Best High Hydration Artisan Sourdough Bread Recipe

If you are looking to take your artisan sourdough bread to the next level, you have to try this high-hydration sourdough recipe. The higher hydration in this sourdough creates a beautiful open crumb that is super soft and fluffy all while maintaining a golden and crispy exterior. Adding more hydration may be the missing key that will take your homemade sourdough to professional bakery-style sourdough bread.

Throughout my years of baking sourdough bread, I have tried just about everything. I’ve tried tons of different recipes, hydrations, flours, and more, but the one recipe I always go back to is this 80% high-hydration sourdough. I love it because it is soft and fluffy on the inside and golden and crispy on the outside. To me, this makes the most perfect loaf of sourdough bread!

If you have been following me for a while, you probably know that I love simple and flavorful recipes and this sourdough recipe does just that! It only takes a few simple ingredients, patience, and a little bit of technique. But before we get baking, let’s start with understanding what exactly high-hydration sourdough bread is.

What is High Hydration Sourdough Bread?

You may have heard of hydration percentages before if you are into baking. These percentages are also called “bakers’ percentages”. These percentages refer to the level of hydration (or water) that is added to the sourdough. In other words, you could have 80% hydration (high hydration), meaning 80% of your dough is made from water, or you could have 50% hydration (low hydration), meaning that 50% of your dough is composed of water.

I recommend using a high hydration if you prefer a more open and moist crumb. An open crumb refers to the inside of the bread having lots of air pockets. These air pockets are developed through the fermentation process and from the steam that is created through the baking. When the sourdough has more water in it, there is more steam development, and therefore more air pockets. This creates a very moist crumb with a thinner crunchy crust. In my personal opinion, high hydration sourdough is one of my favorite hydration percentages. High hydration is great for artisan sourdough bouls, baguettes, ciabatta bread, and more. When you think of traditional artisan sourdough with those big beautiful air pockets, it is most likely a higher hydration sourdough.

What Is Low Hydration Sourdough Bread?

The opposite of high hydration is low hydration. It refers to a lower amount of hydration (or water) within the bread. Because there is less water within the bread, there is less steam development. This creates a more closed crumb, or in other words, the sourdough will have fewer air pockets in it. This is great for things like sandwich bread. For instance, if you are making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich you most likely do not want a ton of air pockets in the bread. This will cause the peanut butter and jelly to seep out throughout the holes and it will be very messy. Therefore, it is recommended to use a lower hydration for sandwich bread to create a closed crumb (aka, less air pockets).

If you are looking for a yummy whole wheat sourdough sandwich bread recipe, check out my recipe here to see how you can make homemade sandwich bread and avoid all of the toxic preservatives and additives that are found in store-bought bread.

What Is The Best Sourdough Hydration?

The hydration level of your sourdough is 100% up to personal preference. I personally, prefer baking with a higher hydration for my artisan sourdough bread, about 80-85%. The higher hydration creates a very moist and open crumb that is light and fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside. However, if I am going to make sourdough sandwich bread, such as sourdough whole wheat sandwich bread, I prefer using a lower hydration to create a more closed crumb. This is not only good for sandwiches but also for making things like French toast. Much like anything though, I recommend trying out a few different hydration levels to see what works best for you!

Why You Will Love This Recipe:

• Moist: Because this recipe has a higher hydration, it is very soft and moist on the inside.
• No-knead sourdough bread: There is no kneading in this recipe which makes it great for beginners.
• Beginner-friendly: This recipe does not require any fancy equipment or mixers. All you need are your hands and some bowls. This makes it a great recipe to start off your sourdough journey with.
  
  

Tips For Making:

1. Active starter: If you are like me and always keep your starter in the refrigerator, I recommend taking the starter out a couple of days before you are going to make your bread and feed it 2-3 times. This will get it really active and also bring it up to room temperature, which is really important!
   
   If you are looking for a simple step-by-step guide to make your own homemade sourdough starter, check out my blog here.
2. Build Leaven: 4 hours before making your dough, you want to create a leaven. This is super easy to make and is basically the same as feeding your sourdough starter. All that you need to make a leaven is active sourdough starter, water, and flour. You want the leaven to double in size and be slightly rounded on the top. This is when you know that your leaven is ready to be worked with.
3. Do not over-ferment: Make sure not to over-ferment. Higher hydration sourdough tends to ferment a little bit quicker than lower hydration doughs. When the dough over-ferments, it can become very sticky and difficult to work with – so make sure to stick to the fermentation times outlined in the recipe.
4. Warmth: Ensuring that the dough stays warm is essential to activate the wild yeast and bacteria within. This warmth helps facilitate faster rising and fermentation. I do this by temping my water. I typically like the water to be around 92°F. Once the dough is mixed together, I recommend placing it in a warm area of your house. In the wintertime, I usually heat my oven up to 175° F and then turn it off and place the covered dough in the oven. The additional warmth will help the dough to rise and ferment.
   
   

Note: This blog post contains affiliate links, which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you. 

Ingredients:

• Active sourdough starter
• Unbleached All-purpose flour: Making sure that your flour is unbleached is super important. The bleach will kill the sourdough starter.
• Bread flour
• Whole wheat flour
• Filtered water
• Fine sea salt
  
  

Materials Used:

• Ball jar
• Kitchen scale
• Mixing bowl
• Bread whisk
• Proofing basket
• Bench scraper
• Bread lame
• Dutch oven
• Parchment paper
  
  

How To Make Sourdough Bread:

1. Build Leaven:

Begin by making your leaven four hours before you start making the dough. The leaven contains the wild yeast needed to rise the bread.

To make the leaven combine 85g. of active bubbly sourdough starter (preferably last fed about 12 hours prior), 100g. of filtered water (72° F), and 100g. unbleached all-purpose flour in a 32 oz. glass jar.

Loosely cover the jar and place it in a warm area to rise for 4 hours.

After 4 hours, the leaven should have doubled in size and be slightly rounded on the top and bubbly.

2. Make The Dough:

Once the leaven has doubled in size and is slightly rounded on the top, add the warm filtered water (92° F.) and the leaven to a large mixing bowl. If the leaven is active and alive it should float on top of the water.

Mix everything together and then add in your bread flour, whole wheat flour, and salt.

Using a bread whisk, whisk everything together until it is shaggy and combined, about 5 minutes. You could also use your hands if you do not have a bread whisk.

Cover the dough with a warm damp tea towel and place the dough in a warm area to rest. Allow the dough to rest for 10 minutes.

3. Stretch and Folds:

After 10 minutes, the dough has rested, is fully hydrated and ready to perform its first series of stretch and folds. This is a process of stretching the dough as far as it can go before it breaks and then folding it back over to the center of the bread. Stretching and folding the dough helps to build strength within the gluten of the bread and will give the bread structure.

Using a soaking wet hand and a wet work surface, perform 8 stretch and folds, using one hand to stretch and fold the dough the other to turn to bowl in 30° increments. Once the bread starts to fight back and it is harder to stretch the dough out is when you will know that the dough needs to rest.

After 8 stretch and folds, begin gently pushing and pulling the dough on the wet work surface until it forms a ball.

Cover the dough with a warm damp tea towel again and allow it to rest for 30 minutes in a warm area.

Perform this stretch and fold process a total of 2 times.

4. Bulk Ferment:

After resting for one hour, the dough should have expanded and should look a little bit smoother and more structured.

Perform 8 more stretch and folds.

Then transfer the dough into an oiled mixing bowl. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rest for 5 hours. The dough should double or double and a half in size. It should smell both sour and sweet and have lots of air bubbles. I typically like to use a clear bowl so that I can see how much it has risen.

5. Shaping:

Once the bulk ferment has been completed, wetthe countertop and place the dough on the countertop.

Using a bench scraper, cut the dough into 2 equal parts.

Using wet hands, gently stretch out all four sides of the dough, until it forms a rectangle.

Fold the bottom of the dough to meet the upper 2/3rds of the dough.

Fold in both of the sides and then roll the bottom of the dough up to meet the top of the dough.

Fold in the side again until the dough looks more circular and then pinch together the seams of the dough for a little bit more additional support.

Allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes covered with a damp tea towel.

After 20 minutes, repeat the same process of but this time flour your hands and the workspace.

6. Proofing:

Transfer the dough to a thoroughly floured proofing basket, seam-side up. If you do not have baskets you can always use a bowl lined with a thoroughly floured tea towel.

Place the proofing baskets in a plastic bag and place them in the refrigerator to proof overnight.

7. Bake:

Preheat the oven to 500° with the Dutch oven into the oven.

Preheat the Dutch oven for 45-60 minutes before baking.

Once the Dutch oven is done preheating, transfer the dough to a large piece of parchment paper sprinkled with semolina flour. I like using semolina flour because it does not burn as easily as white flour.

Using a bread lame, razor blade, or knife, score the bread and transfer it to the preheated Dutch oven.

Bake the bread with the lid on for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes remove the lid and lower the temperature to 475° F and bake for an additional 20 minutes.

8. Rest:

Once the bread is done baking, transfer it to a wire cooling rack and allow the bread to rest for 1 hour before cutting into it. This allows the bread to rehydrate. This is essential to maintaining a soft and moist interior.

Baking Schedule:

• 9am: Build the leaven
• 1:30pm: Mix the dough
• 1:40pm: Perform the first series of stretch and folds.
• 2:10pm: Perform second series of stretch and folds and transfer to an oiled bowl to bulk ferment.
• 7:10pm: Cut and shape the dough. Allow it to rest covered with a tea towel for 20 minutes.
• 7:30pm: perform final shaping and place in the proofing baskets covered with a plastic bag to proof overnight.
• 9am: Preheat the Dutch oven.
• 10am: Bake and allow to cool.
  
  

FAQ:

• What is high hydration sourdough bread? High hydration refers to the amount of water added to the dough. A higher hydration dough is typically lighter and more airy. It is known for having a more open crumb.
• What is the benefit of high hydration sourdough? The main benefit of high hydration sourdough is that it has a more open crumb, meaning there are more air bubbles and pockets in the bread itself. High hydration can also speed up the rate of fermention.
• Do I need to use 100% hydration starter to make high hydration bread? Not necessarily. My starter is a 1:2:2 ratio. So while it can be helpful to have 100% hydration, it is not necessary.
  
  

More Sourdough Recipes To Try:

• Sourdough Cinnamon Roll Star Bread
• Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Sourdough Pumpkin Muffin
• Healthy Sourdough Pumpkin Bread
• Sourdough Old Fashion Donuts
• Best Beginners Sourdough Bread
• How to Make Sourdough Starter
  
  

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