Ingredients:
5 cups of bread flour
2 1/2 + cups of warm to hot water
2 TBS of salt
100 g active starter
Step 1: Autolyse 2 1/2 cups + of warm to hot water with 5 cups of bread flour, until you get the texture you want, sticky, but not watery. Cover and let that sit until your starter is ready.
Step 2: When your starter is ready, add 100g to your dough as well as 1-2 TBS of salt and pinch it in (the salt helps the gluten)
Step 3: Cover and let it rest for 30 minutes. Do 4 stretch and folds every 30 minutes (it can be stretch and folds, coil folds, kneading, and the Rubaud method – I intermix them)
Step 4: Then cover and let it rise on the counter at about 70 degrees or in the oven with the light on (I take out the top rack so I don’t accidentally bake my dough), until 70-80% percent proofed.
Step 5: Butter a 9in x 13 in glass Pyrex deep dish.
Step 6: Dump your dough out on a floured cutting board or table. Stretch it into a rectangle and use a pizza cutter or dough knife to cut the dough into 12-24 equal squares. Shape your dough into balls by folding the corners to the center and rounding the dough out. This is the bottom of your dough ball. Pinch the bottom closed and place it in your glass Pyrex dish. Repeat for every square. (To avoid the sourdough from sticking to your hands, wet your hands when the dough starts to stick.)
Step 7: Cover your dough balls with a wet towel or plastic wrap and allow them to rise the rest of the way.
Step 8: Take a metal deep dish filled with 1 inch of water and place on the bottom rack (This is done for a softer roll).
Step 9: Preheat the oven to 375-degrees, brush your rolls with an egg wash or milk, and when the oven is done preheating, place your dough in the oven.
Step 10: Set your timer to 30-35 minutes.
Step 11: When the timer goes off, take your rolls out of the oven and let them cool on a cooling rack or a cutting board.
