How to Make Sourdough Bread

SOURDOUGH
400 grams flour
352 grams water
80 grams starter
9 grams salt

 

  • Combine the flour and lukewarm water and mix by hand until fully incorporated. Let this mixture rest for an hour or so.

  • Add the starter and salt and maybe a tiny bit more water to help fully incorporate it (just enough to get the salt wet).

  • Keep the dough warm (between 70 & 80 degrees is good).

  • Plan on 3 hours of bulk fermentation (a little longer if the dough is cool). Give it a stretch and fold every 45 minutes or so.

  • Once the dough has increased in volume about a third, tip it onto a clean lightly floured surface and divide it into any size pieces you like.

  • At this stage you can pre shape them gently or just let them rest as they are.

  • After thirty minutes or so, as long as everything has gone according to plan, your preshapes will be ready to place into a floured container or pan (a bowl with a clean towel that is lightly floured will work fine). 

  • You can also stretch it out flat, let it rest for 30 minutes or so, and make pizza with your dough.

  • Allow the dough to rise in the container of your choice for an hour or two while your oven heats up or place it in the refrigerator overnight.

    • At this point you can chill the dough overnight and bake in the morning for a more pronounced sour flavor.

  • The best way to bake your sourdough loaf is in a cast iron pot that has been preheated in an oven, but feel free to experiment with your own home set up. There are many ways to bake bread.

 

TIPS AND TRICKS

  • A good test for your starters readiness is the float test. Take a piece of your starter and place it in room temperature water. If it floats readily you have a population size adequate to inoculate the next stage of fermentation. This test is also reliable with a dough ready to divide.

  • You will know when your loaf is ready to bake when you press lightly on the surface and the dimple you create doesn't spring back at once. 

  • Try adding more or less starter flavor and quality characteristics of your bread or to adjust the time frame in which it is ready to bake.

  • Use any kind of flour you like. We recommend our house milled single origin ancient grains.

Jaime Shapiro