Easy sourdough bread from the steam oven

ChicksLoveFood shares a surprisingly simple recipe for sourdough bread made in the steam oven. With just a few pure ingredients and the right timing, you can bake a bread with a crispy crust and airy interior. Thanks to the Steamify function in your oven, you do not need to be an experienced baker to achieve a result that tastes professionally made.

Ingredients

For one loaf:  

  • 200 g spelt flour
  • 200 g whole grain spelt flour
  • 230 ml water
  • 9 g salt
  • 170 g active sourdough starter

How to make it

1. Place the spelt flour, whole grain spelt flour, water, salt and sourdough starter in a bowl.
2. Mix for about seven minutes using a mixer with dough hooks until a firm dough forms.
3. Knead the dough briefly by hand.
4. Cover the bowl with a tea towel and let the dough rise until it roughly doubles in volume, usually four to six hours at room temperature.
5. Turn the dough out onto your work surface and shape it into a round ball.
6. Dust a proofing basket with rice flour and place the dough ball inside with the seam facing up.
7. Let the dough rise for another two hours at room temperature until it nearly reaches the edge of the basket.
8. Cover the basket with a plastic bag and refrigerate overnight.

The Next Day: Baking in the AEG steam oven

Using a Dutch oven
1. Preheat the oven to 230 degrees Celsius. Place the empty pot with lid in the oven during preheating.
2. Set the oven to Steamify mode at 200 degrees Celsius.
3. Remove the dough from the fridge and gently place it in the hot pot, with the bottom dusted with rice flour and the top side facing up.
4. Score the dough with a sharp knife about half a centimetre deep along its length.
5. Cover with the lid and bake for 34 minutes.
6. Remove the lid and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes until the bread is golden brown and crispy.
7. Let the bread cool on a wire rack.

Without a Dutch oven
1. Preheat the oven to 230 degrees Celsius and let a baking tray or pizza stone heat up inside.
2. Carefully place the dough on a piece of baking paper.
3. Score the dough with a sharp knife about half a centimetre deep along its length.
4. Slide the dough with the baking paper onto the hot tray or stone.
5. Set the oven to Steamify and bake for 15 minutes with the steam function active.
6. Then switch to a dry program such as Conventional and lower the temperature to 210 degrees Celsius.
7. Bake for another 20 minutes until golden brown and cooked through.
8. Let the bread cool on a wire rack.