1 minute read
Sourdough Assortments
by Rachel Kwan
Why bake your own sourdough bread?
Advertisement
It’s a healthy alternative to conventional bread (e.g. white bread from your local grocery store). The fermentation process that occurs in the starter boosts this bread’s nutrition profile, flavor, and texture. Other health benefits of eating sourdough include better blood sugar control and improved digestion due to lower amounts of gluten.
Recipe: Joshua Weissman
How to Bake Your Own Sourdough Bread
Starting with the Starter
You’ll be feeding the starter once a day for seven consecutive days.
Preparing the Dough
Ingredients for the Levain (100% hydration): 35g mature starter, 35g whole wheat flour, 35g all-purpose flour, 70g room temperature water
Ingredients for the Dough (85% hydration): 804g bread flour 75g whole wheat flour 740g water 90°F/32°C 18g fine sea salt
Sample Schedule
8am: Add the ingredients for the levain into a jar and mix. Ferment the levain for 5-6 hours @ 78°F/25°C until the wild yeast is active.
11:30am: Autolyse the dough. Using a clean hand, gently mix together the bread flour, whole wheat flour, and water until they are fully incorporated. Let it rest! 1pm: Mix autolysed dough with levain. Then let it rest for 25 minutes.
1:30pm: Mix with salt and begin the bulk ferment (a series of folds followed by rest) @78°F/25°C.
1:50pm: Fold the dough in time intervals of 15 minutes for three rounds. There will be a series of 4 folds per round. Take one side of the dough and stretch it to the other side. Repeat until you cover all four sides. Let it rest.
2:50pm: Fold the dough in time intervals of 30 minutes for three more rounds.
6:00pm: Let the bulk ferment finish. Using a floured bench scraper, split and preshape two rounded boules.
6:20pm: Cold proof bannetons in large ziploc bags for 12-14 hours.
8:20am (The Morning After): Preheat your cast iron pans in the oven until the temperature reaches 500°F.
9:20am: Bake! Dump a boule into a cast iron pan and score. Place the other side of the cast iron set on top of the boule. Put the bread into the oven and bake for 25 minutes. Then take off the top lid and bake for another 20-25 minutes to let the bread develop a golden-brown crust.
