The Sourdough

[butler1850]

I have to chime in and agree about baking with a scale. The simplest sourdough recipe, is one I go back to repeatedly. More detail can be found online by searching for 1-2-3 sourdough.

Basically, its’ (by weight) 1 part sourdough starter (100% hydration, or equal parts by weight water & flour), 2 parts water, 3 parts flour. Then add the weight of the flour, half of the starter, and multiply by .02 (2%) to get the amount of salt to add (again, by weight). For my standard 2 loaf recipe, its 200g starter, 400g water, 600g flour, 14g salt.

Mix everything but the salt and let it sit for a couple of hours. Do not knead yet.
Spread out as thin as possible n a floured countertop, add about half of the salt. Fold in half, and add more of the salt to the top, fold again and add the rest. Knead for a couple of minutes, put in a bowl to rise, and walk away. Every 20 minutes for the next hour or two, come back, stretch the dough out on a floured countertop, then fold in thirds and roll up. Put back in the bowl.

Let it rise until near doubled. Shape and put into a banneton (well floured basket) to rise, or into loaf pans. Refrigerate until you’re ready to bake.

Preheat oven to 425 or 450 (depending on how dark you like your crust). Put a metal baking dish in the bottom of the oven (I leave mine there 24/7/365 filled with lava rocks) Boil a teakettle full of water. Once up to temperature, remove your risen loaves from the refrigerator and (if in bannetons turn out onto a baking sheet or stone) slash the tops with a sharp knife, then put directly in the oven. Pour the boiling water in the baking dish on the bottom of the oven. Close the door and wait 15 minutes.

Rotate loaves at 15 minutes to ensure even cooking.

Cook until the internal temperature is 200F.

The slash on the top ensures the loaf can continue to spread as the loaf springs up in the oven and the crust begins to form. The water flashes to steam and keeps the crust moist enough to allow the oven spring (yeast giving up a last gasp of effort/CO2 as they are exposed to heat and head off to their maker) to allow full expansion of the interior.

Cool for at least an hour before cutting and spreading on the best butter you can find.

Hide the fresh loaf from your family and friends so as to hoard like Gollum’s precious.

[smithsb]

If you can’t hide the whole loaf, keep the end crusts for yourself. They should be able to smell it and hunt it/you down.

That other salt addition is just wrong.

Baking a little lower temperature but for more time has been my greatest improvement.

[Scylla]

I had good success with my last loaf. It had great flavor, good texture, nice bubbles, chewy but crunchy crust.

The major problem with it was that when I shaped it into a loaf and put it in the oven light on to rise, it seemed to spread out horizontally rather than vertically. I ended up with a 2 inch thick loaf that was as wide and round as a pizza.

How do I get that more vertical loaf?

[NAF1138]

@Scylla

I had good success with my last loaf. It had great flavor, good texture, nice bubbles, chewy but crunchy crust.

The major problem with it was that when I shaped it into a loaf and put it in the oven light on to rise, it seemed to spread out horizontally rather than vertically. I ended up with a 2 inch thick loaf that was as wide and round as a pizza.

How do I get that more vertical loaf?

2 options (2 and a half)

Option 1, shape it using a form. Traditionally batons and baguettes are shaped in canvas and many boules are shaped in a basket of some sort. Option 1 a is just select a different shape.

Option 2 is add flour, but this is a less good option.

[NAF1138]

Actually, thinking about this, I am assuming that you have kneeded the dough enough that it’s well developed and that you are shaping the dough tightly to that it has a good skin on the outside. See this video for a good Batard. Boule
Assuming that you are doing that well, look into a banneton to help raise your boule.

[araminty]

Move your oven rack closer to the top of the oven.

[Scylla]

I have a banneton. I let it rise once in there, than I kneaded it and shaped into loaves, trying to follow the technique of a master baker I saw on you tube.

What I think I will try for tonight/tomorrow’s attempt is to let it rise in the mixing bowl and then knead it down, and put in the banneton. I’ll leave it there till it doubles, and then dump it out gently onto my parchment, slice the top, spritz it with water and put it in the oven right away so it does not have time to spread out like it did last time. I’ll also use slightly more flour.

What do you guys think of this plan?
Fuck this is hard!

[The_Vorlon]

@Scylla

Fuck this is hard!

Why do you think they charge so much for it at the store?
Sourdough is food from the gods.

[NAF1138]

@Scylla

I have a banneton. I let it rise once in there, than I kneaded it and shaped into loaves, trying to follow the technique of a master baker I saw on you tube.

What I think I will try for tonight/tomorrow’s attempt is to let it rise in the mixing bowl and then knead it down, and put in the banneton. I’ll leave it there till it doubles, and then dump it out gently onto my parchment, slice the top, spritz it with water and put it in the oven right away so it does not have time to spread out like it did last time. I’ll also use slightly more flour.

What do you guys think of this plan?
Fuck this is hard!

That’s usually what I do. Though it is important that you take time to shape it before it goes into the banneton. Personally I find boules to be deceptively difficult to shape well. But look at the video I posted for tips if you don’t have a specific plan of attack.

[Snowboarder_Bo]

How I Saved My Sourdough ‘Mother’ from Hurricane Irma:

But a big issue was this: Every day we rely on a piece of wildly fermented dough—it’s called the “mother”—to rise hundreds of kilos of dough for some of Miami’s finest restaurants, hotels, and markets. That’s a lot of responsibility for a piece of dough. When a storm threatens the life of a person, a house, or a business, you’re forced to decide what stays and what goes, and in the case the bakery, our sourdough mother is the life force of our bread, so there’s no question that she must be protected.

Because I was leaving Miami by airplane, I was only able to take 3.4 ounces of the mother with me in a plastic Ziploc bag. We’ve only used one mother since opening the bakery in 2012—she’s the only one. We also gave a piece of the mother to as many people as possible.

The most stressful part about traveling with a mother is getting through the security at the airport. It can be challenging for airport security to understand why I’m traveling with a Ziploc bag of fermented dough, so I avoid referring to her as my “mother,” as that seems to just complicate things more.

I thought it was a great read; hope you enjoy it.