Sourdough Bread
Sourdough Bread
I believe that the simplest gifts are the greatest gifts. Recently I have been covered in flour and face down into my favorite new book- Tartine Bread by Chad Robertson. This book was given to me as a gift by a dear friend, who knows that I love new adventures in the kitchen world. Chad Robertson talks about how much time, effort, and care baking bread takes. It is not just a recipe, it is a lifestyle that once you embark it is hard to turn back.
Once I learned about how the chefs from Tartine Bread had started their baking, I started my own adventure. The first step is making your own starter (aka wild yeast). Previously, to start baking I always used dry/instant yeast thinking that that is the way you bake. But reading Tartine Bread and listening to Michael Pollen, and his anti-gluten-free phenomenon in his mini-episode documentary "Cooked", has given me a new aspect of bread itself. Did you know that if all you had for the rest of your life was water and flour, you could survive? It is true, you just need to bake bread from those two ingredients-water and flour. That's it. Once the water and flour are mixed, instead of using "dry yeast" to make it rise, just let natural bacteria do the work. The natural bacteria will begin from the air, moisture, and temperature in your kitchen once the flour and water are combined. The water and flour will start bubbling after 24-48 hours! The bubbles are pockets for gluten, which is protein from wheat. See- combination of protein and carbohydrates is all you really need. Although you need to eat other things BUT you could live a full life if all you are able to have is true bread.
Back to the starter. Okay, it does take time to make a starter, yet once you have the started baking is an endless possibility! You will know that the starter is ready when there are bubbles and a sweet and cheese aroma. Now, quite a few of recipes will tell you to "toss" the leftovers of your starter once you are mixing the ingredients. I have decided to keep the starter so I can keep multiplying the amount that I have. That way, I never have to make another starter. Once the starter is ready to go, the leaven can begin.
Starter
100 grams all purpose flour
100 grams whole wheat
200 grams h2o (filtered, not tap! Filtered water will help flavor and cleanliness)
Combine all ingredients in a not sealed container, generally glass or plastic, covered with a kitchen towel. Place the starter in a dark and dry environment for 24 hours. Feed the started after every 24 hours (50 g all purpose flour, 40 g h2o). The started should have bubbles after the first two days and once the started smells sweet and ripe. Once you make a leaven (below) you will only need 1 tablespoon of your leaven. The bulk of your started may be discarded, yet keep at least 2-4 tablespoons so you are able to bake again. Leaving you started on the counter is fine, you need to feed it once a day. You can also leave your starter in the refrigerator and feed it once a week. Just make sure that your starter is covered and needs to be in room temp when fed. I like to store my starter in the fridge, then I put it on the counter one day before a baking day. That way I have a freshly fed starter to make a leaven.
Making a Leaven
leav'en
noun :a substance, typically yeast, that is added to dough to make it ferment and rise.
200 grams h2o (warm, around 78d)
200 grams flour (all-purpose, or 50/50 whole wheat and baking flour)
1 tablespoon natural starter
Mix in a bowl and let it room temperature over-night. Cover it wila kitchen towel.
Making a Dough
a think, malleable, sometimes elastic substance to bake bread
700 grams H2O (80 degrees)
200 grams Leaven
900 grams All-purpose flour
100 grams Whole Wheat flour
20 grams Salt + 50 grams h2o
Once the leaven is bubbled (see above) add 200 grams of the leaven into a large bowl of 700 grams of warm water. Make sure the water is not too warm, only 80 degrees. Using your hands, mix the leaven in the water until it is completely separated.
1. Add all of the flour into the water and leaven bowl and mix well with your hands. Completely combine the ingredients and use a plastic spatula to incorporate the sides of the bowl. Let the bowl sit 20-40 minutes.
2. Add the 20 grams of salt into the dough. Add the 50 g of water, again using your hands, incorporate the salt and water to the dough. Take up to 10 minutes kneading the dough in the bowl. The dough should look smooth and be combined as one. If the dough is not sticking together, keep kneading it.
3.Once the dough is one, use your hands and scoop it into a large plastic container. Let the dough rise, and using a gentle motion, fold the dough over itself every 30 minutes for two hours. After two ours, let the dough rest for another two hours.
4. Once your dough has bubbles (see photo 5) you will slide the dough onto a clean work surface with no additional flour. Then, you will split the dough into two equal parts and each dough should be formed into a small round dough. (For that process, I use a plastic bowl spatula and my hands, both items dry using flour, and I gently scoop the dough with the spatula and then use my hands to shape the dough into a tight circle) Gently dust flour over the surface of the two doughs and let them sit for 30 minutes, called a "bench rest".
5. Using a spatula and your hands (dry from flour) shape the dough. You will flip the dough over so the floured surface will be on the work surface and gently stretch each end to a rectangular shape. Move the right end to the center and then the left end to the center. Then fold the end near you to the other end. (It is almost like folding laundry). Then roll the dough so the floured surface is now facing you and using the spatula scoop the dough towards you multiple times, until the dough feels tight.
6. Gently scoop the dough with the spatula and turn it upside down and place it into a pre floured bowl. I like to cover a bowl with a clean kitchen towel covered in flour. Cover each bowl with a kitchen towel. The is the "final fermentation".
7. Now we have two options (and you are ALMOST done!) One, is to let the dough rest on the counter from 2-4 hours and then bake. Two, you may place the bowls in your refrigerator for up to 48 hours. If you do the second option, only remove the doughs one at a time while baking if you can only bake one at a time. If you remove them both from the refrigerator the temperature of the dough will dramatically change and the second loaf will be different from the first.
8. The scoring phase. Once you are ready to bake, gently tilt the bowl onto the clean cooking surface so the showing part of the dough is not facing the work surface. Using a very sharp knife or a blade, gently and quickly, slice on the dough. You can do four even slices to make a square in the second half of the dough, or any sort of design you would like. The important part is to have deep and even slices. This way, the dough will rise and absorb the moisture during the baking process.
9. BAKING TIME! Using a dutch oven, or any baking pan that is deep enough for the dough that will triple its size and can be covered to keep the moisture intact, turn the over to 500 F. Place the dutch over into the over the get hot. This process is very hot, so wear oven gloves and watch your movement constantly! Once the over is 500 degrees, remove the dutch oven from the oven and remove the lid. Quickly, gently place the dough into the dutch oven and add the lid. Place the dutch oven into the oven and reduce the temperature to 450 degrees. Let it bake for 15 minutes, then carefully remove the lid and bake for another 15-20 minutes. Let the now baked bread rest for 15 minutes and then enjoy!!
*I like to bake with a 24 hour period, I know that seems excessive, but it works for me with my schedule. I let the leaven rise over-night, make the dough, do the turns for 2 hours, rest for 2 hours, bench rest for 30 minutes, shape and then final rest in two bowls with kitchen towels for 2-4 hours, and then bake before bedtime. *
I believe that the simplest gifts are the greatest gifts. Recently I have been covered in flour and face down into my favorite new book- Tartine Bread by Chad Robertson. This book was given to me as a gift by a dear friend, who knows that I love new adventures in the kitchen world. Chad Robertson talks about how much time, effort, and care baking bread takes. It is not just a recipe, it is a lifestyle that once you embark it is hard to turn back.
Once I learned about how the chefs from Tartine Bread had started their baking, I started my own adventure. The first step is making your own starter (aka wild yeast). Previously, to start baking I always used dry/instant yeast thinking that that is the way you bake. But reading Tartine Bread and listening to Michael Pollen, and his anti-gluten-free phenomenon in his mini-episode documentary "Cooked", has given me a new aspect of bread itself. Did you know that if all you had for the rest of your life was water and flour, you could survive? It is true, you just need to bake bread from those two ingredients-water and flour. That's it. Once the water and flour are mixed, instead of using "dry yeast" to make it rise, just let natural bacteria do the work. The natural bacteria will begin from the air, moisture, and temperature in your kitchen once the flour and water are combined. The water and flour will start bubbling after 24-48 hours! The bubbles are pockets for gluten, which is protein from wheat. See- combination of protein and carbohydrates is all you really need. Although you need to eat other things BUT you could live a full life if all you are able to have is true bread.
Back to the starter. Okay, it does take time to make a starter, yet once you have the started baking is an endless possibility! You will know that the starter is ready when there are bubbles and a sweet and cheese aroma. Now, quite a few of recipes will tell you to "toss" the leftovers of your starter once you are mixing the ingredients. I have decided to keep the starter so I can keep multiplying the amount that I have. That way, I never have to make another starter. Once the starter is ready to go, the leaven can begin.
Starter
100 grams all purpose flour
100 grams whole wheat
200 grams h2o (filtered, not tap! Filtered water will help flavor and cleanliness)
Combine all ingredients in a not sealed container, generally glass or plastic, covered with a kitchen towel. Place the starter in a dark and dry environment for 24 hours. Feed the started after every 24 hours (50 g all purpose flour, 40 g h2o). The started should have bubbles after the first two days and once the started smells sweet and ripe. Once you make a leaven (below) you will only need 1 tablespoon of your leaven. The bulk of your started may be discarded, yet keep at least 2-4 tablespoons so you are able to bake again. Leaving you started on the counter is fine, you need to feed it once a day. You can also leave your starter in the refrigerator and feed it once a week. Just make sure that your starter is covered and needs to be in room temp when fed. I like to store my starter in the fridge, then I put it on the counter one day before a baking day. That way I have a freshly fed starter to make a leaven.
Making a Leaven
leav'en
noun :a substance, typically yeast, that is added to dough to make it ferment and rise.
200 grams h2o (warm, around 78d)
200 grams flour (all-purpose, or 50/50 whole wheat and baking flour)
1 tablespoon natural starter
Mix in a bowl and let it room temperature over-night. Cover it wila kitchen towel.
Making a Dough
a think, malleable, sometimes elastic substance to bake bread
700 grams H2O (80 degrees)
200 grams Leaven
900 grams All-purpose flour
100 grams Whole Wheat flour
20 grams Salt + 50 grams h2o
Once the leaven is bubbled (see above) add 200 grams of the leaven into a large bowl of 700 grams of warm water. Make sure the water is not too warm, only 80 degrees. Using your hands, mix the leaven in the water until it is completely separated.
1. Add all of the flour into the water and leaven bowl and mix well with your hands. Completely combine the ingredients and use a plastic spatula to incorporate the sides of the bowl. Let the bowl sit 20-40 minutes.
2. Add the 20 grams of salt into the dough. Add the 50 g of water, again using your hands, incorporate the salt and water to the dough. Take up to 10 minutes kneading the dough in the bowl. The dough should look smooth and be combined as one. If the dough is not sticking together, keep kneading it.
3.Once the dough is one, use your hands and scoop it into a large plastic container. Let the dough rise, and using a gentle motion, fold the dough over itself every 30 minutes for two hours. After two ours, let the dough rest for another two hours.
4. Once your dough has bubbles (see photo 5) you will slide the dough onto a clean work surface with no additional flour. Then, you will split the dough into two equal parts and each dough should be formed into a small round dough. (For that process, I use a plastic bowl spatula and my hands, both items dry using flour, and I gently scoop the dough with the spatula and then use my hands to shape the dough into a tight circle) Gently dust flour over the surface of the two doughs and let them sit for 30 minutes, called a "bench rest".
5. Using a spatula and your hands (dry from flour) shape the dough. You will flip the dough over so the floured surface will be on the work surface and gently stretch each end to a rectangular shape. Move the right end to the center and then the left end to the center. Then fold the end near you to the other end. (It is almost like folding laundry). Then roll the dough so the floured surface is now facing you and using the spatula scoop the dough towards you multiple times, until the dough feels tight.
6. Gently scoop the dough with the spatula and turn it upside down and place it into a pre floured bowl. I like to cover a bowl with a clean kitchen towel covered in flour. Cover each bowl with a kitchen towel. The is the "final fermentation".
7. Now we have two options (and you are ALMOST done!) One, is to let the dough rest on the counter from 2-4 hours and then bake. Two, you may place the bowls in your refrigerator for up to 48 hours. If you do the second option, only remove the doughs one at a time while baking if you can only bake one at a time. If you remove them both from the refrigerator the temperature of the dough will dramatically change and the second loaf will be different from the first.
8. The scoring phase. Once you are ready to bake, gently tilt the bowl onto the clean cooking surface so the showing part of the dough is not facing the work surface. Using a very sharp knife or a blade, gently and quickly, slice on the dough. You can do four even slices to make a square in the second half of the dough, or any sort of design you would like. The important part is to have deep and even slices. This way, the dough will rise and absorb the moisture during the baking process.
9. BAKING TIME! Using a dutch oven, or any baking pan that is deep enough for the dough that will triple its size and can be covered to keep the moisture intact, turn the over to 500 F. Place the dutch over into the over the get hot. This process is very hot, so wear oven gloves and watch your movement constantly! Once the over is 500 degrees, remove the dutch oven from the oven and remove the lid. Quickly, gently place the dough into the dutch oven and add the lid. Place the dutch oven into the oven and reduce the temperature to 450 degrees. Let it bake for 15 minutes, then carefully remove the lid and bake for another 15-20 minutes. Let the now baked bread rest for 15 minutes and then enjoy!!
*I like to bake with a 24 hour period, I know that seems excessive, but it works for me with my schedule. I let the leaven rise over-night, make the dough, do the turns for 2 hours, rest for 2 hours, bench rest for 30 minutes, shape and then final rest in two bowls with kitchen towels for 2-4 hours, and then bake before bedtime. *
Until next time!
Alex
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