Take your sourdough starter out of the fridge and give it a good mix.

In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt, sourdough starter, and water.

Clean the sides of the bowl with a spatula and dump the dough on a working surface.

Start kneading the dough until everything comes together well.

If your dough is too sticky, leave the dough to rest for 5 to 10 minutes.

Wet your hands and restart the kneading process.

The total amount of kneading time is about 10 minutes, depending on your kneading skills.

Knead the dough just like you do with yeasted dough.

The dough should become more elastic and smooth (like a soft playdough) as you knead.

You are done kneading when the dough doesn't stick to the table or your hands and is elastic (if you gently stretch the dough it doesn't break).

Shape the dough into a tight ball. If you gently push on the dough ball it should bounce back.

You only need to add more water if the dough is clearly too dry and hard to work with.

You only need to add more flour if your dough is too wet to work with, but only after you have left it to rest as recommended above and you used wet hands to knead. Even then, only add the flour in small increments and see how your dough works with it.

Take your straight-sided container and add the dough inside. Gently push the dough inside.

Add a rubber band around the container to mark where the size of your dough is at.

Place the lid on top without closing it and set the dough aside to bulk ferment in a warm spot away from direct sunlight or draught.

I like to leave my dough to ferment during the day so I can keep an eye on it. If your kitchen is cooler and you are not available during the daytime, you can leave the dough to ferment on your counter overnight.

Flour your work surface and gently pull out your fermented dough on the table.

Shape the dough into a ball by gently lifting the sides and bringing them into the middle of the dough (like pulling a blanket over you kind of motion). The end result should be a sourdough boule.

The shaping process needs to be gentle as you don't want to deflate the dough. You need to make sure you preserve those air bubbles the yeast has created as much as possible. Also, you don't want to overstretch the dough as you can break the gluten strands that will help the bread hold its shape while baking. That being said, you do need to create a bit of tension while shaping to help with the oven spring and crumb of the bread. Just use a gentle hand while doing that.

Close the bottom of the bread by bringing the sides together, pinching the dough between your fingers to make it stick and folding it in to lock it.

Flour your banneton with rice flour and transfer your shaped dough face in. I recommend rice flour to avoid sticking as it has no gluten. If you don't have rice flour, use your regular flour but add more to make sure it is well coated.

Sprinkle some of the flour left from your work surface on your dough and gently spread it uniformly.

Poke the dough with your finger in one gentle motion. If it makes a dent that springs back up gently about halfway through, your bread is ready to bake. If the dent springs back up completely and quickly, your dough needs more time on the counter to continue fermentation. If the dent does not spring back at all, it means the dough is over-proofed. You can still bake it, but it won't be as pretty and pleasant to eat as perfectly proofed bread.

The dough should still have that light and airy feel to it and still jiggle when you shake the banneton.

Cover your banneton with a breathable cloth or tea towel.

If the dough is ready to bake, transfer it to the freezer for about 30 minutes, while your oven is preheating. This will stop the fermentation process and will cool down the dough.

Preheat your oven with the Dutch Oven inside to 250°C/482°F for about 30 minutes (depending on your oven).

Take out your sourdough from the freezer and gently turn it upside down on parchment paper.

Place the bread in the hot Dutch Oven and score it with a lame (with caution), or sharp kitchen scissors. You should score one deep score across the bread (about 1/2 inch deep). I like to make a semi-moon shape for this recipe. You can create pretty designs by scoring them only on the surface without going deep, but you will need at least one deep cut. The scoring helps with oven spring and to avoid a big rupture in the crust.

Put the lid on and place the bread in the oven on the middle or lower rack (depending on the size of your oven).

Each oven is different, so your baking time might differ from mine. I recommend checking on your bread after 35 minutes or so. Once your bread looks like it is baked, take the lid off to brown and crisp up the crust. It is up to you how dark you like your crust to be. I am somewhere in the middle.

Take the bread out of the oven and let it cool off in the Dutch Oven for about 10-15 minutes.

Gently take the bread out with the parchment paper and place it on a cooling rack.

I recommend not slicing it until it has completely cooled off. Your crumb will look gummy and underbaked if you slice it too early. Believe me, I understand the struggle, as nothing beats the taste of warm freshly baked bread. But sourdough is a bit more fussy than regular bread.

And that's it. Your delicious sourdough bread is ready. You can start the whole process in the morning and have it ready by dinner time.

Slice and enjoy!