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My first fully edible loaf!
In Sourdough

My first fully edible loaf!


First loaf that doesn’t taste heavy and gummy. The dough was super jiggly at end of BF but had started to drop a little. So it had a bit of spread after shaping. But seems to have come out okay? Any advice/ feedback on the outcome/ crumb is welcome. Thank you!

(Any time below I say let it rest at room temp – it was actually on top of the radiator so was very warm.)

It was 100g starter, 350ml water, 500g strong white bread flour, 8g salt.
Mixed together, sit at room temp for 1 hour, then 4 x stretch and folds every 30 mins, rest at room temp for 3 hours (again this was on top of a very hot radiator so it proofed way faster than I thought). Then shaped and put in fridge overnight.
Cooked in preheated dutch oven (preheated for 30 minutes whilst dough came to room temp – not radiator this time) at gas mark 8 – 30 minutes lid on then 15 minutes lid off at gas mark 7. Took out then rested for 2 hours before cutting.

by lexi-t-rexie

10 Comments

  4. infinitkelvin

    Looks like some nice progress. I think you already identified one area to improve which is timing of your BF. Based on the warmer environment you probably could have knocked an hour off your BF time.

    Also, your recipe is conservative at 70% hydration – you could try upping your water to 375ml to get 75% hydration and eventually 400ml to reach 80% once you are comfortable working with higher hydration. I would also up your salt to 10g which would be 2% which is pretty standard for most recipes.

    Unfortunately with all the books and posts I have read, my comfort with baking has come from a lot of trial and error and baking enough to understand how the dough to look and feel.

  6. CarelessAttitude5729

    Whoahh! congrats on your first fully edible loaf! Moving away from that ‘heavy and gummy’ stage is the biggest hurdle in sourdough, so you should be really proud.

    The ‘jiggly’ texture you described is exactly what we look for, but the fact that it started to ‘drop’ and then spread suggests you caught it just at the tail end of its bulk ferment. If it’s starting to flatten out in the bowl, it’s usually telling you it’s ready (or slightly past ready) for the fridge!

    Enjoy! nothing beats that smell of a successful freshly baked bread

  7. greekmom2005

    Damn girl! Way to hit a grand slam with your first at-bat!!!