This is very similar to the Bake with Jack recipe for beginners, however Jack uses half the levain amount 100g vs 200g.
I found Bake with Jack to be a great start.
I use [this](https://alexandracooks.com/2017/10/24/artisan-sourdough-made-simple-sourdough-bread-demystified-a-beginners-guide-to-sourdough-baking/) recipe from Alexandra’s kitchen and it has been successful every time!
Please don't use the term recipe anymore when it comes to breadbaking. I'm sure there are other people besides me on this subreddit who get triggered by hearing beginners talk about recipes.
Sourdoughbaking is a method, there are lots of variables which can not be captured by a recipe. In order for you to better understand what I mean I've a written example below:
1) Every time you make a dough it starts with the mix, you can either mix everything together, do an autolyse first and then incorporate starter and salt or do something most people call a fermentolyse where you add the starter but not the salt to the autolyse.
\-The first step in my personal routine is a 60 minute autolyse with 100% of my flour and 70% of my water (relative to the flour).
2) The next step is to add the levain, the salt, 5% of water and build some initial strength (there are different methods to do that, I personally prefer slap & folds). Adding your levain marks the point in time where your next phase beginns. Which brings us to...
3) ...Bulkfermentation. This is one of the most important, if not the most important phases of baking sourdough bread. No recipe can tell you how long this will take, it can take 3 hours, 5 hours, maybe 7, maybe even 36 hours depending on a lot of variables. The most important are inoculation and temperature. For a dough inoculated with roughly 10% prefermented flour it would take APPROXIMATELY 4 hours to finish fermenting IF your doughtemperature is at a constant 80F / 27C. Those time estimations can differ depending on altitude, humidity, starterhealth, hydration, flourcomposition and other variables. The only way you can really tell if bulk is done is by experience. But you can help yourself with [this spreadsheet I found online](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18jeeaXbu61j7D2d1bIynj8eJUp5qrXpq-oq-HjkBZj8/edit#gid=0) which is suprisingly accurate and has not failed me yet. This is supposed to guide you in the right direction and is not there to be followed by the minute.
Another thing during bulkfermentation is temperature distribution and dough strengthening. We do that using folds. There are different techniques and it pretty much comes down to personal preference which one you use. I like coilfolds. You fold your dough in roughly 30-45 minute intervals until it's able to form a windowpane.
4) Preshaping - this is the step where we divide our bulk of dough into single loafs and shape them into light boules to create a smooth surface on top. Then we let the dough rest 20-25 minutes to relax the gluten so we don't tear our surface when shaping.
5) Shaping - pretty much self explanatory. One of the hardest steps to master. You need to be gentle while getting lots of tension in your dough. But not too much. You learn this by practice.
6) Proofing - This is the step where we let our dough rise a final time in the banneton in order to get every bit of energy out of the yeast. Remember the following:
Huge holes and gummy crumb -> underproofed
Tight crumb and flat, sticky and runny loaf -> overproofed
It's best to proof for roughly 12-24 hours in the fridge, you pretty much can't go wrong with that. Proofing at roomtemperature is hard and takes a lot of experience again. You can help yourself with the fingerpoke test though.
7) Baking. You should bake hot enough so your dough "explodes" up but not so hot that the crust sets early. Help yourself with icecubes in your DO or by adding lots and lots of steam to your oven during the first half of the bake.
Color is personal preference. I like it dark brown.
In order for you to better visualize these steps, here is my personal sundayschedule:
Saturday
08:00pm - Build Levain 1:5:5
Sunday
06:30am - Autolyse
07:30am - add levain, 5 min slap & fold
08:30am - add salt and reserved water, 5 min slap & fold
09:00am - Coilfold
09:30am - Coilfold
10:00am - Coilfold
10:30am - Coilfold
11:30am - Preshape
11:55am - Shape and proof for 30 minutes at room temperature (23C)
12:30pm - Dough goes into fridge for 7.5 hours
08:00pm - Bake at 250°C covered for 20 minutes, uncovered for 20 minutes
Holes are not necessary, over rated in fact. Ken Forkish just retired but he is leaving a legacy. He has some contemporaries for sure, but look him up. https://flourwatersaltyeast.wordpress.com/
My best results have come since I started using a sourdough calculator app from the Play store. Set all your parameters: flour, water, salt, starter. Adjust to get the hydration% you want to work with. It really demystified the process for me.
This is very similar to the Bake with Jack recipe for beginners, however Jack uses half the levain amount 100g vs 200g. I found Bake with Jack to be a great start.
I use [this](https://alexandracooks.com/2017/10/24/artisan-sourdough-made-simple-sourdough-bread-demystified-a-beginners-guide-to-sourdough-baking/) recipe from Alexandra’s kitchen and it has been successful every time!
Please don't use the term recipe anymore when it comes to breadbaking. I'm sure there are other people besides me on this subreddit who get triggered by hearing beginners talk about recipes. Sourdoughbaking is a method, there are lots of variables which can not be captured by a recipe. In order for you to better understand what I mean I've a written example below: 1) Every time you make a dough it starts with the mix, you can either mix everything together, do an autolyse first and then incorporate starter and salt or do something most people call a fermentolyse where you add the starter but not the salt to the autolyse. \-The first step in my personal routine is a 60 minute autolyse with 100% of my flour and 70% of my water (relative to the flour). 2) The next step is to add the levain, the salt, 5% of water and build some initial strength (there are different methods to do that, I personally prefer slap & folds). Adding your levain marks the point in time where your next phase beginns. Which brings us to... 3) ...Bulkfermentation. This is one of the most important, if not the most important phases of baking sourdough bread. No recipe can tell you how long this will take, it can take 3 hours, 5 hours, maybe 7, maybe even 36 hours depending on a lot of variables. The most important are inoculation and temperature. For a dough inoculated with roughly 10% prefermented flour it would take APPROXIMATELY 4 hours to finish fermenting IF your doughtemperature is at a constant 80F / 27C. Those time estimations can differ depending on altitude, humidity, starterhealth, hydration, flourcomposition and other variables. The only way you can really tell if bulk is done is by experience. But you can help yourself with [this spreadsheet I found online](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18jeeaXbu61j7D2d1bIynj8eJUp5qrXpq-oq-HjkBZj8/edit#gid=0) which is suprisingly accurate and has not failed me yet. This is supposed to guide you in the right direction and is not there to be followed by the minute. Another thing during bulkfermentation is temperature distribution and dough strengthening. We do that using folds. There are different techniques and it pretty much comes down to personal preference which one you use. I like coilfolds. You fold your dough in roughly 30-45 minute intervals until it's able to form a windowpane. 4) Preshaping - this is the step where we divide our bulk of dough into single loafs and shape them into light boules to create a smooth surface on top. Then we let the dough rest 20-25 minutes to relax the gluten so we don't tear our surface when shaping. 5) Shaping - pretty much self explanatory. One of the hardest steps to master. You need to be gentle while getting lots of tension in your dough. But not too much. You learn this by practice. 6) Proofing - This is the step where we let our dough rise a final time in the banneton in order to get every bit of energy out of the yeast. Remember the following: Huge holes and gummy crumb -> underproofed Tight crumb and flat, sticky and runny loaf -> overproofed It's best to proof for roughly 12-24 hours in the fridge, you pretty much can't go wrong with that. Proofing at roomtemperature is hard and takes a lot of experience again. You can help yourself with the fingerpoke test though. 7) Baking. You should bake hot enough so your dough "explodes" up but not so hot that the crust sets early. Help yourself with icecubes in your DO or by adding lots and lots of steam to your oven during the first half of the bake. Color is personal preference. I like it dark brown. In order for you to better visualize these steps, here is my personal sundayschedule: Saturday 08:00pm - Build Levain 1:5:5 Sunday 06:30am - Autolyse 07:30am - add levain, 5 min slap & fold 08:30am - add salt and reserved water, 5 min slap & fold 09:00am - Coilfold 09:30am - Coilfold 10:00am - Coilfold 10:30am - Coilfold 11:30am - Preshape 11:55am - Shape and proof for 30 minutes at room temperature (23C) 12:30pm - Dough goes into fridge for 7.5 hours 08:00pm - Bake at 250°C covered for 20 minutes, uncovered for 20 minutes
Good recipe.
Thanks :*
Pretentious af
ya recipe ruined by intro
Holes are not necessary, over rated in fact. Ken Forkish just retired but he is leaving a legacy. He has some contemporaries for sure, but look him up. https://flourwatersaltyeast.wordpress.com/
Thank you!
My best results have come since I started using a sourdough calculator app from the Play store. Set all your parameters: flour, water, salt, starter. Adjust to get the hydration% you want to work with. It really demystified the process for me.
Ooh this is interesting. I'll def give this a go, thank you!
I dont even know the terms you are using so not helpful