Sourdough update

Did you know that John Favreau keeps several sourdough starters in his kitchen?  Found that out while binge watching The Chef Show on that streaming service.  The method was very similar to what we were already doing but the first sponge and baking times were different.  As good bakers, we did it the way it was written or shown to us on the show first.  The color was not what we were used to.  Using the cook info from Use Real Butter plus the different starting proportions, this is our go to bread.

It's currently a sea of other floating papers in our house, personal, work, to be scanned, to be filed, taxes, homework, notes, reminders, I'm surprised that it hasn't gotten lost yet.  Tonight, with some time and some determination, writing it down in case it gets lost.  Edit- we know the method at this point because we've done it probably 10 to 15 times.  If you have questions, go back to Use Real Butter.  She's got photos of all the steps along the way.

The night before you bake and using awake and active starter-

Combine 100 grams of starter with

350 400 grams of water and mix until the starter is dissolved

Let sit overnight.

In the morning-

Add 500 grams bread flour (I've been experimenting with whole wheat flour sometimes, I'm very happy with 100 grams whole wheat and 400 grams bread flour)

And let sit for 2-4 hours to hydrate 

Then add-

10 grams of kosher salt

And squish everything together with your hands

Start by turning the edges to middle, take one side and move it to the middle, turn 1/4 rotation and repeat, until you've made a full circle.  Repeat until you've made 4 circles or 16 folds

With wet hands, pull the dough up on either side and let the dough on the front and back pull down with the weight of the dough. turn 90 degrees and fold/stretch 1-2 more times

Keep in the same space, covered and warm

Repeat every 30 minutes for 3 hours then let rest another hour (we skip this part often)

Turn out onto a floured counter and fold over on itself a few times, adding flour if needed.  

You want to get good tension across the top surface

Here's where we've experimented a bunch.  We don't have a special brotform bowl so this is what we've used. Our best results are when we place a piece of parchment into a large shallow bowl and place the bread seam side down. Place the bread in a large ziplock bag and let proof overnight in the fridge. 

When you're ready to bake, place your baking dish in the oven at 500 and let heat for 30 minutes.

Slice your bread top with your cool lame, slicey thingy.

Carefully remove the lid and lower the bread in.

Spray the top of the bread with some water and replace the lid. 

Bake for 20 minutes then reduce to 450 and bake another 10 minutes

Remove the lid and bake another 15-25 minutes (we like ours on the longer side of this window)

Let it cool!  Don't cut into it. 

We often make mini boules to share with family and friends and neighbors (sometimes, it's better to bake than the discard your starter).  Here's an update on timing for those.  

15 minutes at 500 covered

7 minutes at 450 covered

8 minutes at 450 uncovered

3/2022 edit

I've been adding a little more water than called for, maybe 360 grams.  In doing more learning about sourdough, you can use more than this too.  Some people use 75-80% weight of water to flour, for this recipe 380-400 grams.  

Going to try to auto-lyse or the hydrating the flour part of the recipe without the starter

For the bulk ferment, try picking it up in the middle and fold on itself, do this a few times and then let sit for an hour

Bench rest for 15 minutes after you divide the dough ( make a nice tight ball, tucking the ends under with a bench scraper) and then shape a second time (flatten and roll)

Proof at room temp until a poke to the bread will rebound but hold the indentation, about an hour

Then fridge over night.

-Notes from Claire Saffitz 

8/2022 edit-

These notes I added here have not given us a great boule.  We have been successful with higher hydration though so I've edited up top.  And some finished bread.

3/2023 Update-

We made two smaller loaves and one didn't have the height the other one did.  The difference, one was cold from the fridge and one had 10-15 minutes to warm up on the counter.  The take away, let the loaf warm up a little bit before it goes in the oven.  You'll get a better oven-spring and more height.