Sourdough 1

2022-08-08

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Written by: Astro Learner

Our First Sourdough

This page serves as a record of our sourdough journey.

Base Recipe Used:

Method modifications made: Yes

Recipe modificationsmade: Yes

Recipe Used: (Indicate changes from the base recipe)

• For the Levain:
  • 100g Bread Flour
  • 1.5Tbsp Active Sourdough Starter
  • 100g Warm Water (~100F)
• For the Dough:
  • 100g Levain
  • 300g Warm Water
  • 60g softened butter
  • 15g honey
  • 500g Bread Flour
  • 10g salt

Method Used: (Indicate changes from the base recipe)

1. The night before, we mixed the Levain ingredients in a glass bowl and covered for the night.
2. About 12 hours later, we mixed the water and the levain for the dough.
3. Once the levain, honey and water were combined, we added the softened butter and mixed for a couple minutes.
   • The butter did not combine well at this point, but there were no large clumps.
4. Add the flour in multiple stages. Mix at first with a wooden spoon, then by hand as the dough gets thick enough.
5. Let rest for 30 minutes.
6. Perform first stretch and fold.
7. Perform 3 stretch and folds over the course of the next 4 hours.
8. Shape the dough.
   • We actually had enough levain to do 2 loaves, so for the first loaf, we shaped it for a loaf pan by folding the edges into the center, and putting the seam down in a greased 9x5 loaf pan (after adding seeds to the top.)
   • The second loaf was shaped into a round loaf.
9. Wait for the Loaf to reach the top of the loaf pan.
10. Cut the loaves
11. Baking: For simplicity, the same temps/times were used for both loaves, though the round loaf was baked in a pre-heated dutch oven.
    • Preheat Dutch oven and oven to 365
    • Place pan of water in rack below bread for steam.
    • Bake covered at 365 deg F for 34 minutes (Bread temped at 128 deg at this point.)
    • Uncover and bake for another 25 min.
    • Increase Temp to 400 Deg F for 5 min. for color.

Results: Include photos as well as text review comparing to other attempts.

SUCCESS!!

While the first loaf I made was edible, these loaves are actually desirable. Crumb is more well developed, and the loaf rose much more nicely. There were actually several procedure differences between this loaf and the last loaf. First, the baking temp and time. The first loaf was baked at 450 for 35 minutes uncovered. These differences all contributed to the increase in the quality of the bread. In part, the steam helps the bread rise, and the lower temp, but longer time allowed the inside to bake completely without over-baking the outside. This resulted in a well defined crust that did not get soggy over the course of a day.