Dutch Oven Cheater Sourdough

Dutch Oven Cheater Sourdough

David Venable

Prep Time: 20 minutes (6–8 hours total)

Serves: 6–8

Ingredients

  • 3-1/4 cups bread flour
  • 2 cups Greek yogurt (5% milk fat, though low-fat milk will work)
  • 1/2 cup water (room temp)
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp instant yeast

Preparation

Use a mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the flour first, then the yogurt, water, salt, and yeast. Mix on low speed until the dough begins to form a ball and cleans the side of the bowl. Continue to mix/knead for another 5–6 minutes.

Dough should be tacky, and may stick to your hands a little bit, so work quickly.

Transfer the dough ball to an oiled bowl and cover it with plastic wrap.

Leave on the counter for 4–6 hours until close to doubled in size.

Once the dough has risen, turn it out of a bowl onto a lightly floured surface and gently flatten it out and knock the dough down. Fold the edges into the middle and flip over, forming a ball. Place the dough ball seam-side-up back in the oiled bowl.

Recover and let proof a second time. This time only for about 1- 1 1/2 hours.

In the meantime, preheat your oven to 450°F.

Place a cast iron Dutch oven with lid in the oven while it is preheating. Make sure it is in there for at least 30–45 minutes prior to baking.

When you are ready to bake, flip the bowl over onto a sheet of parchment paper so that the seam of the dough is now on the bottom.

Quickly remove the Dutch oven from the oven and remove the lid. Using the edges of the parchment, lower the dough (and parchment) into the Dutch oven, put the lid back on and place it back in the oven. Bake covered at 450°F for 25 minutes.

Remove the lid and turn the oven down to 400°F. Continue to bake for another 25 minutes uncovered.

Once the bread is done, transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely before slicing into it.

Cook's Notes

This recipe uses yogurt to mimic the sour flavor of real sourdough without having to spend several days making it. You can adjust this recipe to be ready to bake at any time. One teaspoon of yeast will achieve its first rise around 4–6 hours; reduce the yeast to 3/4 teaspoon to let rise for 6–8 hours, and cut back to only 1/2 teaspoon of yeast if you want to let the dough bulk-ferment overnight for 10–12 hours.

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