Sourdough Bread §

I didn’t catch the sourdough-madness wave during the pandemic in 2020, but soon enough my curiosity needed me to give this bread a shot. In the fall of 2023, I tried a recipe online, then another recipe, and then another recipe, but it wasn’t working out. The more I researched, the more conflicting opinions I found (believe it or not I’ve found sourdough recipes that asked for active dry yeast). I also learned that there is a lot of “science” behind sourdough bread, but that following all the rules is inversely proportional to enjoying the baking process. So, I’ll attempt to give a straightforward, not-fun-draining guide to sourdough bread here.

Sourdough bread starts with your new favorite pet: the sourdough starter.

The Sourdough Starter §

Patience. If I had to describe the whole process of making a sourdough starter in one word, that’s the one I would choose. You are making a living creature. A starter that’s suitable for baking takes +7 days.

Ingredients and Equipment

• Whole wheat flour
• Bread flour
• Warm water
• Patience
• A jar or container
• Cloth or paper towel and rubber band for covering the jar

Procedure

1. Add 70 grams of whole wheat flour and 70 grams of warm water to a jar. Mix it with a fork, making sure that the flour is well incorporated. Cover the jar, but not airtight. Let it rest in a warm place for 24 hours.

2. Feed the starter with 70 grams of bread flour and 70 grams of warm water. Let it rest for 24 hours.

3. Discard (yes, just throw away) about half of the starter. Feed it again with 70 grams of bread flour and 70 grams of warm water. Let it rest for 24 hours.

   

4. Repeat Step 3 (discard some, feed, let rest) for another 4 days.

5. It’s been 7 days since Step 1. If your starter is bubbly, scoop just a little (around 1 teaspoon) into a glass with room-temperature water. If it floats, you can now bake with your starter. If your starter is not bubbly or doesn’t pass the float test, keep feeding it for a few more days until it works.

General tips

• Keep your starter in a warm place (75-90F). Inside the oven with the light on is a good spot for it.
• Don’t close the starter’s container completely. It needs air to grow. You can cover it with a cloth and tighten it with a rubber band.
• You don’t have to discard half the starter every time you feed it. But once it starts growing it will overflow if you don’t get rid of some of it. Also, if you see a liquid on your starter, you should discard the liquid.
• If you are baking less than once a week, you can store your starter in the fridge and feed it once a week, taking it out of the fridge 2 days before the start of the baking process. If you bake more than once a week, feed it daily.
• Feeding your starter after birth (i.e., after it becomes active for the first time) only requires equal amounts of bread flour and warm water, it doesn’t have to be 70 grams. It could just be 40 grams of each.

Bread-time §

As I mentioned, there is a lot of science and too many variables behind sourdough. theBread.Code guy has very good videos on technique. After following his recipe +5 times, however, I decided that it was more complicated than it had to be. So, below is my simpler version.

The whole process takes a minimum of 24 hours, so your bread will be ready on day 2 or 3. The timing depends on when you want the bread and the room temperature of your kitchen (the warmer it is, the more suitable the lower end of the recommended times is). This recipe will yield 1 loaf.

Equipment

• Bowl for preparing the dough
• Banneton or bowl with a cloth
• V sharp knife for scoring the dough
• Dutch oven

Ingredients

• 360 grams warm water
• 100 grams active sourdough starter
• 10 grams salt
• 425 grams bread flour (+12% protein content)
• 75 grams whole wheat flour

Procedure

1. In the evening of day 1, activate your sourdough starter: feed it flour and water. Leave it in a warm spot to resuscitate overnight.
2. In the morning of day 2, check if your sourdough starter is back alive by doing the float test. If it doesn’t pass, feed it again, wait, and go on to the next steps once it passes.
3. In a large bowl, mix the warm water with the active starter. Stir in the salt and then both flours. Combine well. Yeah, it’s super sticky but don’t worry. Cover it and let it rest 30-45’.
4. Now it’s time to stretch and fold. Wet your hands, pull an edge of the dough, and fold it over itself. Repeat a few times until it starts becoming smooth. Cover it and let it rest for 30-45’. This short video explains it well.
5. Do the 1st coil fold, a weird (but not too complicated) type of dough fold. It’s based on the fact that the dough is sticky and it’ll glue to itself. So: wet your hands and release the dough from the bowl with both hands, gently lifting it from the center. Make the top half stick to itself, then the bottom half, and finally the sides. The same short video explains it well. Cover it and let it rest for 60-90’.
6. Do your 2nd coil fold. Cover it and let it rest for 60-90’ again.
7. Do your 3rd (and last!) coil fold. Cover it and let it rest until it doubles in size.
   • Sometimes, it’s hard to tell how much the dough has risen, so after your 3rd coil fold, you can take a small dough sample (less than a golf ball). Place the sample at the bottom of a cylindrical container (e.g., a glass), and put a rubber band around the container to measure the dough height. Cover and let rest in the same spot that you will the other dough. If the sample has doubled in size, so has the mother dough.
8. Pre-shape the dough. This is necessary if you’re making double the recipe (i.e., two loaves), but can be done if it’s just one. Flip the dough onto the counter (no flour!), cut the dough in half if you are making two loaves, fold the dough upon itself, and use the surface of the counter to create tension and shape it round. Cover it and let it rest for 30-60.
9. It’s time for the final shape. Flour your counter and flip the dough on it. We don’t want to deflate the dough too much, so gently fold the top half of the dough in itself and then glue the bottom half on top. The dough is now a long rectangle. Roll the rectangle in itself from one of the narrow ends. If you want an oval bread, just pinch the ends closed. But if you want a round bread, shape it with the tension of the counter.
10. Flip the dough over (yes, nice side down) into a floured banneton or lined bowl. Stitch the dough. Use flour generously here to make sure it doesn’t stick to the container. Cover it and let it rest 30-45’.
11. Refrigerate the dough for 12-24 hours.
12. Preheat your oven to 450°F with the Dutch oven in it (and its lid on the side) for 30’. You’re less than 2 hours away from eating bread!
13. After turning the oven on, put your dough in the freezer (yes, the freezer) for 30’ while the oven preheats. We just need it to be cold enough so it’s easy to score.
14. Once the oven is preheated, take the Dutch oven out. Carefully flip the dough onto the Dutch oven and score it. Put the Dutch oven lid on and take it to the actual oven for 30’. Then, remove the lid of the Dutch oven and let it bake for another 15-20’ depending on how dark you want the crust.
15. Be strong and let your bread cool down for at least 20’. Now, eat!