FINALLY got it right! <3

After 6 months or so of persistent experiments and tries with sourdough all to find out the whole time my oven was working at like 50% capacity and had to be replaced, I finally found the recipe and flour that works for me and have been able to consistently bake beautiful loaves of sourdough. This is after literal months of constant tries never yielding results and tremendous amounts of disappointment and frustration and even a long break from trying to bake at all. Thank you to this sub for pointing out that a loaf baked at 500 degrees for 3 hours should not still be undercooked…. embarrassing that it took so long for me to blame the oven and not my own skills. I used to work at a French bakery that was serious about their sourdough and never thought I would be able to do it myself, and lo and behold, I have been making loaves that taste like those ones from work and have been able to do it consistently. Feels like magic! I just bought a second dutch oven that is more loaf-shaped so I can make two at the same time and bring them to friends and family. I am so proud! Genuinely happy I didn't give up. Wanted to come back to share my recipe to anyone who is struggling like I was, and overwhelmed with the amount of information out there. I don't really have fancy gear or do so many steps. Note also that I live in a warm climate and have incandescent lights in my kitchen, so I think my dough rises faster than most! Maybe in the future I will branch out and improve, but this recipe for me has been the simplest and easiest to do and I love the crumb and the texture.

Here is the recipe that works for me:

I start my levain in the morning around 9-10 am, 50/50/50 ratio of starter, bread flour, and water. I have a 80-year strong starter inherited from a friend, so it rises fast and doesn't need prep the night before. Took me a while to know when it was ready and not over-fermented, but the key for me was making sure that there wasn't a ring around the edge of the cup that would indicate the levain had risen and then deflated. Maybe thats obvious but would have helped me to know sooner.

When its ready, usually between 2-4 pm I start the dough, I use 330 g water, 50g starter, 10g salt, mix it up, then add around 50g of Bob's Red Mill Whole Wheat (I actually notice a difference and love this brand) and 450g of Bob's Red Mill Bread Flour. Mix well, let rest for 30 minutes in a bowl covered, then 3-4 rounds of stretch and fold every 30 minutes until I feel that the dough is pillowy but elastic and resistant to pulling.

I let the dough sit and rise on the counter until between 10-pm and midnight. Right before bed, I take the dough out– took me a while to also realize that overfermentation during this process was something I had been doing, the dough should fall fairly easily out of the bowl and not leave so much residue. I shape it on a board thats been lightly dusted with rice flour with my bench scraper until it feels taut and holds its shape. Flip upside down, and put in a banneton on a lightly dusted tea towel overnight in the fridge.

In the morning, usually 8-12 hours later, I preheat my oven to 425 with my dutch oven inside. I also put dry rice in the bottom. After 30 minutes, I take out the dough, score it, and put it in parchment paper in the dutch oven. I bake for 25-35 minutes covered, and then uncovered until golden brown.

I let it cool for an hour or two and enjoy!!!