• Add all dough ingredients to the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix well. Once the dough begins to thicken and bulk up, transition to kneading. If you have a dough hook on your mixer, that will work perfectly. Knead the dough until stretchy and elastic. This will take anywhere from 8-15 minutes depending on your mixer.
• Test your dough by doing the windowpane test. This test is a little more challenging if you are using freshly milled flour, but the dough should be able to be stretched a bit without immediately breaking.

Bulk Fermentation

• After the dough has been kneaded and passed the test, it's time for the bulk ferment. Oil the bottom of a medium sized bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap or similar and allow to sit on the counter.
• There are two options for the bulk fermentation:
• (1) Long rise on the counter for 6-8 hours or until the dough has doubled in size and bake after that.
• (2) Or you can do a shorter room temperature rise of 2-4 hours and then transition the dough to the fridge for 12 hours or overnight. I prefer the shorter counter rise and then fridge overnight, but you can do either one.

Shaping The Sourdough Sandwich Loaf

• Once the dough has finished it's bulk fermentation, it is time to shape it into a loaf.
• You can use a metal or glass pan for this, recently I have been enjoying my glass pans. Grease the loaf pan with oil or butter.
• Flatten the dough into a rectangle on a clean counter. You can use a little flour or oil if needed, but I haven't found my dough to be very sticky.
• Shape dough by rolling the dough up like a tight cinnamon roll log.
• Next, turn the dough 90 degrees and flatten into a rectangle again. At this point I am trying to keep the width of my rectangle about the size of my loaf pan. A little large is okay, but you don't want it too large.
• Then begin rolling the dough up again. With each roll use your pinkies and ring fingers to tuck the outermost edges inward. You want to seal the ends up and I find it is easiest to do that while you are rolling it up.
• After it is rolled up, pinch the bottom seam together before carefully lifting the loaf into the bread pan and placing it seam-side down.

Second Rise

• My favorite way to get a nice and quick second rise is to turn my oven to 100 degrees F. Once preheated, I turn the oven off and place my loaf into the oven. This creates a nice warm environment for the loaf to rise and usually cuts the rise time in half.
• If you don't want your loaf to rise quickly, feel free to cover the loaf with a towel and allow it to rise at room temperature.
• You want the dough to rise over the rim of the pan, but not too high that it will fall when it bakes.

Baking The Freshly Milled Sourdough Sandwich Loaf

• Once the bread is almost done rising, go ahead and preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
• After the dough has risen to the top of the pan or slightly above it, place it in the oven for 10-12 minutes.
• After 10-12 minutes, turn the oven temperature down to 350 degrees F. and bake for an additional 30-40 minutes. The loaf should look golden brown and a food thermometer should read about 200 degrees F. when the loaf is fully cooked through.
• Allow the loaf to cool at room temperature for half an hour in the loaf pan and then transfer loaf to a cooling rack to finish cooling.