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FROM THE KITCHEN

Baking Sourdough

HOW TO MAKE SOURDOUGH

These instructions came from my friend Alexa, who I met through TikTok. She lives close by and saw that my sourdough adventures were not “rising” to expectations… so she offered to help. The directions changed how I was making sourdough and made all the difference. Previously I was using a recipe from King Arthur for No Knead Sourdough Bread, but the process was not producing great results, even though it had when I used this recipe a few years ago. I think their directions around rise time are not correct and it needs longer time to proof.
 
I used to make sourdough often during Covid, but I accidentally destroyed my starter and could not get a new one to take correctly. What I think happened was that I wasn’t feeding it enough during the high temps, so the lacto-bacteria were super charged in the heat, eating through all of the food sources I gave them, resulting in a by-product Kahm yeast. It is not harmful but makes your sourdough starter smell and taste like moldy cheese. I could not figure out how to properly remedy this issue. Thankfully, my neighbor had a well-established starter that she shared with me. So thanks to these two ladies, the sourdough adventures can continue…
 
Feeding A Sourdough starter
Ingredients
  • 50g active starter
  • 50g whole wheat flour 
  • 50g water

DIRECTIONS

  1. First, measure the weight of a jar in grams and make note of it for later. 

  2. Add 50g of your starter to it, 50g whole wheat flour and 50g water. It’ll be thicker because of the whole wheat. Mix really well and give it 24 hours. 

  3. Everyday continue the same 1:1:1 ratio feed (meaning, 50g starter, 50g WW flour, 50g water) by first measuring the total weight of the starter + jar, subtract the weight of the jar, and then discard ~100g discard until you have 50g left, then add the flour and water.

BAKING SOURDOUGH BREAD
Ingredients
  • 100g active starter  (fed, bubbly, and risen to peak)
  • 15g Extra Vigen Olive Oil
  • 500g Organic Bread Flour (I use King Arthur Unbleached or Lindley Mills, which is local)
  • 8-10g Fine Sea Salt
  • Organic Rice Flour, for dusting (Optional – I just use reg flour)

DIRECTIONS

  • 9:00 am:
    Mix together active starter, water, and olive oil (optional) with a whisk until starter is dissolved. Add bread flour and salt; with a dough hook or your hand, mix until it starts to come together. Mix/knead until all flour is incorporated (it will be sticky ball). Use a plastic scraper to scrape down the excess dough from your hand. Set timer for 1 hour.

  • 10:00 a.m.
    After 1 hour, stretch and fold ~25 times until dough forms into a smooth ball. If dough is still extra loose and doesnt hold its shape, continue stretch and folds until you reach a nice ball. Set timer for 30 minutes.

  • 10:30 am
    Next, begin the first of 4 stretch and folds every 30 minutes for the next 2 hours. For each set, do 4 folds (one for each side).

  • 11:00 a.m.
    Perform second stretch and fold (4 total). Rest for 30 minutes.

  • 11:30 a.m.
    Perform third stretch and fold (4 total). Rest for 30 minutes.

  • 12:00 pm
    Perform fourth stretch and fold (4 total). Rest on counter until doubled and bubbly- this will depend on temperature of the room. It can be anywhere from ~4-8 hours.

SHAPE:
Lightly stretch all 4 sides out into an evenly thick circle. Depending on if you’re using a boule (round shaped banneton) or batard (oval shape), shape accordingly. Use group recording to review folds or YouTube; there’s tons of different ways it can be done.

Using your palms and pinky/ring fingers, gently create some tension by pulling the dough across the working space towards your body, turn, continue, until you’ve reached the shape you want and sides are tucked in.

Using your scraper, gently lift dough off your working space and upside down into the banneton (so the seam-side that was on the counter is now exposed to air inside the banneton). If the seam underneath isn’t closed, pinch the dough together all the way across (lengthwise), so it stays shut. If it won’t stay closed, don’t stress!

COLD FERMENT:
Refrigerate dough for 12-36 hours (less is okay but the less cold it is, the more likely the crust wont form super pretty. The longer is stays in the fridge, the more “sour” your bread will turn out).

BAKE:
Preheat oven AND dutch oven to 450 degrees F for about an hour (the hotter, the better). Gather a long piece of parchment paper to help lower the dough down into the hot dutch oven.

When ready to bake, remove dough from the fridge, score bread with a sharp razer, remove the hot dutch oven from the oven, carefully lower bread into dutch oven and cover with the lid.

Bake at 450 degrees for 30 minutes, remove lid and reduce oven temperature to 410 degrees F for another 10-15 minutes. The internal temperature should read 205-210 degrees F.

COOL:
Take bread out of the dutch oven right after baking and transfer to a cooling rack (so there’s air flow underneath). Allow bread to cool completely (6 hours, minimum) before cutting! If it doesn’t cool completely, it can become gummy inside. Trust me, it’s worth it to stay patient.

Recommended SOURDOUGH Recipes I’ve Tried (or want to)