• BEFORE YOU START

  This recipe is for 2 sourdough bread bowls. Depending on how comfortable you are in dividing dough after bulk fermentation, you could choose to make the whole batch as one dough, or divide it into two smaller bowls if you prefer - it's up to you!

  To make more than 2 sourdough bread bowls, simply multiply the recipe (ie for 4 bread bowls, double the recipe).
• Autolyse - Premixing The Dough

  Weigh out your sourdough starter and water into a large mixing bowl - whatever you have in the cupboard is fine!

  Glass is always good as you can see what's happening underneath your dough. But any plastic, ceramic, stainless steel or glass bowl is fine!

  Mix the water and starter together briefly. Then add your flour and salt and mix whole lot together to form a shaggy dough.

  The dough will be fairly shaggy and only just brought together. You might wonder how this will turn into bread, but just wait, time is your friend and the dough will change in around an hour.
• Cover your bowl with an elastic foo cover and let it sit for around 1 hour. It's ok if it's a little bit longer, it's not going to matter too much.

  This process is called the "autolyse" and allows your flour to soak in all the water and become hydrated.
• Forming Up The Dough

  After the dough has been through autolyse you need to bring it together into a ball. Work your way around the bowl, grabbing the dough from the outside, stretching it up and over itself, into the centre, until a smooth ball is formed. You shouldn't need more than about 20-25 stretches to form the ball.

  You'll notice that the dough is fully hydrated after soaking all the water up. It will be fairly sticky but as you bring it into a ball, it will become smoother and shinier.
• Once the dough has formed into a smooth ball, pop the cover back on and let it rest for 30 minutes.
• Stretch & Fold - Creating Structure

  Over the next few hours you need to create some structure for your dough by "stretching and folding".

  Aim to do around 4-6 sets of stretches and folds.

  For each set, stretch the dough up and over itself 4 times. Leave around 15 minutes in between each set. Again you do not have to be exact with time, but you need to do at least 4 sets over 2 hours.
• Bulk Ferment

  Once you've finished your stretch and folds, cover the dough with a plastic cover (a recycled plastic bag is perfect) and allow the dough to double (bulk fermentation).

  See notes below for more info on this step.
• Shaping The Dough

  Once your dough has finished its first ferment, it's time to shape your sourdough bread bowls.

  You'll need to flour your counter top with rice flour for this (we use rice flour because it has no gluten). Try to be quite sparing with the rice flour, you only need a very light dusting.

  Use a dough scraper to gently ease the dough out of the bowl (your hands work just fine if you don't have one). You want it to land upside down on your counter so that the smooth top of the dough is on the countertop and the sticky underside is facing up. This will make it easier to shape.

  Divide the dough into two equal pieces using a dough scraper (I weigh my dough to get them perfectly even, but you don't have to if you don't want to. Each piece of dough will be approx. 480g).

  Take each piece of dough and bring the edges into the middle, forming a rough ball. Gently flip the dough over and then use the sticky side of the dough to tension it and form a perfect ball (it's just like shaping a mini boule).

  You can see me shaping a boule here.
• Placing Into A Proofing Container

  Once the dough is shaped into a tight ball, place it into your proofing basket or container smooth side down, so your seam is on the top.

  If you're using a cloth or tea towel in a bowl it's ok to put your dough with the smooth side up. Just make sure the dough is tight.

  Lift your dough around the edges to pop a little more rice flour if you feel it needs it. Just try to handle the dough as little as possible and be really gentle as you really want to preserve all the gases and air bubbles that have formed during your bulk ferment.

  For this recipe, I used two ricotta baskets and they worked really well - but you could use cereal bowls, small mixing bowls or whatever you have on hand.
• Cold Ferment

  Now the dough is in its "shaping container" cover it loosely with a plastic bag and place into the fridge.

  I use a large plastic bag to cover it - I just reuse it each time.

  Try to leave it in the fridge for a minimum 5 hours up to a maximum of around 36 hours. The longer you leave it the better your bread will be! A longer cold ferment creates beautiful blisters on your crust and a deeper sourdough flavour. It will also ensure your dough forms a skin which makes it easier to score.

BAKE YOUR SOURDOUGH BREAD BOWLS!

• Once you're ready to bake your sourdough, you'll need to preheat your oven to 230C/450F.

  You can bake these sourdough bread bowls a number of different ways. If you have a Dutch Oven large enough to bake two at time, that's a great option. Otherwise, you can do an open bake on a large baking tray (depending on how many you are baking at time).

  Leave your dough in the fridge until the very last minute - placing a cold dough into a hot oven will give you a great "spring".

  When your oven is at temperature, take your sourdough out of the fridge. Gently place it onto a piece of parchment paper or silicone sling if using.

  Gently score your bread with a clean razor blade or knife.

  BAKE WITH DUTCH OVEN

  Carefully take your dutch oven out of the oven. Place the sourdough into the pot using the silicone sling or parchment paper as a handle. Put the lid on and place into the hot oven.

  If you want to you can spritz your dough with extra water before you put the lid on.

  BAKE TIME:

  30 Minutes with the lid on at 230C/450F plus

  10-15 Minutes with the lid off at 210C/410F
• OPEN BAKE WITHOUT DUTCH OVEN

  Once you're ready to bake your sourdough, you'll need to preheat your oven to 230C/450F.

  Ensure that you have placed a baking stone in the oven if you are going to use one. For more information on baking without a Dutch Oven see here.

  When your oven is at temperature, take your sourdough out of the fridge. Gently place your dough onto a bread peel or into your preferred baking method (enamel roasting pan/pot, casserole dish, stainless steel pot etc).

  Gently score your bread with a clean razor blade or knife. At minimum a large cross is sufficient, but you can get as artistic as you like. You can find my full guide on how to score sourdough bread here.

  Place your dough into the oven.

  BAKE TIME:

  20 minutes at 230C/450F plus

  25 to 30 minutes at 210C/410F
• Finishing The Bake

  Carefully remove your sourdough bread bowls from the oven and allow them to cool completely before you try to hollow them out.
• Cutting The Bread Bowls

  You'll need a small, sharp knife to cut the top out of the sourdough bread. I find it easier not to use a serrated knife for this part.

  Once you've cut a neat circle, take the top off the loaf and set aside (this is great to dip into soup). Then use your fingers to hollow out the dough to form the "bowl". You can toast the dough chunks to use as croutons!