Low Effort Sourdough Bread

I enjoyed reading the Sourdough Whisperer cookbook and it's motivated me to try her low-effort approach to making sourdough bread. We don't eat a ton of bread, so below I halved her recipe:

• 25 g (2 Tbsp) starter
• 175 g (3/4 c) water
• 250 g (2 c) bread flour
• 3.5 g (1/2 tsp) salt (increase to 3/4 tsp)

Method:

Start the morning of the day before you plan to bake.

1. 9 AM- take starter out of fridge.
2. 11 AM- feed starter amount you plan to use (2 Tbsp flour and 1 Tbsp water).
3. 5 PM- weigh ingredients into glass bowl (about 2.25-2.5 L bowl). Mix with a spoon until it's a shaggy, rough dough. Cover the bowl and leave on the counter 1 hour.
4. 6 PM- first set of pulls and folds of the dough in the bowl. Lift a small handful of dough from one side of the bowl stretching it up and across the rest of the dough. Turn bowl and repeat until the dough feels less sticky and comes together into a soft ball, about 30 pulls or so. Cover and leave on the counter.
5. 7,8 and 9 PM- do three more sets of pulls and folds, covering and resting on the counter in between, and overnight.
6. 7 AM- in the morning, the dough will have grown to double, even triple, in size. If it has been cold, it may need more time. Optional: Prepare a banneton. While dough is still in bowl, perform a final set of pulls and folds, repeating all the way around the dough until you get a smooth ball that holds its shape. If using a banneton, transfer dough smooth side down. Cover and put it in the fridge for at least 3 hours, maximum 24 hours.
7. 10 AM onward- when ready to bake, decide whether to preheat oven or from a cold start. If preheating, set to 425F convection or 450F conventional.
8. Put parchment paper over the bottom of your dough and flip it into the bottom of your covered pot/dutch oven. Score the dough with a lame, cutting 3/8" deep. Cover with lid and put in oven.
9. Bake for 50 min if preheated, 55 min if cold start. After baking time, open the lid and check- if pale, put it back in the oven without the lid for an additional 5-10 min.
10. Cool on a wire rack at least 1 hr before cutting.

Note- When my starter has been particularly neglected, I've added 1 tsp of yeast to the water in the recipe above to augment what the starter can do.

New banneton and lame for Christmas