Hank's Blog

A few years ago I posted my method for making sourdough bread. Since that time, I’ve continued to make bread using the recipe in that initial post. My brother has since begun the sourdough experience and has shown me some of the things he does. While the process is similar, he uses a wetter dough than I’m used to and doesn’t knead it in a mixer. He folds the dough in on itself to avoid the development of gluten strands. He spent a LOT of time using Google to do some reading and watched plenty of Youtube videos as well. Here is one such video depicting the slap and fold method. You get a more open crumb using this method.

After reading my initial post there are a few things that I have adapted/changed. Some of the readers may start the process of making a loaf of sourdough and then get discouraged. I recently gave a start to my niece and she called me in a dither telling me her bread wasn’t raising. The first rule of sourdough, is this is your grandmother’s bread. It doesn’t use the rapid rise yeast most bakers are using today. Did you catch the name rapid rise? It raises bread a LOT quicker than the natural sourdough process.

Sourdough can be quick, meaning you can begin the process of making bread and have a baked loaf within 24 hours. You do have to manage your dough better in order to get this done. And, your start must be active! If your start is semi active don’t expect a baked loaf in 24 hours. You will get a loaf but it may take 36 hours to obtain. As such, sourdough is very forgiving as well. You don’t have to be close to the oven in an hour to bake your loaf in the hopes it doesn’t fall!

Let me provide a story. I recently pulled my sourdough out of the fridge on a Thursday with the intent to make bread on Saturday. I fed the start on Thursday after discarding half of the start. I then fed the start with equal parts flour and water, by weight, to replace the amount I discarded. It took Thursday, and then part of Friday for the start to come back to life.

On Friday, afternoon, I again discarded half of the start, fed it again and waited. It had doubled in volume within 12 hours. By doubling, I knew it was ready to use. When do I use the start? I wait until the starter has doubled and then it begins to fall. Once it begins to fall, at that point I use the starter in my recipe.

By experience I know once the start falls it has reached its most active point. You can stir the start and it will raise again but not as much. So, I’m reasoning the yeast has used what food is available and is at its most active, thereby creating the most rise. Once it falls, while there is some food still available, it has now become a competition as to who can consume what. There are now too many organisms and not enough food to go around. Hence, the start doesn’t raise quite as much. This is all anecdotal but makes sense in my head.

So, what does all this have to do with revisiting sourdough. I have found myself using a wetter dough more often. In fact I use the wetter dough almost exclusively now. I like how the dough blooms when cooked and I’m getting the coveted “loaf ear” more regularly now. I will share my current recipe in a moment, but a word on baking. I use a HOT oven, 475-500°. I will bake the bread at that setting, while it’s in the cloche or dutch over, for half an hour. After that I will remove the cover and bake an additional 10 minutes until the crust is a dark brown. You must watch carefully at this temperature as your bread can go from delightful to damned in a matter of minutes. If you prefer to use a cooler over, 400-450° works just as well.

So are you ready for the recipe? Get ready to make a trip to the store because you’re going to need a few things!

That’s it, no trip to store necessary unless you’re out of flour. I do recommend the use of bread flour for this recipe. It has a high protein content which produces a better crumb structure. But if AP flour is all you have then use it!

Now for the instructions. This is not time consuming but there is a time factor of about 24 hours. Combine the flour and water. Hold off on the salt and starter. Knead, stir until combined. It may be a bit sticky. Just through it in a covered container and let autolyse for 2 hours. You can do as little as one, but 2 is better.

After 2 hours, add the starter and the salt. This will make for an even stickier mess. Knead until all the salt and starter are combined. Once again throw back in container and let rest for half an hour. Now is when the fun starts. It’s up to you, I use all the methods below depending on the manageability of the dough. You can either stretch and fold, my favorite or slap and fold. Google the terms for videos to watch. The key is to use either method, every half hour, until you work the dough a total of 4 times, resting a half hour after each stretch and fold. You will notice the dough comes together quite nicely and isn’t nearly as sticky.

After the last half hour rest, pull out the dough, shape and place in bannetons. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for 8-12 hours for the first fermentation. (Personal rant, fermentation, I still call it a rise, but it sounds cooler using fermentation.) After this fermentation, I place the boule’s on parchment paper and place them in my bread cloches. I keep them out on the counter or place them in the oven with a pan full of of hot water in the bottom to raise the temperature. Let ferment a second time until just about double in size. Score loaves if desired then proceed to bake.

Remove from oven and pre-heat to 450-500°. Place each cloche in oven and bake for 1/2 hour with lid on. Remove lid and continue to bake until desired browned is achieved! Repeat with the second loaf.