I’ve been baking sourdough on and off since 2018 (had a big break between 2018 and 2022) and every time I’ve been following recipes very meticulously, stretching and folding at exact times, tracking my rises with an aliquot… But this time I decided not to care and do like my friend who gave me some of his starter. And it ended up being the best oven spring I’ve ever had!
I fed the starter only twice before using it (I wasn’t sure it was completely ready but it did double in size) and took care of the dough when I had the time.
- 500g flour (350g bread flour type 550, 150g rye)
- 325g water
- 100g starter
- 10g salt
- Autolyse (keeping aside ~50g water) for about 1h
- Mix in salt in remaining 50g water and starter
- Knead/stretch and fold every hour for 3-4h, at the 4th hour I worked the dough more cause I knew I wouldn’t be working it anymore. Total BF about 7h.
- Cold proof overnight (about 8-9h), at this point I didn’t have enough energy to shape the dough and I felt like it needed some more rising because I wasn’t sure how active the starter was.
- In the morning I had enough time to shape the dough and left it to proof for about 5h at room temp before putting in the fridge again. Another cold proof for about 19-20h.
- Bake in a preheated dutch oven at 230c for 30min, then 220c with no lid for 15min.
And that’s it! The key to sourdough is not being to meticulous! Atleast for me it worked this time, I’ll have to try again lol.
by Hewarder
9 Comments
It’s beautiful!
Sourdough is very forgiven too! We only need to watch the signs!
Newb here and that still sounds meticulous to me! lol super nice loaf though 👏🏼
Beautiful loaf
Beautiful! I’ve never tried cold ferment before shaping. My loaves often lose shape in the oven a little. I wonder if that would make a noticeable difference.
That’s lovely. Sourdough is quite robust, all these methods work great. There’s no crucial step of fold/laminate that makes the difference between a good and a terrible loaf. Fermentation solves 90% of the problems.
What does the addition of rye do? Does it change flavour or speeds fermentation?
Your outdoors photo reminds me of a European neighborhood where my grandma lived. Also great bread! 🙂 and I like your approach – it’s a skill, but let’s not go crazy; people have been making great tasting bread daily for thousands of years.
I seriously do none of these things and my bread is fine. Mix dough. Let it sit. Stretch and fold if I feel like it. Mush it around a little with my hands. Let it sit however long depending on what I’m doing. Throw in fridge overnight. Take out. Shape and stick in the oven.