baker – mischief 48

April 19, 2020April 30, 2020

big boy bread: sourdough

“there are only two kinds of bread in the world: bread that hands have made, and bread that hands have not”

time to stop playin’

we hope somewhere between the enthralling daily adventure to the shops, and your 4th glass of vino on a tuesday night, you at least had a few attempts at making some form of bread during this free time.

if you have grown from somewhere between “in the bin before anyone sees it” to “fuck this is actually alright” (a right of passage) and want to get on top of your game even further, fear not, we got you covered right here.

this will be an advanced guide to baking a loaf of sourdough at home, if you are new to this, please see the previous posts on how to create your own starter culture and develop to the stage of baking a loaf, then come back here. or don’t, whatever level you feel is good for your enjoyment at home, do that.

bakers percentages

calculating percentages for baking is slightly different than the standard ‘percentage’ you are used to.
every ingredient is expressed as a percentage of the total flour weight. not the total weight of the dough. the flour weight is always expressed at 100%.

for example:

100g flour
60g water
6 salt

to make this easy, our 100% is based off 100g flour. added together this dough would weigh 166g, but that is not our base.
60g of water, as a percentage of 100g flour, is 60%. this makes our dough 60% hydrated.
6g of salt, as a percentage of 100g flour, would be 6%. (an example, dont do this).
if this seems confusing as it is based off ‘100’. take 250g flour, 60% of 250 would be 150. so adding 150g water would make your dough 60% hydrated.

autolyse

with most things in life, there are a few tricks that get you through it. bread is no different.

‘autolyse’ or ‘autolysis’ is just a fancy term for hydrating flour, mixing your flour and water together before adding any additional ingredients (starter & salt). however don’t let this pseudonym over-simply things, this is an important process which is vastly overlooked.

when your flour and water are mixed until no dry flour remains, and you let it rest for a small period of time, you will see the difference. your dough will be smoother and more elastic, have a better crumb, and generally just be way fuckin better.

whats goin on’

when the flour absorbs the water and is fully hydrated, enzymes in the flour stimulate proteins to begin gluten development. at the same time, other enzymes are breaking down starch into simple sugars which feed the yeast during bulk proofing.

this is happening before any kneading is done to your dough, preventing any chance of an over oxidised dough, which may be grim for the colour, flavour and texture of your beautiful loaf that you so wish for.

bakers love fancy words, it makes you feel good. ‘levain’ is one of these words.

a ‘levain’ is your sourdough starter. it is the rising agent for your dough and what you have been babysitting for weeks now, ready to be let out to play.

there are endless techniques and timelines used by bakers from everywhere, once you learn the behaviours and temperatures of your dough and yeast, with what you have at home, a natural schedule that suits your routine will fall into place. in winter, fermentation will be slower as it will be colder, and in summer, you will see a rapid increase of activity due to warmer environments.

learning to adapt to the ranging temperatures and conditions, and knowing what to do to manipulate this as best you can, is the ‘fun’ part. well, until your tearing into a still-warm loaf with your hands, raining butter and sea salt on that bitch with your boys at 2am on a saturday night cause you forgot to make a levain early enough that day.

your timeline will be based upon your conditions at home, however the processes remain the same. below is a process breakdown that works.

autolyse

levain

salt

stretch & fold

bulk ferment

shape

proof

bake

autolyse your dough ideally between 2 and 4 hours. however even a 15 minute autolyse makes a difference if you are pushed for time, we’re in the big leagues now.

we are not getting into the activity of your starter here. we are assuming your starter is active and ready for its big night out, if not, check out our starter maintenance post. some sort of tech whizz would have the link to that post right here, too bad you are stuck with a baker.

we probably should have mentioned this earlier, but you should always read something through fully before you try and follow the instructions. if you have, fair play, if not, lesson learnt. when autolysing your dough, save around 5% of your water on the side, so you can use this to help incorporate your levain and salt when needed.

we will release a another advanced guide into the world of different levain percentages, but for now we assume you followed our sourdough guide and have an active levain of 100% hydration (equal parts flour and water).

the bakers percentage of our levain is 20%.

using a splash of this reserved water, dimple your levain into your hydrated dough, pressing it in with your fingers and working it together (see photo above somewhere).

depending on how wet your dough is, it will take different amounts of time to come together. as your knowledge and skills grow, you can experiment more with higher hydrated dough, your hands and eyes will let you know when the dough is ready.

a famous technique is known as the rubaud method . this involves ‘scooping’ the dough underneath and stretching and pulling the dough until it becomes extensible and smooth.

let the dough rest for 30 minutes, covered with a tea towel or some clingfilm.

next, you want to add your salt.

apply the salt the same way you incorporated your levain, using your fingertips and remaining reserved water to bring together, before applying the rubaud method (see photo below)*

*advanced method: play ‘stairway to heaven’ , do not stop mixing until the song is done, and we guarantee your dough is perfect.

in the photo above, i know what you might be thinking. “look at all that dough on the side of the bowl” well you probably are not thinking that, but were addressing it incase any real bakers are reading this, we know our shit, and you will too soon enough. see photo below (the power of led zeppelin).

once your dough has come together, you want to begin the ‘stretch & folds’.

this is a technique used to increase gluten strength and structure to your dough. you want to grab one side of your dough, stretch it gently until it feels resistant, then fold it over your dough (use wet hands to prevent sticking). you want to perform this on three sides of the dough, until it has all been folded over itself. let your dough rest for 30 minutes in a warm environment.*

*a warm environment. ideally 22-24 degrees, which you use as a base for fermentation (for your starter, dough, anything else).

after 30 minutes, you will probably have noticed the dough has deflated and flattened a little. you want to perform the next stretch & fold at a 30 minute interval, before returning to the warm environment, and performing an additional stretch and fold after 45 minutes, or enough times until your dough holds a partial rounded shape after a 30 minute rest.

when the shape holds slightly, it is time for your bulk ferment.

bulk fermenting, is simply that. it is fermenting your dough, in bulk form (one single mass) before you decide to divide it into smaller loaves, rolls, baguettes, or leave it whole for a big daddy loaf for sunday brunch.

you want to bulk ferment 2-5 hours, depending as always on the warmth of your resting environment. when the bulk ferment is complete, your dough will have flattened a little but still have a faint rounded edge in your bowl. now it is time to shape it into a loaf.

there are some other steps in the advanced techniques of bread making , such as ‘lamination’ and ‘pre-shaping’, which we do perform regularly with great results, but with the process we have applied here, you still end up with a seriously bangin’ loaf.

tip your dough onto a lightly floured surface. flip your dough with a dough scraper (get one) or something flat until the floured side is face down.

now we begin creating the base shape of our loaf. we cant pretend to know the best technique for doing this, as there are hundreds. but incorporating air and structure in this step is important, and this technique works damn fuckin’ good. alternatively, get onto YouTube and learn whatever technique looks the most fun and effective for you.

fold one side of your dough over onto the middle, and then the opposite side over this. then fold the top halfway down your dough. then we begin ‘stitching’ which is stretching opposite segments of the dough over itself (like a stitch). see photo below. flip your dough, and seal the edges with your fingers.

now it is time for proofing.

your beautifully shaped dough needs somewhere to relax. us fancy folk use something called a ‘banneton’ or a ‘proofing basket’ which is a basket (made of cane or rattan). this enables your dough to proof ‘upwards’ rather than out, giving you a nice, high-rising light loaf. alternatively at home you can use a mixing bowl lined with a linen tea towel (use linen as it wont stick, fuck cotton).

liberally flour your banneton/cloth-lined bowl. if you can get your hands on some, use rice flour as it will ensure even further your dough does not stick.

*important as fuck. flip your shaped loaf upside down, so the seam you have ‘stitched’ is facing upwards. lift gently from underneath to not compromise the shape and all of the air you have so artfully incorporated, and place into your floured container of choice. (below)

now we wait.

let your dough proof in the banneton for around 15 minutes at room temperature, before covering with a towel, or wrapping in film and placing in a cold fridge. you can proof your dough in the same warm environment and have it baked within hours, however a cold fermentation overnight has many more benefits.

retarding

:retard (verb)
– a delay or hold back in terms of progress or development.

we know what you are thinking, but don’t be a dick. ‘retarding’ is the process of slowing down fermentation in your dough, to increase depth of flavour and texture.

as your dough rests, in a cold environment, the yeast bacteria produce acetic and lactic acids, which produces a richer and more complex flavour to your bread.

you want your fridge temperature to be between 2-4 degrees, a little more locked in than 0-5. (for the serious nerds, the cooling rate of your fridge can come into play here, but if you are that clued in to cooling rates of fridges in regards to yeast fermentation, you should be way fuckin smarter than us so keep on truckin).

cut a square of baking paper, wider than your dough.

place this piece of paper on top of your banneton, and flip onto a flat surface.

now we slice. we use a lame which means ‘blade’ in french. which is simply a flexible razorblade attached to a fancy wooden handle, to make it seem less like paulie slicing garlic in goodfellas. (photo above).

slashing the dough lets you control where the steam escapes, which will happen naturally, but this enables you to be in control of the aesthetic shape of the loaf, aswell as ensuring an even steam distribution.

we like it hot

you want a hot oven. you can bake this dough at varied temperatures, but we personally enjoy the primal kiss of a wood fire, obviously you are not going to do that just yet, so setting your oven to 260, or as hot as it can get, is a good start.

let your oven heat up for around an hour, until screaming hot.

steam is your friend. when the surface of the dough gets hot enough in a steamed environment, the starches slowly start absorbing moisture, until it becomes so saturated that it liquefies, creating a brittle and glossy crust.

there are many methods to create steam in your oven (you might be middle-class enough to have a steam option built-in to your home oven) but the two main approaches to home baking are:

a dutch oven. a lidded cast-iron pot.
a tray of ice or boiling water placed underneath the dough.

you want steam present for the first 10-20 minutes, to form the basis of your crust. after this time, reduce the temperature of your oven by around 10% (if your oven is at 260, reduce to 230, or use your fancy iphone to calculate 90% of whatever your oven is at)

here comes the most scientific, the most technical part of the whole process, you cannot afford to fuck up this meticulous process:

tap the bottom of the loaf with your hand.

does it sound hollow? if so, throw her on a wire rack to cool and crack the champagne baby its christmas. if not? shit one, try again from the beginning.

a good baker will tell you to wait until it is fully cooled before slicing , but a great baker knows the urge is too hard to resist.

you have spent long hours, days & weeks caring for this starter culture, and the entire process of creating a loaf, so if you want to slice that bread straight down the middle still-warm, get a shot for the gram to show off and then indulge without patience or judgement, you go right ahead and do that.

such is the beauty of life, bread included;
you can do whatever the fuck you want.