Start by milling your grain. While that is milling, pour the water, honey and sourdough starter into your mixer bowl. Then add in the fresh milled flour, purposely leaving out the salt.

Using your mixer, mix until all of the flour is fully incorporated and there are no more dry spots. Let this sit covered with a lid or damp cloth for 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, add in the salt right on top of the dough and knead until you’re able to get a good windowpane with the dough. This means that when you take a piece of dough and pinch and stretch it with your fingers, you’re able to see some light through it like a window. Kneading can take 8-20 minutes but do be mindful not to over knead the dough which can lead to the dough becoming too warm and overproofing.

When you’re done kneading, place the dough into a straight edged lightly oiled container. With a dry erase marker or tape, mark how high the dough is. This will allow us to easily see how much the dough rises. This is important so we do not overproof our dough.

After 30 minutes, do one set of coil folds on the dough. Please see video for reference on how to do a coil fold. Repeat this step in another 30 minutes.

After the second set of coil folds, allow the dough to rise until it is almost doubled in size. For me this took 30 minutes after the last coil fold. Rising times can vary based on the temperature in your home and how active your starter is so take this time with a grain of salt.

Once your dough has almost doubled in size, it is time to pre-shape your dough. Gently remove your dough from the container by flipping it over and allowing it to slowly slide out of the container. We don’t want to deflate the dough like we would when making sandwich bread. Using a bench scraper or lightly oiled hands, gently shape the dough into a ball by gliding it against the counter. Please see video for reference.

After pre-shaping, allow the dough to rest on the counter uncovered for 10-15 minutes. We want to leave it uncovered for it to form a light crust on top which helps it to not stick to the counter for the final shaping. The purpose of this rest is to give the gluten time to relax in order to be able to do the final shaping.

After 10-15 minutes, lightly flour your work surface and your banneton. Using your bench scraper or your hands, flip the dough over so that the smooth top side is now down on the counter. Very lightly pull the edges of the dough to form a rectangle. Take the short edges and fold them into the center and then roll up the dough like a log. Place your log of dough in your floured banneton with the seam side up. Pinch the seam closed. See video for reference on how to shape.

Allow your dough to rest in the banneton covered for 30-45 minutes while your oven preheats to 475 degrees. If using a Dutch oven, preheat this with your oven. If using an enamel roster, there is no need to preheat. Alternatively, after putting the dough in the banneton, you can put it in the fridge for up to about 2 hours before baking. You can bake cold from the fridge.

After the dough is done resting, flip the dough onto a piece of parchment paper or silicone baking mat with the seam side down. Score the top of the dough by taking your blade or knife and slashing it from one end of the dough down to the other end. Have your blade at a 45 degree angle and press about 1/4th of an inch into the dough when making your slash. Now, using the edges of the parchment paper or silicone baking mat, lift the dough into your hot Dutch oven or enamel roaster. Place the lid on the pot. See video below for reference.

Bake at 475 degrees for 20 minutes covered. Then remove the lid and bake for an additional 20 minutes at 450 degrees uncovered. The internal temperature should be between 200-210 degrees when done.

When your bread is done baking immediately and carefully remove it from the pan by lifting it out by the parchment paper or baking mat and transferring it to a cooling rack. Allow the loaf to cool completely, about 2 hours, before enjoying.