeannette, I say filtered water because sometimes our local water can be very heavily chlorinated, which can kill off the starter. But if your tap water is fine, then that shouldn’t be a problem! :)
crunchy but soft inside, yummy! I’m gonna make one tomorrow, as well
Is there anything better than fresh bread on the weekend? :)
Totally awesome…I can smell it wafting through the house from here…salivating!! :))
Thank you! :)
Ah yes darling, this is exactly the one for me! THANK YOU. Just as soon as I am well I shall rev up Piscilla and get baking.. Thank you.. c
You KNOW I wrote this for you, right Celi? :) Hope you’re feeling a bit better today, love x
can’t say ‘those’ words in your comments box though.. c
Bugger, that’s an arse darling, I’m so sorry you’re still feeling crap…
;-)
((Laugh)) .. ow.. no laughing! .. c
Such works of art Celia! Xox
Thanks lovely! xx
What a great tutorial Celia, so comprehensive and the pictures makes it so easy to follow. I could just tear that little crunchy square off the top of that second loaf and smother it in raspberry jam. Yum! Kirsty xx
Thanks Kirsty! It was fun to write! :)
I have a loaf shaped and waiting for the oven now (yes, it’s quarter to midnight – yes, I mistimed it, but I’m so excited I just don’t care!) with my daughter of Priscilla. I haven’t named her yet, I’m waiting till I try the bread.’
Just saw the photos, Imogen! How fabulous! :)
Thanks for the step by step instructions, you’re an artist!
Thank you! :)
Fantastic shots! A thing of beauty! x
Thanks Sophie! :) xx
We bake wih spelt white and wholemeal usually 50/50. Do you think I can feed my starter 50/50 or just white spelt? Is there such a thing as gluten free sour dough?
Chrissy, I don’t use wholemeal so I couldn’t say, but I do know spelt can be tricky – it’s protein content can vary quite a bit, and the starter really does need a higher protein flour to feed on. I don’t know how to do a gluten-free sourdough! My suggestion would be to buy a small bag of supermarket white bread flour and just use that to feed your starter. Then you could make the actual dough with spelt and wholemeal. But you could certainly try with feeding it with spelt or wholemeal or both and see how you go (and I could send you more starter if it doesn’t work! :)).
Thanks Ceila, will give it a go and let you know :)
Have you ever made GF sourdough? My mother is GF and finds buying decent GF bread very difficult. I was thinking I might start making sourdough but I’d love to know if I can successfully make GF. I think that chef at Balla runs a GF bread class – I’ll see if I can find out about that xx
Nope. No idea how to make a gf sourdough, as I understand it the SD yeasts need the gluten proteins to feed on. Good luck!
Love your bread as always Celia. Amazing stuff once you have a routine established isn’t it ? x
The rhythm and routine are very soothing Jane. As you well know! :)
Your bread is a work of art, I can’t wait until holidays to try this :)
Have fun with it, Stefanie! :)
That’s a wonderful post Celia, I wanted to know how you did your overnight doughs. I have proved a shaped loaf in the fridge overnight but not the dough out on the bench. I think this might be the way to go for me. For the first time ever since I had the Fabulous Patsy in my kitchen. She sulked when I tried to ‘zush’ her up on Friday night and was looking no happier on Saturday morning, so I tipped out most of what I had in the bowl and gave her small, delicate feeds through the day and she was clearly feeling better by the evening, but my baking window had closed so she’s been shoved back in the fridge. I note that you use filtered water – have you always done that?
Jan, I think I’ve always used filtered water to feed Priscilla, but regular tap water when I actually make the dough. I recommend filtered water because water can be very hard sometimes, and heavily chlorinated, and that can kill or subdue the sourdough starter. If the tap water where you are is fine, then there should be no problems. My friend Ali’s starter suddenly went completely flat and we figured out it was because she’d run out of tank water and was having to buy in town water!
This is incredible helpful. I’ve already slotted into my routine (in my mind!). What do you do with the rest of the starter? Just put it back in the fridge and use a couple of times a week as above?
Sally, if you’re making the full dough, there shouldn’t be too much leftover, because the added water and flour should add up to about 300g. But it’s not always that precise, so leftovers can be discarded, fed and used again, stashed in the fridge or turned into pancakes!
It IS an interesting question – sometimes I get on a baking run simply because I have a bit of starter leftover and can’t bear to throw it out, so I feed it again and then bake the next day.. :)
You must have done this post just for me Celia, in anticipation of my starter arriving – hopefully soon. I cannot wait to get started. I feel we will be eating a lot more bread in our home soon. :-D I am looking forward to getting into a routine with it all. I love the whole process.
Thank you for sharing these wonderful photo’s – I am super impressed with your iPhone’s capabilities for taking photos.
Have a beautiful and happy week ahead.
:-) Mandy xo
Mandy, I hope it arrives soon! Let me know if you don’t get it in the next week or so and I’ll resend! xxx
Our postal strike still seems to be a problem with loads of backlogged mail so it will take a little while to get here. xo
Thanks for the great post. Can you tell me how much of Priscilla is left in the fridge after you have taken the 1/4 cup out to start the bread baking process and how often do you feed her? I still struggle to throw away half the starter as most of my books suggest but as I only bake once a week, I tend to have heaps on hand.
Carol, yes, the throwing away bit annoys me too. I try to keep about a cup of starter in the fridge all the time. Any surplus can be made into pancakes – here’s our recipe!
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2009/09/13/sourdough-pancakes/
Thanks so much. I will now be making lots of pancakes over the break. Happy holidays to you and your family.
Sometimes a picture tells a thousand words. Awesome tutorial Celia and cheers for this wonderful post :)
Thanks lovely! xx
I shared it on Pinterest. SO many people are able to find awesome blog posts like this one that take the mystery out of things like making sourdough bread and hand it back to the “people”. You are doing your bit to bring good bread to the masses. I am doing my bit to spread the love :)
Amazing loaves Celia! I’m keen to master sourdough in the New Year so read this eagerly & will be referring back to you lots.
Andrea, sorry I missed this comment! Do let me know if you’d like me to send you some starter! :)
Yeah, I need to get Bart back up to snuff. He’s not at all as perky as he once was. Not to worry. I’ll revive him. As good as these loaves look, I want more walnut bread. You’ve spoiled me, Celia. :)
John, the walnut bread is soo good isn’t it? I have to bake some more.. :)
Hi Celia. Just wanted to thank you again for Priscilla. She has been reincarnated as Miss Smilla (‘s feeling for dough haha) and has made two wonderful loaves already to the delight of the whole family. Today I made focaccia (with ham, pecorino and homemade pickled figs) which was amazing. I have been asked to make more tomorrow and this whole lot has already been scoffed. The plain loaves we ate with fresh homemade homegrown mixed berry jam set with pectin I made last year using your recipe too. So feeling very very thankful for your wonderful site.
By the way stopped at the Book Grocer yesterday and they had the Handmade Loaf for sale for $10. Looks like I am going to be busy trying out new recipes. Tonight will be giving this one a go- might work well with 3am newborn feeds!
Emma
very impressive I must say, thank you for sharing with us
Hi Celia & Happy New Year. I’ve needed some down time and then got so tied up with Christmas that I just haven’t been keeping up but I had to tell you that I made my first batch of basic sourdough!!! I will admit that I messed up on the conversions and ended up looking at your pictures saying “this can’t be right, dump more water in, now dump the flour, mush it around, little more water & I think I got it”.
The funny thing is I made the dough during the day, leaving it out to rise fully expecting to finish it off the next morning. One of my hide in the closet migraines put a damper on those plans & believe it or not my husband stepped up to the plate & saved the day (and the dough). What’s funny is that in one of my posts I was talking about my husband’s retirement & what he could do and Glenda said “have him make bread”… and so he did. It was excellent & thank you again for the starter as well as the encouragement.
Hooray! That’s wonderful news! Well, not the bit about the migraine, but the fact the loaf was excellent! I think your hubby would enjoy the breadmaking process – so many of the best bakers are men! :)
Celia, he really stepped up to the plate this time but of course he was staring at that dough thinking of the end product. that man would eat both loaves in one sitting if I didn’t stop him. I’m sure I need to play with this a little more to get my proportions worked out but I’m happy to say – I’m kinda proud of ourselves.
[…] fresh bread was too overwhelming for him to not step up to the plate and finish off according to Celia’s great tutorial. There were a few minor adjustments due to poor math skills with conversions (mine – and […]
[…] love the stamps. The starter was activated and bread made – although before Celia posted her step-by-step guide on making sourdough! The starter produced amazing bubbles and the bread looked and smelled so good that I forgot to […]
[…] This was my first loaf with Twinkle *chest swells with pride* I have been using Celia’s method and half the recipe from her Overnight Sourdough Tutorial. […]
[…] https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2014/12/12/an-overnight-sourdough-in-pictures/ […]
[…] https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2014/12/12/an-overnight-sourdough-in-pictures/ […]
Awesome post, Celia. Happy New Year! You are such an inspiration. I was making sourdough about six months ago, but I’m afraid my starter died over winter. I must admit my loaves never looked as good as yours, but it was a work in progress! your tutorial is very helpful. Would love to start again….if you happen to have any spare offspring of Priscilla starter I would be very interested…..no rush of course and I totally understand if demand has exceeded supply! You are very generous.
Jaqi, have a wonderful time with your starter! :)
Thank you so much lovely Celia! I’ve been feeding my starter since yesterday…can’t wait to get baking! :-) xxx
After our text exchange, I requested my mother to bring filtered water over so I could make sure I did perfectly! I’m ready to start tomorrow!! Yay!! Thank you for this great post Celia. It is so detailed and exactly what I needed to have the confidence that I have all the information I need for my first sourdough. Fingers crossed this works!!
Nagi, I’m sure it will be great! Have fun with her! :)
Hi Celia, now that Star, daughter of Twinkle, is well and truly alive and bubbling, once I’ve used some, do I store the leftover starter in the fridge and just feed her weekly, taking out what I need as and when I need it?
And, I don’t have any beautiful casserole dishes like yours, but I do have a large stainless steel pot with a glass lid, would that work to bake in?
Thank you so much xx
Elaine, I hope your Falcon pot has arrived! :)
Not yet!!!!! Praying it arrives THIS MORNING!!!!
Within the next week, I too will have a massive 90cm freestanding oven! Celia, I really can’t wait to get back into baking bread for fun! I’m just baking as a chore at the moment!
Clare, that’s fantastic! I love our oven so much! :)
[…] Start the Fruited Cinnamon Sourdough Loaf a couple of days before you want to bake. I started the process on Friday afternoon and baked the loaf on Sunday morning. The full, printable recipe with some links is below but in a nutshell, this is what I do. I start by feeding Twinkle to make a poolish. Then I add the rest of the ingredients to make the dough and squelch the lot together for a minute. After half an hour, I stretch and fold the dough a few times. This goes into a lightly oiled bowl and sits out on the counter to bulk prove overnight. The next morning, I incorporate the dried fruit using the stretch and fold method, place the dough back in the cleaned and oiled bowl and leave it in the fridge until the next morning. The photo below is what I woke up to! At this point, I incorporate the cinnamon sugar and shape the loaf. This sits out on the counter to proof once more for 30-45 minutes, while the oven heats up and then goes into a lidded casserole dish, gets slashed and bakes for 20 minutes with the lid on. After another 30 minutes with the lid off, this is what it looks like…go on – you know you really want to give this a try! If you’ve had starter from Celia or from me, give this Fruited Cinnamon Sourdough Loaf a go once you are comfortable with baking Celia’s Overnight Sourdough. […]
[…] more details and directions about baking sourdough loaves, Celia and Selma can tell you so much more than I can, so do check out their blogs…I’m off to […]
Absolutely fascinating, Celia :)
[…] or me, give this method for Wholemeal Sourdough, a go! Always start with a bubbly bowl of starter. Following Celia’s advice, I take out ¼ cup of Twinkle (my starter) from the fridge at 1pm, feed her ¼ cup each of bread […]
Looking forward to trying my hand at this very soon, love xo
Celia would a French Chasseur type cast iron Enamel Casserole dish with lid work for this?
Jaqi, yes! That’s what most people use, but it’s too heavy for me. Just check the handle can cope with the heat! :)
Mine are the El Cheapo ones frm Aldi, so unfortunately they can only handle temps up to 190c. Of course I forgot to check this and smelt a terrible smell as the pot heated up at 250c!! Oops!! Hope I haven’t killed the pot! Bread is baking now in tins…will visit Peters of K and buy some of those Falcon pots. My fingers and toes are crossed!!
:-)
Jaqi, they’re only just back in stock today. Still on sale too! :)
[…] say). As a great kindness to me and my other sourdoughly challenged friends – Celia posted the simplest of bread recipes on her site – with pictures, I have always had trouble with my sourdough breads sadly resembling […]
Thanks to Cecilia at Thekitchensgarden, I have found your wonderful looking sourdough bread. I can almost smell and taste it all the way over in Northern Ireland and want to make it myself. I love the tip of covering a bowl in a shower cap. A half dozen of those are now on my shopping list!
I have joined your group of followers and will be back later this evening to explore a little further.
Hi Celia, Popping over form Celi’s to have a peek at your technique. I’m about to try yet again to grow a Priscilla. (8/10 failure rate round here, but I preserver) I love the idea of baking the loaves in the roasting pans! I’ll be on the lookout at the local thrift store for some. :D I’m off now to see if you’ve posted your technique for growing a Priscilla so I can learn more about it. :D Thank you so much for this tutorial; every little bit of new info is so valuable.
Veronica, I didn’t grow my starter, I bought it years ago! :) My friend Brydie has a great tutorial on making one if you’re interested: http://cityhippyfarmgirl.com/how-to-make-your-own-sourdough-starter/
Fantastic! Thank you so much. I’ll head on over and say hello. :D
Yay, I’m on my way! Great tutorial, really easy to follow for a noobie like me 😄
[…] bread baker. I started by following Celia’s sourdough 101 guidance then, a couple of overnight loaves. Some have been baked in a Le Creuset cast iron pot, one on a baking tray. With Celia’s […]
[…] An over-night sourdough in pictures […]
[…] am loving the overnight method that I learned over at Fig Jam and Lime Cordial. It has made sourdough baking so much quicker and easier (and it was already pretty easy). I have […]
Making this again right now! :)
So glad you’re enjoying it! :)
I actually thought at first you had just forgotten to mention a second rise – I couldn’t really believe it would work without it. But I have two well risen loaves sitting in the kitchen that prove you right. Thanks for showing me a new way to bake.
My only comment is: I’ve never had trouble with bread sticking, but because I’ve not done it in a pot like this, I thought I’d try the thing with the parchment paper. Now that did stick to my loaves! Still trying to peel it off. Next time I’ll just oil the pot lightly.
[…] continued to use Celia and Selmas overnight dough recipe for some of my loaves, but I’ve also been experimenting […]
[…] sourdough, so I’ve loved reading through some of Celia’s old blog posts, and plan to give her overnight method a try regarding timings. Timings are one of my struggles: When do I have to start bread making to […]
[…] times I use Celia’s overnight sourdough recipe which gives fantastic results and I took on board her tip of dusting the loaf in semolina flour for […]