Artisan Hard Crusted Sourdough

This is a four day process. Day one:  2 cups of sourdough starter, 1 1/3 cups of white bread flour. Pour sourdough starter in a mixing bowl or large bucket. Add 1 cup of flour and mix with yours hands until combined. Continue adding the additional flour to reach the 1 1/3 cups of flour a little at a time until a dough ball forms. The dough should be sticky but still form into a ball. If it is so wet that it is difficult to get the mixture into a ball, add a Tablespoon of flour then continue to mix for couple of minutes. Give the dough a couple of minutes of stirring because it may take time to absorb the water. You really are not kneading the dough, more stirring it in the bowl with your hands because it will be very sticky. The dough should end up smooth and elastic. Put into a container, cover and refrigerate overnight. Day two: Remove starter from fridge and let sit for 4 hours. Add 1 cup of tap water and stir until combined. Add more water, if needed to make a smooth, thick, pourable starter. It looks similar to the regular sourdough starter. Add: 1 tsp yeast 1/3 cup of white bread flour Stir until all ingredients are combined. Cover with towel and let sit on counter overnight. Day three: Mix the following ingredients together in a mixer bowl or you can hand knead the dough too: All the starter from day two 1 cup room temp water 1 tsp salt 3 ½ cups of white bread flour 1 Tablespoon honey Mix on medium speed two for 5-8 minutes. Add more water or flour to reach the correct consistency. Put dough in plastic bucket or container and let proof for 2 hours, then refrigerate overnight. Day four: Take the dough out of fridge and let it sit there for a few hours, to get it closer to room temperature. Divide dough into three pieces and shape into round loaves. Let proof for 2 hours. While proofing, the dough will need to be covered with plastic wrap to prevent the dough from crusting. Egg Wash and just prior to baking, make a cross on top of dough. Bake at 400 degree oven on baking sheets. Spray the oven heavily with a spray bottle or throw a glass of water on the oven shelf to produce steam. Bake until dark golden brown. Time will depend on ovens. Start with 30 minutes and then check every 5 minutes for doneness. Towards the end the bread bakes very quickly and will need to be checked more often. For more information about House of Bread, please visit www.houseofbread.com. To purchase the House of Bread recipe book, please visit https://houseofbread.com/recipe-book/ To take an on line class, please visit https://houseofbread.com/product-category/online-baking-class/ If you’d like more information about the franchise opportunity with House of Bread, please visit www.houseofbreadfranchise.com. For our Utube channel, please go here https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCXH5NgT8vpnAuSuZN5AxEQQ.