Kimchi and cheese? Talk about an incredible combo! It’s like a flavor explosion in your mouth – tart, salty, and packed with that irresistible umami punch. Personally, I can’t get enough of it, whether it’s in a gooey grilled cheese sandwich or a comforting mac & cheese bowl. And you know what’s the best part? When I ventured into the world of sourdough baking a few years back, one of my very first experiments was incorporating kimchi and shredded cheddar cheese into the dough. It was a game-changer!

In this post I will be sharing my process in creating this Kimchi & Cheese Sourdough Loaf. Give me a tag on Instagram if you gave this a try!

Equipment

• bench scraper
• banneton & proofing liner
• Bread lame/razor for scoring
• 6qt dutch oven like this Lodge dutch oven

Check out this blog post for other recommended equipment: Seven essential sourdough bread making tools

The Process

Dough

• 60g levain
  • 5g sourdough starter
  • 30g flour
  • 30g water
• 300g bread or all-purpose flour
• 234g water (78% hydration)
• 6g sea salt

Lamination

• 1/2 cup kimchi, chopped
• 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Other

• Half rice flour and half all-purpose flour mix, for dusting

Day 1: Build Levain

9:30pm: Make levain by combining 5g sourdough starter with 30g flour and 30g water.

Day 2: Ferment Dough

1. 8:00am: Autolayse & Prepare the kimchi
   • Mix the flour and water together, reserving 10g of water. Set aside. In a separate bowl, dissolve the salt in the reserved 10g of water and set aside
   • While the dough is resting, prepare the kimchi. Cut the kimchi up into small pieces and add it to a heated dry skillet. Cook the kimchi until the excess kimchi juice has been cooked out and the kimchi looks dry. Transfer it to a bowl, cover and set it aside until you are ready to laminate your dough.
     
     
2. 8:30am: Start Bulk Fermentation – add levain into flour and water. Squeeze and stretch & fold the dough to incorporate the levain evenly.
   
3. 9:00am: Add salt water mixture into the dough. Squeeze, and stretch & fold the salt evenly into the dough.
   
4. 9:30am: Stretch & Fold – Take the side of the dough and stretch it up and over the top of the dough. Rotate and repeat. Do about 4-6 strech & folds.
   
5. 10:00am: Laminate
   • Wet a work surface with a thin layer of water. Transfer the dough onto the surface and spread it thin. If the dough breaks, that is okay.
   • Sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese and the cooked kimchi all over the dough. Reserve about a tablespoon each.
   • Letter fold the dough: take one long side of the dough and fold it over 2/3 of the dough, like a letter, and then fold the other side over everything, completing the letter fold. Sprinkle the reserved kimchi & cheese over the folded dough and roll the dough up, completing the lamination process. Place the laminated dough seam side down in your proofing container.
     
     
6. 10:30am: Coil Fold
   • At this point, the dough should feel relaxed and soft. Gently lift the dough from the center, stretching one side until it pulls free from the container. Let the free edge of the dough fold under itself, then release the dough back into the container.
     
   • Repeat on the other end. Lift the dough from the center again, freeing the opposite end. Allow it to fold under, then gently release the dough.
   • Rotate the proofing container and repeat the same process on the other side. If you’re unsure which end you’re working on, check the ends of the dough—they should look coiled (see photo). The goal is to fold these coiled ends under.
     
     
7. 11:00am: Coil Fold
   
8. 11:45am: Coil Fold
   
9. 12:45pm: Coil Fold –This is the last coil fold.
   
10. 1:45pm: Shape (video)
    • Lightly dust a banneton or proofing towel with a 1:1 mixture of flour and rice flour to help prevent sticking. Dust your work surface and the top of the dough with flour as well.
    • Turn the proofing container upside down onto the work surface; the dough should release easily. Take the left side of the dough between your fingers, stretch it out, and fold it over the center, like a letter fold. Gently press the crease into the dough. Repeat with the right side to complete the letter fold. The dough should now resemble a rounded log.
    • Next, fold the top of the dough over the center, lightly pressing down the edges. Roll the dough up, Swiss roll-style, until the seam is at the bottom. Pinch the edges together and tuck them underneath the dough.
    • Using a bench scraper, flip the dough from the work surface into your hands, seam-side up, and place it into the banneton. Cover the dough and let it rest for 1 hour.
      
      
11. 3:00pm: End Bulk Fermentation: ~6.5 hours at 72F. Put the dough into the fridge to retard (cold ferment) until you are ready to bake the next day ~16-19 hours.

Day 3: Bake

1. 9:00am: Preheat the oven to 500F. Place the dutch oven inside.
   
2. 9:40am: 
   • Take a parchment paper and cut the corners out. This helps with putting the sourdough into the dutch oven. Flip your dough out from the proofing basket. Score and lightly spray with water from a spray bottle.
     
   • Take the dutch oven out of the oven and remove the lid. List the dough by the ends of the parchment paper and place it inside the dutch oven. Put the lid back on and transfer the dutch oven to the oven. Reduce the oven temperature to 450F.
     
3. 10:00am: Take the dutch oven out and remove the lid. Transfer the dutch oven back to the oven without the lid.
   
4. 10:30am: The sourdough loaf is done when the crust is nice and golden. Remove the loaf from the oven and let it cool for about an hour before slicing.

Related Resources

• My sourdough process: starter maintenance & baking schedule
• Seven essential sourdough bread making tools

More sourdough loaf recipes to tickle your palette

• Korean Corn Cheese Sourdough Loaf
• Flamin’ Hot Sourdough Loaf
• Spam Fried Rice Sourdough Loaf