This is quite involved and detailed. Use the cleanest water available to you.
Ingredients for the Bread (Baker’s percentages)
1000 grams all purpose bread flour, 100%
700-800 grams water, 70-80%
150 grams starter, 15%
20 grams salt, 2%
Notes
-Timing based on a room temperature of 72 degrees.
-Whole-wheat sourdough: You can replace up to half of the all-purpose bread flour with whole-wheat or whole-grain bread flour.
-Make sure your sourdough culture is active. Pour some off and feed it daily to make sure it's strong and very active before you make the bread. If your sourdough has been in the refrigerator you should feed it once a week. Take it out 2 to 3 days before you plan to bake.
- You can make fermented fried bread with the starter you discard. Add chive, zaatar, whatever and cook over medium heat and fry the dough.
- Bread can be stored at room temperature (cut-side down if cut) in a paper bag for up to 3 days, or well wrapped in plastic wrap and frozen for up to 2 months.
Feed starter - pour off what you plan to put in, add equal parts flour and water, 75g. Mix and let it rise about 3-5 hours in at room temperature until it at least doubles in size. The black line on the bottle is the level it was when he fed the starter. After rising it should smell tangy. To check for readiness, drop a small spoonful of the starter in water; if it floats, it's ready.
Autolyse bread to bond proteins and make the Leaven – mix 1000g flour and 750g water together until you achieve the consistency in this photo. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for at least 45 minutes.
Test that the leaven is ready. Generally, if the surface of the starter is very bubbly and slightly round it's ready to be used. Make sure starter is at peak activation - it should at least double in size and be slightly rounded at top, or you can test it by seeing if it floats in water.
Add starter and salt - add 150 g of starter over dough, then add 2 g salt.
Stretch and fold – never knead, perform a stretch and fold every 30 minutes for the next 2 1/2 hours until you feel the dough has developed a nice gluten structure. To fold the dough, grab the dough at the top, lift it up, wiggle it, and fold it over on top of itself. Fold the right side, bottom and left side, moving clockwise from the top of the bowl (or giving the bowl a quarter turn in between folds). Repeat until you stretch and fold at least 8 times. Let the dough rest 30 minutes, then repeat. Do this a total of 6 times, every half hour, for a total of 2 1/2 hours. The dough will start out shaggy and very loose, but will gradually smooth out and become tighter as you continue folding.
Bulk Rise 4-6 hours, (or in the refrigerator overnight). Once you've finished the stretch and folds, cover and let the dough rise undisturbed. It won’t be double in size like regular bread but will be 30-50% larger.
Pre shape loaves– once your satisfied with your bulk rise use your bench scraper to remove the dough onto a floured surface, divide in two and pre-shape your loaves. Work gently to avoid deflating the dough.
Bench rest – let the pre-shaped loaves bench rest for 30 minutes before slicing.
Prepare 2 bread proofing baskets, colanders, or mixing bowls. Line 2 bread proofing baskets, colanders, or clean mixing bowls with clean kitchen towels. Dust them heavily with flour, rubbing the flour into the cloth on the bottom and up the sides with your fingers. Use more flour than you think you'll need — it should form a thin layer over the surface of the towel and you want enough flour so the dough won’t stick to the material.
Final shaping –Add flour to surface of dough and surface you’re working on. Flatten the dough out a little bit and grab two opposite corners and fold them over the bread, repeat two or 3 times on same side, and then a few more times again, working your way across the dough.
Next fold it in on itself to build surface tension. Fold it in on itself a few more times being careful not to deflate the dough. Let sit for a few seconds so the bottom seam seals.
Roll one side in Sesame Seeds and place in proofing baskets seed side down. Add flour to the sides of the bread so it won’t stick to the material as it rises.
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Proofing –Place in a plastic bag or plastic wrap and let proof at room temperature 2-3 hours until they look billowy and poofy. You can also put them in the fridge and let them rise overnight 12-15 hours. If rising overnight, bake the loaves straight from the fridge, no need to warm before baking.
Preheat oven- place two Dutch oven pans in the oven at 500 degrees and preheat for about 45 minutes. If you don’t have room for two pans you can cook them one at a time.
Poke test for readiness - Poke the bread. You want to poke and have it spring back and leave a slight dent. If springs back with no dent it's not ready, if it leaves a big dent and doesn’t spring back it's over proofed.
Remove from proofing baskets – Place parchment paper over bread in basket, and turn over to release the bread from the basket. Brush off excess flour from the bread.
Score the loaves. Use a lame, sharp knife, or serrated knife to quickly score the surface of the loaves. Try to score at a slight angle, so you're cutting almost parallel to the surface of the loaf; this gives the loaves the distinctive "shelf" along the score line.
Place bread with parchment paper in preheated Dutch oven and Bake for 20 minutes at 500 degrees with the lid on.
Turn the oven down to 450, and remove lid. At this point, the loaves should have "sprung up", have a dry surface, and be just beginning to show golden color. To prevent the bottom from burning place a cookie sheet under the pot, and continue to bake for 20-30 minutes, or until the crust is deeply browned.
Turn the oven off, open oven door a few inches and let it sit in the oven for 20 minutes
Cool the loaves completely. Transfer them to wire racks to cool completely. Wait until they have cooled to room temperature before slicing.
Sourdough Wild Yeast Starter
Day 1: Make the Initial Starter
4 ounces all-purpose flour (3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons)
4 ounces water (1/2 cup)
Weigh the flour and water, and combine them in a 2-quart glass or plastic container (not metal). Stir vigorously until combined into a smooth batter. It will look like a sticky, thick dough. Scrape down the sides and loosely cover the container with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel secured with a rubber band.
Place the container somewhere with a consistent room temperature of 70°F to 75°F (like the top of the refrigerator) and let sit for 24 hours.
Day 2: Feed the Starter
4 ounces all-purpose flour (3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons)
4 ounces water (1/2 cup)
Take a look at the starter. You may see a few small bubbles here and there. This is good! The bubbles mean that wild yeast have started making themselves at home in your starter. They will eat the sugars in the the flour and release carbon dioxide (the bubbles) and alcohol. They will also increase the acidity of the mixture, which helps fend off any bad bacterias. At this point, the starter should smell fresh, mildly sweet, and yeasty.
If you don't see any bubbles yet, don't panic — depending on the conditions in your kitchen, the average room temperature, and other factors, your starter might just be slow to get going.
Weigh the flour and water for today, and add them to the starter. Stir vigorously until combined into a smooth batter. It will look like a sticky, thick dough. Scrape down the sides and loosely cover the container with the plastic wrap or kitchen towel secured again. Place the container somewhere with a consistent room temperature of 70°F to 75°F (like the top of the refrigerator) and let sit for 24 hours.
Day 3: Feed the Starter
4 ounces all-purpose flour (3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons)
4 ounces water (1/2 cup)
Check your starter. By now, the surface of your starter should look dotted with bubbles and your starter should look visibly larger in volume. If you stir the starter, it will still feel thick and batter-like, but you'll hear bubbles popping. It should also start smelling a little sour and musty. Again, if your starter doesn't look quite like mine in the photo, don't worry. Give it a few more days. My starter happened to be particularly vigorous!
Weigh the flour and water for today, and add them to the starter. Stir vigorously until combined into a smooth batter. It will look like a sticky, thick dough. Scrape down the sides and loosely cover the container with the plastic wrap or kitchen towel secured again. Place the container somewhere with a consistent room temperature of 70°F to 75°F (like the top of the refrigerator) and let sit for 24 hours.
Day 4: Feed the Starter
4 ounces all-purpose flour (3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons)
4 ounces water (1/2 cup)
Check your starter. By now, the starter should be looking very bubbly with large and small bubbles, and it will have doubled in volume. If you stir the starter, it will feel looser than yesterday and honeycombed with bubbles. It should also be smelling quite sour and pungent. You can taste a little too! It should taste sour and somewhat vinegary.
When I made my starter here, I didn't notice much visual change from Day 3 to Day 4, but could tell things had progress by the looseness of the starter and the sourness of the aroma.
Weigh the flour and water for today, and add them to the starter. Stir vigorously until combined into a smooth batter. It will look like a sticky, thick dough. Scrape down the sides and loosely cover the container with the plastic wrap or kitchen towel secured again. Place the container somewhere with a consistent room temperature of 70°F to 75°F (like the top of the refrigerator) and let sit for 24 hours.
Day 5: Starter is Ready to Use
Check your starter. It should have doubled in bulk since yesterday. By now, the starter should also be looking very bubbly — even frothy. If you stir the starter, it will feel looser than yesterday and be completely webbed with bubbles. It should also be smelling quite sour and pungent. You can taste a little too! It should taste even more sour and vinegary.
If everything is looking, smelling, and tasting good, you can consider your starter ripe and ready to use! If your starter is lagging behind a bit, continue on with the Day 5 and Beyond instructions.
Day 5 and Beyond: Maintaining Your Starter
4 ounces all-purpose flour (3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons)
4 ounces water (1/2 cup)
Once your starter is ripe (or even if it's not quite ripe yet), you no longer need to bulk it up. To maintain the starter, discard (or use) about half of the starter and then "feed" it with new flour and water: weigh the flour and water, and combine them in the container with the starter. Stir vigorously until combined into a smooth batter.
If you're using the starter within the next few days, leave it out on the counter and continue discarding half and "feeding" it daily. If it will be longer before you use your starter, cover it tightly and place it in the fridge. Remember to take it out and feed it at least once a week — I also usually let the starter sit out overnight to give the yeast time to recuperate before putting it back in the fridge.
How to Reduce the Amount of Starter
Maybe you don't need all the starter we've made here on an ongoing basis. That's fine! Discard half the starter as usual, but feed it with half the amount of flour and water. Continue until you have whatever amount of starter works for your baking habits.
How to Take a Long Break from Your Starter
If you're taking a break from baking, but want to keep your starter, you can do two things:
1) Make a Thick Starter: Feed your starter double the amount of flour to make a thicker dough-like starter. This thicker batter will maintain the yeast better over long periods of inactivity in the fridge.
2) Dry the Starter: Smear your starter on a Silpat and let it dry. Once completely dry, break it into flakes and store it in an airtight container. Dried sourdough can be stored for months. To re-start it, dissolve 1/4 cup of the flakes in 4 ounces of water, and stir in 4 ounces of flour. Continue feeding the starter until it is active again.
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