I apologize for posting later than I had intended--health issues and drama continue to find us in quarantine, but we're looking at positives! I hope everyone is hanging in there, finding small and big things that make you feel as calm and safe as possible during these critical times. And hopefully by now, you have nurtured your very own starter to life (If you haven't made your starter yet, click HERE for the post)! Are you ready to make some bread?
Well, you're going to have to wait a little longer. I promise, it is absolutely going to be worth it. Sourdough bread is a long process that continues the fermentation journey you've started with your Mother/Starter (have you named yours? Leave it in the comments!)
Most people buy their sourdough in the local supermarket, or stop by their favorite bakery. As such, the process behind such a unique flavor is often left untouched by those who purchase. Slow fermentation, while time-consuming, produces complex flavors and textures to your bread. What we call "retardation", the slowing down of fermentation, is key to producing a proper "sour" sourdough. There are a few ways to retard dough, but the main method is just to pop it into the fridge, covered (fridge air sucks moisture out of your dough).
As such, the steps are simple, but take much longer than a quick-fermented loaf of bread, which might only take a couple of hours from mixing to popping the bread into the oven (A quick-ferment loaf recipe is in your future, too, don't worry). Basically, this sourdough will take some planning ahead of time, and you will certainly have time in between steps. To skip ahead to the formula, click HERE.
Sourdough Notes & Steps
Let's begin with your starter. You've fed it for a week straight and it's nice and foamy; it's a bubbly, happy Mother! Make sure that when you make your bread, that you have been feeding your starter for at least two days. It should rise after being fed, and fall back down again. Your bread won't rise if your starter isn't ready. It should have that sour smell, lots of bubbles, and should be at least doubling in size after feedings. If you find this isn't the case, feed your starter again and you can check it again after about 4-12 hours.
This recipe calls for a full cup of starter. "But all you had us make was a cup of starter!" I know, poor planning on my part. However, this gives me an opportunity to explain how you can grow your starter! All you have to do is discard some of your starter like usual, but instead of adding one half cup each of water and flour, add a full cup. That's it. After that feeding, continue to discard and feed your starter with a half cup each of water and flour. After a few days, you'll have that bubbly starter ready to make you some delicious bread!
I want to take a second to talk about measuring your ingredients. I know many of you probably don't have a kitchen scale, but let me tell you, it is a WORTHY investment. Measuring by weight is always going to be more accurate. Why? Consider this: a cup of water isn't going to weigh the same as a cup of honey or a cup of flour. Volume isn't always accurate. Everyone has different ways of measuring into cups--scooping, spooning, etc. And everyone's cups might be different. Weight is always the same. But again, maybe you don't have a kitchen scale. I've done the work for you and put the ingredients in volume as well as grams. If you're looking into scales, I highly recommend this one:
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| Escali Kitchen Scale available on Amazon HERE. |
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| Gently stretch the dough up... |
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| ... And over. |
After that, it's a waiting game. After 1 more hour of rest at room temperature, pop that dough (covered, of course--we don't want the dough to form a dry skin!) into the refrigerator overnight, or at least 12 hours. This makes up the retarding process we mentioned earlier. And the waiting. But again, it will be worth it!
After 12 hours of rest, the dough will have grown a bit more, and you should really smell that sour aroma. The dough will need time to come to room temperature before you shape it, which usually takes about an hour. Once it reaches that temperature, lightly flour a surface ("lightly" is key; we want a little friction to help shape our dough, but not too much that it sticks!) and turn the dough out of the bowl. This sourdough can be shaped a few different ways, but for this recipe, we're going to shape it into a boule, French for "ball". So call it what you will: a ball, a boule, it's a round loaf!
Here's a short video of a basic method for shaping a boule, but the idea is pretty simple. You start by making a triangle shape with your dough, and cross all three corners into the middle. After you pinch those corners together to make what we call a "seam", flip that dough over so the seam is on the floured surface. Cup your hands around and behind the top of your dough, and force it it towards you. Turn the dough 90º and repeat. Once you get better, you can go a little faster, but you should see a few things happening: You dough will start taking on a round shape, and the surface should start to smooth as it stretches. Be careful not to overshape; you can tell if this happens when the smooth surface breaks. No worries if it does! Just cover the dough and let it rest for 20 minutes and try again.
Once you have your beautiful ball of dough, you're going to let it proof in a banneton, typically a wooden proofing basket covered in a floured linen cloth. It's okay if you don't have one, just scrub a linen kitchen towel with some flour, place it in a kitchen bowl and it will work beautifully! Make sure the cloth is linen; even the smallest fibers in cotton can make your dough stick. Loosely cover the dough and let it rest again for another 2 hours in the fridge, or up to 4 hours for extra flavor!
Finally, finally it is time to get ready to bake! There are a few options here. As someone who is used to a professional kitchen with a deck or brick oven complete with steam, it can be a little tricky to get the quality crust and rise in a conventional oven. Luckily, so many people have done the experimentation for you to make sure your bread can be just as tasty! One tip I always swear by is to fill a small cake tin or other oven safe pan with water and keep it in the oven. This water will produce the steam you need to keep the bread's surface moist enough to continue to rise until it forms a firm, crackly crust.
Many will tell you that you can achieve this effect by baking your loaf in a dutch oven. I use my Le Creuset for this sourdough, but you can absolutely bake it on a sheet pan with parchment if you have that pan of water in the oven (I keep the water in my oven for the extra steam, anyways). Whichever method you're using, you'll want to put your dutch oven or sheet pan in the oven to heat up at 450ºF for at least 15 minutes before you're ready to bake. The cold dough reacting to the hot surface causes something called "oven spring". This helps give added rise to your loaf!
With a piece of parchment paper cut just a little bigger than your loaf, flip your cold loaf out of your banneton. Before placing the loaf into/onto your hot dutch oven or sheet pan, score the loaf with a sharp knife or a bread lame, if you have one (pictured below). You can try your hand at different designs, or just do a simple, quick slice down the middle of the loaf. Your knife should be held at a 45º angle to the dough, and your cut should be quick. Your score on the dough is also very important for rising volume in your loaf. It's all about confidence, people. Take a deep breath, and flash that blade through the dough!
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| This is a lame, an extremely sharp, fixed blade used for scoring. Available on Amazon HERE. |
Your house will fill with the mouth-watering bouquet of freshly baked bread. How is that for comfort? After removing the bread from the oven, despite how much you are dying to cut into it... I'm asking you to wait just a little longer. When the bread is still hot, you can hear the crackling, and see the steam rising off of the surface. Your bread is still forming its crumb and texture with the leftover heat from the oven. I usually tell folks to wait at least an hour to cut into bread, but if you absolutely CANNOT wait that long, at least 30 minutes will suffice. Just remember that if it's a little soft, it's not underbaked.
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| Check out that crust! |
And that's it! Your very own sourdough! How cool is that?
Again, folks, thank you for your continued patience with me while I learn how to be more regular with posting. We're all being impacted by the pandemic, some more than others. My biggest concern is being able to reach out and be here for you all, whether you need a new recipe, a comforting dish, a good book, or just need someone to listen. My next post will be about books that bring us comfort, with your help! Either leave a comforting book recommendation here in the comments, or reach out to me on Instagram at @redsbreadsandbooks and let me know what you're reading to feel better right now.
Remember to stay strong, stay safe, and STAY HOME! Don't forget that you are an incredible human being and you can get through this.
Happy reading and baking,
~Red
