FRENCH SOURDOUGH LOAF STEP 3 (PARTS 1 and 2 )

Step 3 is the dough. For the dough you will need 55ml of lukewarm water, 20 gm of sea salt, 230gm of bread flour, extra flour for dusting, a round basket (about 9' wide and 4' high ), lined with a heavily floured linen tea towel.( I use a plastic colander for this ). To make the dough, stir the sponge batter well. Beat in the water and salt, then mix in enough of the bread flour to make a soft but not sticky dough. Turn out the dough on to a lightly floured work surface and knead for 10 minutes until firm and elastic. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rise at normal room temperature until almost doubled in size, about 8- 12 hours. PART 2 .....STEP 3. Knock back the risen dough. Cut off 230 gm and set aside for making the next starter and place the resrved portion of dough into a greased plastic bag and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, or leave the dough in a small non metallic bowl covered with a damp tea towel at room temperature for up 2 days, redampening the tea towel each day. Now shape the remaining dough into a ball and put it into the floured cloth lined basket, cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rise at normal room temperature, until almost doubled in size, approx 8 hours.