Sourdough
Advocacy
“If I gave you a bag of flour and water, and you had nothing else to live on, you could live on that for a while, but eventually you would die. But, if you take that same bag of flour and water and bake it into bread, you could live indefinitely.” - Michael Pollan
“Roman soldiers had only sourdough bread to get protein...Don’t eat whole grains if you don’t know how...Why look for other sources of food when sourdough gives you most of the nutrients in a balanced form?” - Jack Bezian
A small study in Italy showed that some people with celiacs can eat long-fermented sourdough breads with no ill effects. Less than 1% of the population suffers from celiac disease but 29% report avoiding gluten.
Grains and beans that have been fermented or sprouted are easier for your body to digest. They make the vitamins and minerals “bioavailable” and neutralize the phytic acid which would otherwise rob your body of calcium and prevent zinc and magnesium absorption. It also increases the protein content.
Book: Josey Baker Bread by Josey Baker
Basics
“Starter” is a live culture made of flour and water. Starters need to be fed 1-3x a week at room temperature or once a month-ish if kept in the fridge to stay happy.
A starter is “refreshed” 12-24 hours after it’s been fed.
“Dough” is essentially starter plus salt.
Important - you can’t turn dough back into starter so you always need to remember to reserve some starter for next time before beginning a recipe.
Some recipes specify what hydration your starter should be. “Hydration” refers to how thick your starter is. A starter that is 100% hydration is equal parts flour and water and will be like thick pancake batter. A 60% hydration has less water and is more like bread dough.
Sourdough reacts with metal so avoid it if possible.
Bread is done baking when it reaches 190’ internally for white or 200’ for whole wheat.
Use fresh flour if possible for maximum nutrition.
Discarded starter can be saved in the fridge and used in the waffles recipe.
Method - Refresh starter 12-24 hours before baking. Mix dough. Let sit for 30 minutes or knead for 5 min. Stretch and fold 10x, rest 30 min. Repeat 3-4 times. Rise. Shape. Rise. Bake. Cool.
(Notes: Rising times vary widely from 2-12 hours. Temperature and desired sourness will determine rising times. Dough rises faster when it’s warm. Dough is more sour the longer it rises. You may pick one of the rising times to have the dough in the fridge overnight (that will not make it more sour - unless you leave it in there for 3 days which is still totally fine). Do what is most convenient for you. Times really don’t matter a lot though. Your bread will still turn out as long as you leave it long enough - probably a minimum total of 6 hours between the two rises when on the counter or 2-3 hours on the counter and 10 hours in the fridge.)
Starter from scratch - 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup whole wheat (ww) flour. Mix and let sit loosely covered at room temperature for 2 days. Compost all but 1 TB. Add 1/2 cup water to the 1 TB starter. Mix well. Add 1/2 cup ww flour. Mix well. Loosely cover and ignore for 2 days. Repeat for 2 weeks, composting down to 1 TB and feeding it every 2-3 days. Then start baking.
Feed Me! - Get the starter from the fridge. Pour the dark liquid (hootch) off if desired. Mix at least 1 TB of starter with 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup flour. Let sit on the counter loosely covered for 12-24 hours. Return to the fridge or use it in a recipe. If you’re storing starter in the fridge, you may want to feed it for two days before using it in bread. If your starter gets way too stinky and you’re worried about it, pour off the hooch and when feeding, substitute 1 TB pineapple juice for some of the water. Or simply feed it for 3 days in a row with water and flour and it should become happy again.
Easy Bread (1 loaf) 1/3 cup starter 3 1/2 cup ww flour 1 1/2 tsp salt 2 cups warm water
Mix. Rise 12-18 hours. Sprinkle with flour and fold in 3. Rest 15 min. Shape into loaf. Rise 1-2 hours. Preheat cast iron pan with lid in oven at 450’ for at least 30 min. Drop dough into hot pan. Cover. Bake 30 min. Remove lid and bake 10 minutes. Cool 1 hour. Loaf should be dark brown. Optional:After mixing, let rest 30-60 min. Stretch and Fold 4 times total. Rise 3 hours. Shape. Rise 3 hours. Bake. | WW loaf bread (4 loaves) 2 cups starter, refreshed 5 cups water 12 cups whole wheat flour 7 tsp salt 1/4 cup butter or oil
Mix all ingredients for 5 minutes at #3 in Kitchen Aid or by hand. Stretch and fold 10 times. Rest 20 minutes. Repeat this pattern for 3 times total. Rise 1 hour. Pre-shape into 4 loaves. Rest 15 minutes. Shape, cover, and place in fridge overnight. Place in cold oven and bake for 55 minutes at 375’. Cool before slicing. |
WW Artisan Bread (4 loaves) 4 tsp starter, refreshed (24g) 1 cup cool water (240g) 1 1/3 cup whole wheat flour (200g) *Mix and cover above ingredients for 8-12 hours. Add: 6 cups warm water (1440g) 13 cups whole wheat flour (1820g) 2 TB + 2 tsp salt (48g)
Mix well. Cover 30 min. Stretch and fold. Cover and rest 30 min. Repeat a total of 4 times. Cover and rise 2-3 hours or put in fridge overnight. Shape loaf and place in well floured proofing basket. Proof 3ish hours on counter or put in fridge overnight if the last rise was on the counter. Preheat cloche or dutch oven at 425’ for 20 min. Slash top and place in oven. Replace lid. Bake for 20 minutes, remove lid, bake another 25 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 200’F. Variation: soak 1 cup of seeds in hot water for 12 hours. Drain and mix into half of the dough for 2 loaves of seed bread and 2 ww loaves. | Pizza (16 x10” pizzas) 1/4 cup starter, refreshed (60g) 2 cups water, 60’f (480g) 3 cups whole wheat flour (420g) 4 cups water, 80’f (960g) 11 cups bread flour (1660g) 2 TB plus 2 tsp salt (48g)
Refresh starter. Then mix starter with 2 cups water, 3 cups ww flour. Let sit covered for 8-12 hours. Add remaining ingredients. Cover and rest 30-60 minutes. Stretch and fold 10 times. Rest 30 minutes. Repeat the stretch and fold, rest pattern 4 times total. Rise 3-4 hours. Shape into 16 balls. Wrap with plastic wrap and freeze or put in fridge for 6-24 hours or use immediately. To use: Bring dough to room temperature for 30 minutes before cooking. Preheat cast iron pan over med-high heat and broiler on high. Roll out dough, cook in pan on the stove for 3-4 minutes. Add toppings during this time. Move pan to the oven to finish in broiler for 2-3 minutes. |
Waffles 5 cups starter, refreshed 5 eggs 10 TB butter or oil 2 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 cup honey or syrup 2 1/2 tsp baking soda 5 tsp warm water
The night before, mix up 5 cups of starter for refreshing and leave on the counter covered loosely. It should be the consistency of pancake batter. In the morning, add eggs, butter, salt and honey. Mix well. In small bowl, combine water and baking soda and stir to dissolve. Add to batter and stir, adding water if necessary. Cook waffles immediately. | Pocket Bread (24 rolls) 2 TB refreshed starter (30g) 1 cup cool water (240g) 1 1/2 cups ww flour (210g) 2 1/2 cups lukewarm water (600g) 6 cups bread flour (900g) 4 tsp salt (24g)
Mix starter, cool water and ww flour. Cover and let sit at room temperature for 8-12 hours. Mix in remaining ingredients. Cover for 30 minutes. Stretch and fold 10 times. Rest 30 minutes. Repeat the stretch and fold, rest pattern 4 times total. Put in fridge overnight. Remove and shape into 3/4 cup balls. Roll in cornmeal and place in muffin pan. Rise 3-4 hours. Slash tops and spray with water just before baking at 450’ for 5 minutes. Spray with water again, then bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool. Variations: mix in cheddar/chive, fig/fennel seeds, rehydrated dried cherries, chocolate pb cups, etc. |
White bread (2 loaves) 2 TB starter, refreshed (30g) 1 cup cool water (240g) 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (210g) 2 cups lukewarm water (480g) 5 cups bread flour (750g) 4 tsp salt (24g)
Mix starter, cool water, ww flour. Let sit on counter 8-12 hours or overnight. In the morning, add remaining ingredients. Cover and rest 30-60 minutes. Dip your hands in water, then stretch and fold 10 times. Rest 30 minutes. Repeat the stretch and fold, rest pattern 4 times total. Rise 4-5 hours. Divide in two and shape loaves. Rise another 3 hours. Preheat oven to 475’ for at least 30 minutes. Slash loaf. Cover with tin foil tent and bake 20 minutes. Remove cover and bake additional 15-20 minutes. Cool. Note: if not using loaf pan, preheat with a dutch oven with the lid on, or preheat with baking stone and use a metal bowl as the lid.
| Lavash 1 cup starter, refreshed (200g) 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (60g) 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (60g) 2 TB rye flour (12g) 3 TB olive oil (32g) 1 TB herbs 1/2 tsp sea salt Maldon flake salt for topping
Combine all and knead until it comes together. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 30 min-24 hours. Preheat to 350’. Divide dough into 8. Store dough in fridge when not using. Using the first 4 dough balls, roll out each into a thin oblong rectangle or use a pasta roller at #6. Lay two rectangles side by side on a baking sheet. Bake 12-15 minutes or until crispy. Repeat until all of the dough has been baked. Cool and crack into crackers. |
Bagels Use any bread dough. Add any desired mixins. Divide a loaf into 12 balls. Shape into bagels. Proof for 30 minutes. Boil 4” of water. Add 2 tsp baking soda. Drop in bagels. They should float after 30 seconds. Flip for another 30 seconds, then remove. Bake at 400’ for 10 minutes or until done.
| Bonus: Granola 8 cups oats 2 cups nuts (pecans, walnuts, etc.) 2 cups seeds (sesame, sunflower, etc.) 1 cup coconut (unsweetened, large flake) 1/2 tsp salt 3/4 cup coconut oil 1/2 cup honey 1/4 cup maple syrup
Combine dry ingredients. Heat oil, honey and syrup in a pan to combine. Pour over dry ingredients and mix well. Divide between 2 baking sheets. Bake at 300’F for 35 minutes. Wait to cool before removing from pan. May add dried fruit at this point if desired.
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