• 8- 10 am feed your starter (1 cup flour, 3/4 cup water and 50 grams of starter OR the rest of your starter you had in the fridge) and wait for it to triple (rise and start falling).  Watch how I feed my sourdough starter HERE!

Make the dough:

• Measure all of your ingredients water, salt, sourdough starter, and flour.
• Mix all of the ingredients together with a wooden spoon, making a shaggy ball of dough. Make sure all of the flour is hydrated and no dry spots left.

Prepare the inclusions:

• Prepare the cheddar cheese by dicing it into small cubes. Wash, dry the jalapeños, remove seeds if you want less heat, or slice it with the seeds into half circles.

Strengthen the dough (series of "folds" - see pics on bottom of the post):

• Gently lift one side of the dough and fold it over the center. Repeat with the other three sides. This helps strengthen the dough without traditional kneading. Repeat this process every 15-30 minutes for the first 2 hours.
• With every stretch and fold, add in 1/4 of the cheese and jalapeños. This will ensure that they are spread out and incorporated throughout the bread.
• * 7:15 pm 1st stretch and fold add in 1/4 of the jalapeños and cheese.
• * 7:30 pm 2nd stretch and fold, add in another 1/4 of the jalapeños and cheese.
• * 7:45 pm 3rd stretch and fold, add in another 1/4 of the jalapeños and cheese.
• * 8:00 pm 4th stretch and fold, add the rest of the jalapeños and cheese. (watch video here)

Bulk Fermentation:

• Cover the bowl with plastic and let the dough bulk ferment at room temperature for 8-12 hours, or overnight. The longer fermentation enhances flavor. If it's colder in your house, place the dough on top of your fridge, it's usually warmer higher up.

Shaping:

• In the morning, gently get the fermented dough out on a clean counter top. Shape the dough into a ball.
• Tighten the ball by rolling it towards yourself.
• Dust with rice flour.
• Make sure your bread proofing basket is dusted well with rice flour as well.

Second Rise:

• Cover the proofing basket and let the dough rise for about 2 hours, or until the dough has reached the rim of the proofing basket.

Freezer:

• Place the dough in the proofing basket into the freezer for 15 mins. This will help and make scoring easier.

Preheat and Bake:

• Preheat your oven to 450°F (230°C) with a Dutch oven inside for about 15 mins.
• Flip your dough onto a parchment paper, score, and bake.
• Once preheated, carefully transfer the dough (with parchment paper) into the hot Dutch oven, cover with the lid, drop in a few ice cubes for steam, and bake for 45 minutes with the lid on.
• Remove the lid and bake for 5 more minutes.
• The bread should be golden and beautiful.