Slow Living and Sourdough Baking Made Simple

Remember back to the third week of March. The week prior, COVID-19 was officially announced as a pandemic. One by one, states began shutting down everything except for essential services. That means that basically overnight, we were stuck at home, with no real end in sight, as the numbers of cases saw new heights every day. And just as quickly, four things became nearly impossible to find; toilet paper, bleach products, hand sanitizer, and the fourth most random item, flour. It seemed almost post-apocalyptic, looking at the wiped out shelves that were once stocked with these once easy to find essentials. It didn’t make sense at first, that flour had also leapt off these barren shelves. But 10 loaves of sourdough bread later, I finally get it.

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What could be more therapeutic than baking?! I realized that as our country went into lockdown, our ovens and mixing machines were prepped and ready to go. Dealing with a world-wide pandemic sans a vaccine can send you into a level of being out of control even the most laid back person would spin in. The level of control and order you get while baking is almost healing. As the world seemed to spin out of control, baking is there to guide through every step of the recipe. If you’ve ever baked even a batch of chocolate chip cookie, you know that baking allows no room for change or improvising. The liquids MUST be mixed together, and the solids together separately as well. I’ve tried mixing up the order and I have most definitely been the victim of a flat and soggy cookie.

Image Credit: Photo by Vicky Ng on Unsplash

Image Credit: Photo by Vicky Ng on Unsplash

Herein lies the appeal to sourdough baking. It quickly became a “basic” thing to do, but when you can’t leave the house and have nothing else going on, it’s no wonder everyone took to Instagram to document their successes. And I was one of them. My first confession: I did not make the starter. That will be another project for another time. I wanted to make sourdough and I didn’t think I could emotionally handle waiting for a starter to develop! So a friend gave me a piece of his and to be honest, I would highly recommend this the first time around. Unless you already have a ton of experience in baking other kinds of bread and dough, it’s a great place to start. It’s quite the journey to the end of a sourdough loaf but the process is so rewarding. One small thing to create and control in a world of uncertainty and pain.

I’ll include links to videos that helped me compile what worked best for me, to help you along the way. Otherwise, here is the recipe I have finally nailed down. Something note* the official measurements for sourdough baking is:

  • 100% flour

  • 70% water

  • 25% starter

  • 2% salt

However, the newer you are to sourdough baking, the easier it is to keep your hydration point down. This will help from having a super sticky gooey dough that is harder to shape. You should definitely work towards raising your hydration point, but for now, I’ve given you a recipe that has a lower hydration point to help keep the dough a bit sturdier while you’re still learning. Happy baking!

Starter Maintenance

  • Store in refrigerator in container like these Weck jars (make sure it is not air tight)

  • Feed 1-2 times a week

    • 100 grams of starter

    • 50 grams of water

    • 50 grams of flour

Night Before Bake

  • Feed starter right before you go to bed

    • 100 grams of starter

    • 150 grams of water

    • 150 grams of flour

  • Leave starter out over night to rise. (Be sure to leave on side of the jar open)

Prepping

  • After 9-12 hours, the starter should have doubled in size. To ensure it is ready to go, try the float test. Fill a small cup up with lukewarm water and spoon out a small amount of starter onto the water. If it floats, you are ready! If it sinks, you most likely need to wait longer

  • If float tests passes, make dough

    • 150 grams of starter

    • 250 grams of water

    • 25 grams of olive oil

    • 500 grams of flour

    • 10 grams of salt

  • Order of ingredients

    • Start by weighing out 150 grams of starter into any sort of larger mixing bowl

    • Add 250 grams of water and mix together with hands until soup-like consistency

    • Add and mix together 25 grams of olive oil into water and starter mix

    • Add 500 grams flour and mix together with hands

  • Put a tea cloth over the bowl and set a timer for 30 minutes for the flour to absorb all the water

  • After 30 minutes, add in salt. (Refer to videos for technique)

  • After mixing in salt, cover again and set timer for 30 minutes

Bulk Fermenation

  • This will take 2 hours, in 30 minute increments. After the first 30 minute timer (After mixing in salt) fold your dough. Keep it in the bowl, but grab dough, fold, and turn. Do this 4-5 times. Do this fold and turn 4-5 times at the hour mark and again at the one hour and 3o minute mark for a total of 3 times. Let set after the 3rd time folding for the last 30 minutes

Bench rest

  • Remove dough from bowl and lay out on floured flat surface. (Refer to videos for technique) Set another time for 30 minutes

Proofing

  • After 30 minutes of bench rest, now shape your dough. (Refer to videos for technique) After dough is shaped, flip into proofing basket. Let sit for 3-4 hours, covered with a towel, in a warm and sunny area.

BAKING!

  • You’ve made it! Here is the most rewarding and exciting part; when you get to finally bake and consume the bread! Here’s the recipe

    • Preheat dutch oven or combo cooker in oven at 500 degrees for 20-30 minutes

    • Place sourdough bread into dutch oven/combo cooker

    • Score dough to allow air circulation (refer to videos for technique)

    • With lid on, place dutch oven/combo cooker back into oven and turn heat down to 450 degree for 20 minutes

    • At 20 minutes, remove lid. If needed, place baking sheet under to prevent from burning

    • Continue to bake at 450 degrees without lid for 20 minutes.

AND THAT’S ALL SHE WROTE FOLKS! It’s nothing short of a day long commitment to bake sourdough but it is so tasty and so worth it. The sense of creativity and control it offers during this tumultuous time is just what the doctor ordered.

Leave comments below if you have any questions about the process. Happy to answer and help any way I can!

Videos to reference below:

Amanda BrookeComment